Outstanding Cam Blitz Chobham in one sided local derby

So following our 1 week break we all assembled at Watchetts for what promised to be one of the Saturdays of the season as we welcomed local rivals Chobham 1s and 2s plus Chris Kelly, President of the RFU and the Mayor and other dignitaries for the official opening of our new Ladies changing room.
So with all of the official speeches over and the pre match lunch kindly hosted by Ron and George it was then over to the rugby.
In fairness most of the regular supporters were braced for a nail biting afternoon of nip and tuck although our injured prop Zac did call it following his study of the warm ups.
So the game started with Cam playing away from the clubhouse and after messing up the Chobham start in which the visitors regained possession we saw the black and ambers' aggressive defence drive them back through a series of phases into their own half and when a poor defensive kick went out on the full Cam had a lineout midway between the Chobham 10m and 22 without actually having possession.
The lineout was won cleanly and then after a couple a phases we saw lock Voighty take a great line before popping a pass to Josh Wright who scorched over for the first score with just 4 mins on the clock.
The restart saw Cam again surging forward through Oyoni who put Musa, getting his first start at #2 for the 1s, away for him to be hauled down just short but when the visitors were penalised at the scrum Smarty claimed the 3 points and a 10 point lead with just 8 mins played.
Unfortunately young Musa injured his ankle in his earlier dash and so his debut was limited to those 8 mins but this made no difference to the dominance of the Cam pack who proceeded to to bully the visitors pack almost at will for the remainder of the match.
So from the restart Chobham won a penalty on the Cam 10m and when this was kicked dead Cam won the scrum and were almost over again. At this stage it became clear that and even when the visitors did get some ball they could not find a way through the black and ambers aggressive defence and their task became harder when their winger was binned for slapping Oyoni – frankly a bit naïve as our burly 14 is one of the last players to pick a fight with.
However Cam took full advantage of their numerical superiority when on 25 mins great hands saw the ball move swiftly across the park where Ash again showcased his outstanding pace to dot down with Smarty adding the extras.
Then we witnessed one of the black and ambers trademark moves when, from the restart, a powerful break saw play move back to the visitors red zone and when Cam won their put in the ball again moved swiftly through the hands until an exquisite move between the Wright Bros saw Ash time his move to perfection and take a pass 'out of the back' from brother Josh and completely wrong foot the defence for another converted try on 27 mins and the score moved to 24-0.
Again Cam handled the restart well and a great charge, this time by prop Hasty, again took play back into the Chobham red zone and great hands set up Ash for his third try for the bonus point and barely 30 mins played.
So another great attack from the restart saw Cam on the scoreboard again when this time it was Hughsey who took the final pass to dot down for an unconverted try on 34 mins.
And if this seems a tad repetitive the black and ambers then proceeded to do it all again from the next restart when TommyA and Hasty lead the charge this time feeding the Flying Fijian for another score wide out which was not converted but by now the score had moved to 41-0 and the visitors looked in poor shape however this time the restart was not handled well and Chobham following up touched down for a converted try.
With 3 mins left before the break Cam were certainly fired up after this score and when they won a penalty from their restart they had no hesitation but to put the ball into the corner and a sweet break from Smarty saw him pop the ball inside to Oyoni who charged over with 3 Chobham players desperately trying to bring him down and with Smarty again adding the extras we reached the break with the score 48-7.
The second half brought no respite for the visitors as following a great surge by Hughsey we saw Woody, back in the 1st team squad, power over with just 2 mins of the second period played.
Again Cam showed their quality when another charge by Hughsey saw Woody make ground before another delicate pass saw Hoff charge over on 47 mins and with Smarty on target again the score had moved to 65-7 with more than 30 mins to play and when Oyoni crossed for his second on 52 mins the Chobham supporters realised that this was not going to be their day.
We then saw another glimpse of the quality of this young side when, from a scrum in the Cam 22, firstly the Flying Fijian, who was a real threat every time he had the ball, made a stunning break deep into the Chobham half before a series of passes saw JoshW pick up the pace on the visitors 22 and no one was going to stop him claiming his second score of the afternoon.

The restart was not handled well but despite that we then had the sight of our Flying Fijian collecting the ball on halfway and literally swatting all attempts to halt his progress to dot down wide out and with Smarty's kick hitting the post the score had moved to 77-7 with 20mins remaining.
Clearly at this time thoughts of next weeks game and also boredom had crept into the Cam squad and to their credit the visitors, who at this stage had much more to play for than Cam managed to score 2 unconverted tries but just to ensure that there was never a dispute as to who finished stronger in the dying seconds the Cam pack again demolished the visitors pack at a 5m scrum with Hughsey claiming the try from the pushover.

Another outstanding performance from the squad against a side with several years experience at this level but who, today, had no answers to the pace, physicality, organisation and skills of this exciting team.

Again, great performances by the pack with Hasty having to play 70 mins still able to show us why he once was a winger with some speedy charges up the park as well as gaining complete control of the Chobham tighthead. Greg, who thought he was due a game at loosehead found that he was hooking after 5 mins and again put in a sterling performance – his contribution already this season has been incredible, and what can we say about young Nick who grows with confidence, has clearly worked on his defence and when he has the ball still manages to fool opposition with his dummies.
Hoff and Voighty had another outstanding day with both putting in massive shifts and clearly they are so comfortable playing together and have benefited from this step up in opposition this season.
The back row have always been the cornerstone of the side with The Warrior always ready with the big hits and Mac and Hughsey so talented at turning defence into attack.
Tom Young is also growing and learning with each game and is key to the swift release of the backs as is his partner Smarty whose game management capability is growing by the week.
The backs were simply stunning both in attack and defence and it is clear that they all really do enjoy playing with each other no more clearly shown than by Oyoni who despite turning an ankle in the first half, insisted on staying on and although not able to fully turn on the afterburners was still able to score 2 tries. Finally our Peter Pan at 15 who each week somehow manages to produce pieces of sublime skill mixed with the occasional 'whoops' moment but is proving so vital both in attack and defence this season.

Overall it was a good day for Cam with the 2s beating Chobham 33-17 claiming the try bonus and although not all of the sides have played the same number of games they sit comfortably at the top and the 3s/Development beating Lightwater 40-5.

So next week 1s and 2s have another noisy coach trip to the coast this time Hove who seem marooned at the bottom of the league, they beat Old Reigatians in the promotion playoffs last season. And then November and December brings another challenge with a batch of games against most of the sides in the top half of the league.

And Finally – well after their win against Castres last week things got a tad more difficult for the C&Ws in Munster today where they lost and managed to collect a red card so I guess that they will be looking to reduce their horrendous injury list before the return game at Castle Grim

Note I hope to have some pics from our friend Lee at Scrumpix later tomorrow (he's out on the pop tonight)