The U15 Hampshire Vase kicked off in fine weather on the traditional sloping pitch at Alton. Totts immediately put pressure on Ellingham who were struggling to exit from their 22. Continued effort from the Ellingham ball carriers eventually took it's toll on the Totts defence and Freddie Searle made a break down the left hand touchline. A quick ruck, and the ball was spun right and ended in the hands of Oli Hind, the money was on him making it to the corner but some excellent cover tacking from the Totts defence drove him into touch just before the try line. From the resulting lineout Ellingham managed to get a hand on the clearing kick deflecting it to Archie Winterburn who ran a love arc outside a couple of defenders to touch down for the first score of the game, Freddie converted.

Totts again put pressure on from the kick off, and again Ellingham struggled to exit, this time Totts managed to force a penalty which they calmly slotted between the posts to reduce the deficit. This time it was Ellingham's turn to put pressure on from the kick off and eventually Totts gave away a penalty, it was kicked to the corner 7 meters out, and so it was time for Ellingham to pull out their highly effective maul. Totts did a great job of defending it, with the maul collapsing a couple of meters short. Will "Tunni" Tunnicliff picked up from the back and crashed over the line for the 2nd score, taking a number of Totts defenders with him, unfortunately Freddie was unable to convert this one.

Ellingham found themselves back in the Totts half with a penalty for a high tackle, they took it quickly spinning it to the right, a quick ruck and it came back the other way with Robert Clitheroe making a great run into the heart of the Totts defence sucking in defenders, an offload to Kian Jenkins and he was able to crash through the Totts tacklers for the score, Freddie added the extra 2 points.

There was still time for one final score before half time. Totts had a scrum on their own 22m and looked to clear their lines with a kick, unfortunately it landed in the hands of Archie W (bad idea!) who was loving carrying straight into the Totts defenders. From the resulting ruck it was spun to the right and Oli clearly decided it was about time he scored, a lovely arcing run breaking at least 5 tackles on the way, and he touched down, unfortunately Freddie was unable to convert. That ended the half:

ERRFC U15s 24 - 3 Totts U15s

Ellingham kicked off the second half up the hill and while they had a big lead it felt like the first 5 mins would be important as they were now playing up the significant slope and into the wind. There was a lineout 7 meters from the Totts line which Ellingham won, followed by a few carries into the Totts defence. Play then became scrapy with multiple turn overs and charged down kicks before Ellingham were able to spin the ball to the right and Oli, now with a taste for the try line broke more tackles and crashed over, the conversion was missed.

The next try came from a strong defensive effort, Totts were on the attack, and a strong ruck clearance, near the right hand touchline meant Ellingham turned the ball over, Tunni picked up and spun it left. Ellingham playing heads up rugby noticed that the Totts defence was disorganised and so they managed to put Freddie through a gap and he was able to run in from the half way line, scoring and converting his own try.

At this point Ellingham lost a little focus and Totts made the most of this, they carried hard into the Ellingham defence and won a penalty. Taking this quickly they were able to force penalty after penalty keeping Ellingham on the back foot. There was then a brief pause for an shoulder injury to a Totts player (we hope he recovers well). When the game restarted excellent tackling kept Totts from scoring, but eventually the pressure told, Totts span the ball to the right, to their strongest ball carrier and he ran past a number of Ellingham defenders and scored in the corner.

Ellingham wanted to end the game on a high, they worked their way up the pitch and were awarded a scrum on the 5m line. Dylan Powell picked up from No8 and carried hard but was stopped just short, the ball was recycled and a couple of good phases took place before Oli was able to pick up from the back of a ruck and charge over for his hat-trick try!! Freddie converted.

Still not done, Ellingham wanted one more, they were awarded a penalty just inside the Totts half for a high tackle. They took the unusual option to put up a Gary Owen (those of a certain age will know what this is) and it worked. Totts knocked on, Ellingham recovered it and went on the attack. More good phase play and the ball was spun right to Dylan who, having had a good game decide it was about time he got in on the scoring and carried a number of Totts players over with him to score the final try of the game. Jude was given the opportunity to convert, but it went just wide.

With that the final whistle blew and the ERRFC U15 boys celebrated an excellent victory!!

Final Score
ERRFC U15s 48 - 8 Totts U15s