Smiths one step from Twickenham after club cup success

The early May bank holiday weekend brought cup joy for all three current Smiths sides with U15s winning the Cirencester 7's tournament, Smiths United winning the Cheltenham & District Junior Combination Cup and Smiths 1st XV winning their RFU Community Cup quarter final.

Smiths U15s rounded off their competitive season with an impressive debut performance at Cirencester 7s on Sunday. A squad of 12 flew through their group losing just once to their eventual final opponents but took some damage as injuries depleted their numbers. With physio Tace running as a one-person pit crew, players were at least 30% tape by the end of the day. A tough final vs Ledbury was their reward and after rushing to a 21-0 lead they held on to win 21-5.

Saturday kicked off with Smiths United completing a trilogy of wins against town rivals to win the Junior Combination Cup. Having seen off Cheltenham North and Old Pats in two cup classics, Cheltenham Tigers were waiting in the final held at Stow RFC. Smiths started poorly, very quickly finding themselves 0-10 down but scrapping back to 7-13 at half time.

Smiths started the second half with more confidence and were soon on top in the set piece, scrum penalties giving them great field position to attack from. Their phase play started to take effect too and took a 21-13 lead on the 50 minute mark.

Next it was the defence that was centre-stage for Smiths. Tigers were kept out with a combination of big hits and slowing ball down at ruck time. With a poorly functioning set piece, the opposition resorted to kicks at goal to claw their way back into contention at 21-16 but Smiths soon restored their 8 point lead with a penalty kick of their own to hold a 24-16 lead after 60 minutes.

The game evened out for a period but Smiths took full control of the match with 10 minutes to go adding their 4th try. A well-deserved 29-16 lead gave some breathing space but this kicked Tigers into gear. More solid Smiths defence didn't give Tigers a sniff despite periods in their defensive 22. Tapped penalties were driven back and wide plays scrambled to be shut down.

Scorers Ben Williams, Cam Wilkinson, John Bryant and Jake Keylock-Townsend were added to by kicks from Tom Wardell and Sam Williams. Wilkinson and Keylock-Townsend were the men of the match for Smiths.

Ten years on from Smiths first Junior Cup win by the 1st XV, again vs Tigers 2nd XV, Smiths United were deserved winners to add their name to the cup and chalk up another piece of history for the club.

As the United were enjoying their first beers of the day, Smiths 1st XV kicked off their RFU Community Cup quarter final at home to Cantabrigian RFC. Smiths fired into their visitors from Cambridge taking a 21-5 lead within the first quarter and pressing on to a 35-12 lead at the break.

The second half saw a flood of scores as the game opened up. The largest gap seeing Smiths move to 47-19 and taking full command of the fixture. Cantabs came back with scores of their own though as they threw caution to the wind in the second half. The game ended with tries from both sides and Smiths on top of a 54-36 scoreline.

Tries from Mitch Renton x3, Jasper Frost x2, Luke Cador, Oli Aherne, and Tom Gordon were complimented by conversions from Marcus Raymond. Hooker Renton awarded man of the match.