Kent & Lancashire triumph in County Championship Finals
Kent Men won the Bill Beaumont Division 1 final and Lancashire Women claimed the Gill Burns Division 1 championship.
- Lancashire Women beat Buckinghamshire 25-15
- Kent Men overcame Lancashire 39-37
Lancashire claimed the Gill Burns Women's County Championship title with a sublime display to beat Buckinghamshire 25-15.
Tries from Zena Francis, Lydia Humphries and Rowanne Smalley combined with the assured boot of fly-half Aimee Wallace, who scored 10 points, was enough to see Lancashire over the line.
Buckinghamshire scored three tries of their own including a Lauren Head first half double, and a Charlotte Dennis’ score in the second half, but Rocky Clark’s charges could not quite manage to come back into the game after a blistering 10 minutes from Lancashire at the start of the second half.
First, centre Humphries broke clear to score under the posts, which was duly converted by Wallace, before Smalley calmly finished in the corner to give Lancashire a 22-10 lead. There was a hint of a comeback when replacement hooker Dennis bundled over from close range but once again Lancashire were quickly able to extend the lead back to two scores through another Wallace penalty.
Try-scorer Francis said: “It’s amazing, there are no words to really describe scoring at Twickenham, once you cross the line and you put the ball down you think, oh my god I have done it.
“I have crossed that line, I have done it for my team and it is such a great feeling. I think I screamed and I probably hurt someone hugging them but it was great.
“We were working so hard for it, we could feel it coming and it is just great that Aimee Wallace passed me that ball and I was able to put it over the line. It is nice to get a win for the region, we are here to represent the north and we have won, so I think it is a pretty big statement.”
Comeback Kent
Kent secured their first Bill Beaumont Men’s County Championship in 96 years with an incredible 39-37 comeback win.
Tries from Daniel Rylance, Ben Gregory, Tom Grimes, Toby Harrison and Connor Wilkinson had put opponents Lancashire, searching for a County Championship double after winning the Women’s County Championship earlier in the day, into a 27-10 half-time lead.
But Kent responded with 17 points in just eight minutes to level the scores thanks to a penalty try and Toby Wallace’s score to set up an enthralling last half an hour. The game continued to be played at a rapid pace, as skipper Daniel Birchall put Lancashire back in front, before Nick Cooke responded again.
A late Rafael Dutta try and subsequent touchline conversion from Sam Evans, taking his tally to 12 points, appeared to have won Kent the match, only for Rhys Henderson to reduce the gap once more, but Greg Smith was unable to level the scores with a touchline kick of his own.
Kent were inspired at half time when Henry Higginson was sent to the sin-bin and they took immediate advantage; their eight-man pack proved superior to the seven of Lancashire and they were promptly awarded a penalty try.
Two minutes later, they scored another try, with winger Wallace getting on the end of a perfect pass from Bryan Hotson. The momentum continued for Kent and when awarded a penalty at the breakdown, Evans nailed the shot at goal, levelling the scores at 27-27.
No sooner had Kent pulled level than Lancashire went back into the lead through their inspirational captain Birchall, to mark his 30th County Championship appearance. For the third time in the game, Greg Smith saw his kick agonisingly hit the upright and the lead was only five points with 29 minutes left on the clock.
The scoring seized as the game became tighter, but with just three minutes left on the clock, flanker Dutta went over in the corner to put Kent into an astonishing 39-32 lead. Somehow Lancashire found a way to add another twist to the tale and winger Rhys Henderson ran in unopposed to the corner, but Smith's kick was short confirming Kent's win.
