Chinnor 21 Swanage & Wareham 8

Thanks to a strong South African influence, Chinnor made a winning start to life in South West Division 1 on Saturday.

An assured performance by new fly-half Louw Kruger and a storming display in the loose by his fellow countryman Du Toit Serdyn helped newly prompted Chinnor to a stirring successive win.

Louw Kruger

Kruger landed three perfectly struck penalties, despite the fierce strong wind, and also helped to set up one of Chinnor's two second-half tries.

Serdyn was part of a dominant pack, who took charge of the game, while Paul Hennessey also had a forceful game at No 8.

Swanage finished sixth in Division 1 last season, so this was a fair measure of the standard, but Chinnor know there will be much stiffer tests ahead.

Chinnor started uncertainly as their Dorset visitors took the lead with a fourth-minute penalty by full back Chris Leake.

But the home pack gradualy took charge in the loose and two 30-metre penalty goals from Kruger put them 6-3 ahead at half-time.

The wind played havoc with the line-outs, while Chinnor were having problems in the front row following the retirement of Gary Woodburn, but Swanage could not make the most of these frailties.

A third Kruger penalty extended Chinnor's advantage before their first try.

Serdyn gained possession from a Swanage 22 drop-out, Chinnor won the ruck and Kruger floated a pass out to the right wing where Davies raced in at the corner.

Davies, still recovering from a shoulder injury which caused him to miss much of last season, played on the wing, with Jon Brooks switching to inside centre. This move proved a great success.

Chinnor sealed the result when Hennessey set centre Darren Oxley on a jinking run for a try under the posts, Kruger adding the conversion.

Swanage gained a deserved consolation try in injury time through left wing Chris Cooke to give the scoreline a fairer reflection on the whole game.

**Chinnor: Cawston, Davies (capt), Oxley, Brooks, Oyebade, Kruger, Vaughan (Deeley 63), Matthews, Jackson, Whelan (Winpenny 43), Porter, Serdyn, Brown, Cook (Marr 72), Hennessey.

Swanage & W: Leake, Gould, P Graves, D Graves (Elford 34), Cooke (Williams 56), Smith, G Graves, Peters, Tomes, Welsh, Burgess, McConkey, Hardwood, Warren, Elford (capt) (Gordon 15-20).

Referee: R Steggall (Devon).