Sittingbourne Rugby Club Match Report, 28 March 2026.

Sittingbourne 1XV 78 v Old Williamsonians 1XV 28 

Sittingbourne (1^st in the league) enjoyed a trip to Old Williamsonians (10^th in the league) this Saturday. With the previous fixture against Willies a real indicator of what to expect, the lads knew they would be in for a physical test, regardless of league positions or results, and that’s what they encountered from minute one.

Kicking off, Bourne where immediately met by the muscle of willies, early collisions that Bourne use to get themselves “settled into” the game were going Willies way, before we knew it an unlikely handling error on our own try line led to a 5m Willies scrum, which Bourne dominated (strange given the early open play exchanges) but Willie’s shipped the ball and with a nice inside line caused a big upset in the ranks. No.08 Leon Gomm bravely got in the way of the stampeding No.12 but found his head in the wrong side of the tackle. Player safety a must, his race was run. Not good, after a reset scrum and a few phases we found ourselves behind with only a couple of minutes on the clock. As a replacement, on came the handful (occasionally for both sides) Matt Hobson.

Bourne, who have been in this situation before this season, against this very team didn’t panic, and it took exactly 47 seconds from the restart to respond immaculately. Ball recovered after two phases we ship left and wide, finding the inform and previous player of the month Ollie Thorne who with his dancing feet weaves in and out of four players and gasses the fullback to score underneath the posts. Order restored, and the seven points in the bag, we reset for the restart.

The physicality once again came crashing towards us like a forty-four-tonne lorry, it took Willies only another five minutes to get over the try line again. A fast flashed pass across the line to a hard runner on an “out to in” line caught our defensive line with their shoulder’s inwards… Willies under the posts.

The battle ensued for another six minutes before blood was drawn again, this time not ours, Willies have a scrum on their 22m where their 12 crashes and gets brought down, No.7 Davey Marsh doing what he does best with his long powerful levers is straight over the ball, not only that but somehow manages to break through the ruck emerging the other side, fending off the deeper set 10 with his righthand, straight into a left shoulder bump on the recovering defender before offloading to the support of our own No.12 Finley Williams who goes under the sticks.

From the restart a deliberate knock-on leads to a Bourne penalty and lineout deep into Willies territory. The move was called and the play ready to be executed had it not been for the one man army of Smash, with ball in hand, he surprisingly and effectively jinks his way past the first man before brushing off a second, fending a third then fending a fourth and finding himself crashing over the whitewash, again under the posts. Who needs to call a move when you have the most powerful ball carrier in the league.

All of this in sixteen minutes of gameplay, never mind the monster tackles and bounces going in from either side that I can’t write about. It would take that double the game time we have already had before willies would come back again.

It was the familiar face, bald head and beard of ex Bourne skipper Reece price who went over the line just wide of the post protector bringing Willies their third try. 21 – 21it looked like had it not been for the trusty boot of No.10 Jack Miller who put us ahead before the HT whistle 21 – 24.

The first half was rightfully about the team in 10^th place. Three points behind the league leaders and galvanised ready for another combative 40 minutes of rugby, hoping to pull off the upset of the season and why shouldn’t they? They showed enough to prove they can unsettle and upset Bourne.

Bourne on the other hand were at a crossroads, step up or throw it all away, we knew this could have been a possibility but now it’s a reality. Confident words from skipper Jacob Smith clearly had the intended effect as the lads ran out a reinvigorated team.

(I will attempt describe every try scored in the second half with a few words for each.)

The bonus point try comes from a great backs strike move off the scrum with Scrumhalf Jamie Talbot manoeuvring under the posts.

The fifth, a snipe from the base practically on the touchline with only enough space for scrumhalf jimmy to operate in and fit through, again finding himself under the posts.

The sixth, 1^st phase strike move heaven, just pure backs rugby, beautiful for some but ugly and boring for the lads who love a scrum. Ben Gates the beneficiary.

The seventh, was a one-way ticket to intercept city. Plucked from the air by Finley Williams, 1m inside the Willies half, there was no catching him or stopping him going under those posts.

The eighth, was simple rugby, crash centrally and spread out wide through hands. Harry Kite in the corner. Who did have to come off and with no one else to fill the spot second rower Jake Jeffery stepped up to the wing.

The ninth, the complete opposite, raw grunt and power from the Matt Hobson saw him sit his man down and crash over another to go under the sticks.

The double-digit maker, a powerful run from Mitch Deadman who receives on the halfway line break three tacklers grasp. And is eventually hauled down maybe ten meters from the line. Before the ball is shifted the width of the pitch to find Ollie Thorne who makes no mistakes dotting the ball down.

47 unanswered points… no one saw that coming, Willies did manage to get their losing bonus point by scoring a fourth try under the sticks, but it was too little way to late. The game was over, but with Bourne not wanting to end on a bad note had one more say in the game.

The eleventh try for SRUFC came in the final play of the game. A scrum 10m inside the Willie’s half led to a great moment. The ball exchanging hands down the line putting Ollie Thorne 1 on 1 with the fullback and who does he have to his right moving like a not so prime, shorter Nemani Nadolo… Jake Jeffery the second rower who receives the ball outside the 22m and puts on the metaphorical “gas”, something resembling a jog for the other backs. With the open space Jake Na’doughnut crashes over the line for an unexpected try and his first of the league season. Jubilation as he is now swarmed by his adopted backline family.

The fulltime whistle rings and the lads have put on a second half masterclass. Well done to Willies who battled the whole way through and for certainly the first half showed they have the class to easily compete at Counties 3.

The party didn’t end there however as the lads found out in the changing room that Bournes 2xv had gotten their revenge over Deal and Betteshanger 2’s in a fantastic 36-14 home win.

Another fantastic weekend for the Club.

The 1XV have got their Kent Vase Semi Final away to Whitstable next weekend so please support the lads as they aim to bring get into a trophy final that the club have never won before.