Champ Rugby Accession Final: Blackheath down London Scottish to clinch promotion
Blackheath will join Rotherham Titans in Champ Rugby after a storming display saw Tom Stradwick’s side defeat London Scottish 27-7 in the Champ Rugby Accession Final. (Photo Credit: Owen Lewis)
Oskar Hirskyji-Douglas, Billy Harding and Tom Hughes all went over in an aggressive and powerful first half, with Scottish unable to cope with the National One side.
Two Sam Morley penalties – and a reply from Scottish’s Jonny Law – were the only scores of the second period, as Blackheath confirmed their place in the Champ for next season.
For all the noise that surrounded the National One title race and for all the headlines devoted to Billy Harding’s extraordinary try-scoring feats, this was the moment that mattered most to the oldest rugby club in the world.
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Not since 1999 have Blackheath been able to call themselves a Level 2 club. Now, in the sunshine of south-west London, they could again.
Blackheath arrived at the Richmond Athletic Ground carrying the momentum of 11 successive victories and, as managing director Russell Ticehurst admitted beforehand, excitement rather than pressure had become the dominant emotion within the camp.
And it showed.
More than 2,100 spectators packed into the Richmond Athletic Ground for this late-season showpiece but, from the off, it sounded – and felt – as though Blackheath were the home side.
Large swathes of travelling support roared every collision and chased every kick, their energy mirrored by a Blackheath side who exploded into the contest with real purpose.
Relentless kick pressure and aggression forced London Scottish into a series of early mistakes, and the warning signs quickly became impossible to ignore.
The breakthrough arrived after six minutes.
After hammering away through a pair of driving mauls, Blackheath shifted the ball to Raff Hollister, whose pass released Hirskyji-Douglas to glide beneath the posts for the opening score.
Scottish were struggling to settle. Tom Hughes and Luke Pollock both threatened in the corners before the situation worsened for the hosts when Oli Duncan was shown a yellow card.
Blackheath sensed vulnerability immediately. From the resulting penalty, Harding and the visitors’ dominant forward pack went to work, the hooker eventually crashing over for his 49th try of a remarkable campaign.
Departing Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola once described Liverpool FC’s Anfield Stadium as feeling “like being thrown in a washing machine”. For the opening quarter, Scottish might have recognised the sentiment.
Even on the occasions they managed to establish territory, Blackheath’s defensive pressure suffocated momentum and forced further errors.
The kick-chase of the National One side, in particular, became a relentless weapon and one precise Jordan Burns box-kick was brilliantly reclaimed by Pollock, before the ball was swiftly moved wide for Hughes to finish and extend the lead to 21-0.
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Nothing Scottish attempted seemed to stick.
An excellent Hollister turnover shortly after half-time allowed Morley to add three more points, and Blackheath’s confidence only continued to grow.
An 11-match winning run had clearly embedded a deep belief within the group and, although Josh Smart’s yellow card early in the second half briefly offered Scottish encouragement, the hosts still could not find any rhythm or fluency when they needed it most.
The second half proved to be a period of frustration and nearly moments for Scottish as Blackheath kept them from really threatening their 22, as chants of ‘We Are Going Up!’ from the ‘Club’ supporters started to be heard.
A try from Law on 76 minutes got Scottish on the board, but a second Morley penalty ensured Blackheath saw out a famous afternoon in their fabled history.
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