Aggrieved Doncaster Knights to appeal RFU decision to uphold Chinnor result

Knights were trailing 18-13 with 68 minutes on the clock when a floodlight failure at the Oxfordshire ground forced the two teams off the field.

The game, which had been played in dreadful conditions due to Storm Darragh, was later abandoned.

Last Friday, December 13, the RFU Disputes Committee ruled that the result should stand, granting Chinnor the victory, due to regulations that state if a game is abandoned due to weather and over 60 minutes have elapsed then the result is final.

The Disputes Committee deemed that the floodlights failed because of the bad weather.

The RFU gave Doncaster seven days to appeal and the club confirmed on Friday that they had done so with the aim of having the game replayed.

Doncaster are understood to have appealed on the grounds that if power came back on in the clubhouse and everywhere else at the ground, including in the floodlights overlooking other pitches, why did it not come back on on the main pitch.

The outcome of the appeal could have a bearing on the outcome of the Championship’s title race, with Doncaster harbouring ambitions of winning the league and being just one of two teams - along with Coventry - in a position to earn promotion through the Premiership’s minimum standards criteria.

With the result currently standing, it leaves Doncaster in seventh place in the 12-team league with four wins from eight games, and 16 points adrift of league leaders Ealing Trailfinders, whose only defeat came against Joe Ford’s Knights.

Even if they are successful in their appeal - and there has been no timeframe put on a resolution by the RFU - Doncaster need to find more consistency on the field.

They beat Caldy 22-0 at Castle Park last Saturday but having racked up all their points in the first half, failed to build on it and claim a try-bonus in the second.

On Sunday they head to Cornish Pirates, a long-standing second-tier rival who they can climb above if they win at Mennaye Field.

The starting line-up picked by Ford has a place in it for Doncaster academy graduate Adam Hopkinson in the second row.

“I don’t think we’ve really focused on Pirates that much,” said Hopkinson.

“We’ve just kind of been backing our own drills, making sure we get our own detail right.

“You know, when we’re on the ball, we can beat anyone in this league.

“So, it’s been about putting ourselves in the best position to be able to go and do that, really.

“We’ve been looking at the weather because it doesn’t look great down there. We’ve had to adjust some things, but we need to be clinical more than anything.”

Hopkinson’s return is a welcome boost for the Knights, given he has been absent since pre-season with a broken hand.

He was initially named on the bench for the visit of Caldy to Castle Park last week before getting a late call to go on from the start.

“It wasn’t a struggle but it was a surprise more than anything,” said Hopkinson. “I was out for pretty much four months and at the start I was officially named on the bench. But then I went to starting and was only meant to play 40, so I had to pretty much dig in as much as possible.

It was certainly a test but once I got into it, it was just flowing and came like second nature again. So, it was great to be back out, especially at home.”