Twickenham is just a step away after Oundle seal Midlands Vase

The Eagles lifted the trophy after thumping Ledbury 61-33 in front of a bumper crowd at Occupation Road.

They are at home against West Leeds in the national semi-finals a week on Saturday.
The winners play at Twickenham on Saturday, May 7.

Oundle have already wrapped up the Midlands Three East (South) championship and coach Peter Croot says his side were “as good as we’ve been all season” in the first half against Ledbury.

At half-time, the Eagles were 29-16 ahead and they pulled away after the break.

Robb Shingles crossed for a hat-trick of tries in the second half – taking his total for the season to 36 – as the Eagles ran out convincing winners

They ran in nine tries in total and Croot said: “We were superb considering it was a horrible, windy day and there was so much at stake.

“We were a bit quicker at the breakdown and we won our one-on-ones all over the pitch. The scoreline maybe flatters us a bit, but we took our chances. We were clinical.

“Everyone reacted very well to the occasion.

“They all did their jobs and there were outstanding performances from Robb Shingles and Toby Snelling.”

Ledbury went 10-3 up before the Eagles hit back to lead at the interval through scores from Dan Page, a penalty try and a couple of scores from Snelling.

Oundle pulled away in the second half with scores from Shingles (3), Mark Carter and Craig Tandy.

That sent the majority of a big crowd home with smiles on their faces.

Croot reckons there was around 250 watching including players from neigbouring clubs.

He said: “It was great to see so many people there. The atmosphere really was fantastic.

“We had ex-players there who played in the side that lost to Ledbury back in 1993 and they enjoyed their day!

“There weren’t many league games in the area and a few teams came to watch us.

“I would like to think we did the area proud. This raises the profile of rugby in East Northants.”

Oundle are enjoying a tremendous season as last week the Colts won the East Midlands championships and Croot added: “We may end up needing a bigger trophy cabinet.”

On Saturday, the Eagles return to league action when they host Northampton BBOB.

When the sides met in December, the match ended in a 22-22 draw.

Croot said: “We need to put that right.”