In the traditional Boxing Day rugby fixture at the Blackmore, the President’s XV put up a strong first-half performance to hold the Chiefs to a narrow five-point lead before being overwhelmed by a blitz in the opening stages of the second half, writes Terry O’Brien.

An impressive handling move in the seventh minute sent wingman Lewis Hilliar sprinting over for a try, which he converted to give the President’s XV an early lead. The Chiefs responded two minutes later when George Locke broke through before offloading for Sam Basnett to score a try converted by Lake Allen.

A move started by Rory O’Brien in his own 22 was finished off by Will Cockayne Cotrell to put the Chiefs in front. But the lead did not last long, as a solo run from 30 metres by Ethan Mead levelled the scores.

The Chiefs finished the half strongly and, when they won a 5-metre scrum against the head, Glenn Channing exploited a gap to score an unconverted try to make the half-time score 17-12.

A series of rucks on the line created an overlap for Sam Basnett to score his second try immediately after the restart. The conversion opened up a 12-point lead.

A 50-metre run by Dan Armstrong from a scrum in his own 22 led to a try by Rory O’Brien two minutes later. This was soon followed by a try from skipper Haydon Down from a diagonal kick by Glenn Channing.

The Chiefs were firmly in control and two more tries followed before the middle of the half. Jake Allen finished off a move involving many hands and Rory O’Brien got his second when he latched on to a loose pass inside his own 22 to sprint clear.

The President’s XV were still putting up a spirited display to produce a fine handling move finished off by Noah Western.

Cameron Grainger touched down for a pushover try and the try scoring was done when Basnett completed his hat-trick following a turnover inside his own 22. Jake Allen’s conversion finished the scoring.

The Chiefs restart their league campaign on January 6 at home against second-placed Topsham kicking off at 2.30pm, a cracking way to open 2024. The Quins travel to play Okehampton 2nds.