Southampton's league season got underway in style as they ran out 25-19 winners over Chichester II. Tom Humphrey opened the scoring with an early penalty, but Chichester hit back with a converted try shortly after by exploiting a dog-leg defence close to the Saints line.

As the game settled down, the Southampton pack looked solid in the scrum while the Chichester line out looked vulnerable to pressure from the home side, with Jack Leadbitter and Jordan Dashwood pouncing on a number of loose throws.

A scrum on the Chichester five metre line gave Southampton a good attacking platform and Dashwood picked up and drew in the defence before finding Tom Howells. He sucked in more defenders before throwing a long pass out to Dave Ward who fixed the last defender and popped to Josh Fearon who touched down for probably his easiest try of the season. Tom Humphrey made no mistake with the conversion and Saints were back in the lead at 10-7.

Saints then turned over the ball at the breakdown giving Jordan Dashwood the chance to break down the left. Spotting nobody at home in defence he attempted to chip the ball through, but with a strong wind behind him the ball went out on the full. (Another forward kicking!? Though I'm sure Hill would have nailed it...)

Tom Humphrey extended Southampton's lead with another penalty before Chichester added a second try in similar fashion to their first with a runner finding gaps in the defence, with the conversion seeing them take the lead at 13-14.

The Tom Show continued as he finished off a move that saw the ball moved quickly through the backs' hands with the defence unable to stop him from barrelling his way over the line. Many have tried, many have failed. After the game his opposite number remarked that it should be illegal for someone his size to play on the wing. Southampton ahead again, 18-14.

Just before half time Coach Wong made his first changes, with Joe Timmins coming on for his Southampton debut to replace Dave Ward and by doing so dragged the Southampton average age down by about ten years. A nasty knock to Tom Laycock saw Cam Coffin brought into action with Jack Leadbitter then contorting himself into a pretzel shape and being replaced by Bean at second row. Chichester took a fair share of bangs as well including a nasty dislocated shoulder. We wish all the injured players a speedy recovery.

Half time saw the scores at 18-14 - and the ambulance count at 1-1.

The second half saw Southampton playing into the strong wind, but they controlled much of the possession and territory and Chichester had limited chances. Jordan Dashwood made a great break down the left wing but his pass inside to Tom Howells was shocking; Howells did well to keep his hands out of the way and chip it forward instead, but he was unable to gather the loose ball and Chichester cleared.

More changes from Wong saw Ward back on in place of Josh Fearon, and Jack Leadbitter on in place of Marcus Coffin. All the attacking play was now coming from Southampton and they took the ball close to the Chichester line and set up quick ball. Gus Nye took the crash ball and found a gap in the defence to extend the lead. Tom Humphrey's conversion was excellent from a difficult angle and Southampton now led 25-14.

Joe Timmins was impressive with his crashes through the middle, fly half Alec Gray showed he was more than willing to get involved at the breakdown, while the forwards continued their pressure on the Chichester line out. With a strong wind advantage, the line out dominance was crucial in preventing Chichester from playing the game deep in Southampton territory. The wind definitely came to their assistance when Saints were threatening the Chichester line and the visitors' second row hoofed the ball about seventy metres clear of danger.

A late penalty to Southampton gave them the opportunity to end the game but with the clock in the red and the game won, they opted for one final attack in the hope of securing a bonus point. But the ball was lost and instead Chichester ran in a late try to narrow to the scoreline and secure a losing bonus point. The final score was 25-19.

Robbie Ashby took the Man of the Match for his control of the game at full back, while Jack Leadbitter took Dick of the Day for delaying his return to the field after developing cramp whilst off the pitch as a replacement.

An excellent start to the season for Southampton, who are competing in a new league after promotion last year. This was a game of unknowns, with neither side sure of what to expect from the other. But Southampton can be confident they can compete at this level and will be keen to make a few tweaks to tighten things up ahead of next week's trip to Petersfield - who will be keen to bounce back themselves after an 80-point drubbing by US Portsmouth.