BARNARD Castle RUFC’s Rob Stanwix was among the try scorers as Durham became Bill Beaumont Division Two county champions after a comfortable 46-12 win over Warwickshire at Twickenham.
Stanwix, who came on as a replacement, was one of three Barney players in the Durham team, alongside fellow forwards Chris Wearmouth and Michael Hughes.
The division two final brought the curtain down on a day which saw Lancashire defend the division one Bill Beaumont Trophy with a 32-16 win against Hertfordshire before the Barbarians overcame England 63-45 in a 15-try thriller.
Durham took the lead through a penalty from Mowden Park’s Joshua Bragman, who put in a standout performance.
It stayed that way for much of the first half with Bragman extending the lead to six points after 36 minutes.
With Warwickshire struggling to impose themselves, Durham number eight Danny Dixon (Billingham) was able to score out wide with Bragman once again slotting the extras to make it 13-0.
Durham started the second half in exactly the same way, scoring once again through Dixon with Bragman adding the conversion to make it 20-0.
Winger Sean Moloney (Middlesbrough) scored Durham’s third try of the game, ten minutes into the second half, with the try converted to make it 27-0.
Warwickshire responded through Nyle Beckett moments later, who showed his speed to score in the corner.
And Warwickshire weren’t finished there. An inside ball found Liam Munro who powered over the line. O’Brien converted to make it 27-12.
But the comeback was short-lived as just a few minutes later Moloney finished brilliantly to score his second with Bragman converting to make it 34-12.
Rob Stanwix came off the bench and scored Durham’s fifth try of the match soon after to put the game out of site for Warwickshire.
And second row Talite Vaiolete (Mowden Park), who had been outstanding throughout, deservedly scored the final try of the game to make it 46-12 at the final whistle.
