Daily Mail RBS U15 Vase: Sir Thomas Rich's 5 Dauntsey's 17

Cheer: Dauntsey's delight in their victory

Start: The Vase is the first final of the day

But the miserly Thomas Rich’s defence eventually cracked on 18 minutes, with impressive open-side flanker Small evading two tackles to squeeze over for Dauntsey’s and restore parity.

Small was soon responsible for the Wiltshire outfit seizing the ascendancy as his powerful, swerving run from 45 metres left four defenders trailing in his wake as he crossed in the corner.

And Dauntsey’s, containing three sets of twins in their starting line-up, were in dreamland three minutes into the final play of the half when imposing skipper and number eight Will Britton barged over for a try, at full stretch following a number of phases in Thomas Rich’s territory with Max Romer-Lee slotting an excellent conversion from out wide.

On the way to victory: Toby Small from Dauntsey's bursts through to score a try

Capture: William Rouse from St Thomas Rich's is surrounded by Dauntsey's players

Remarkably, that kick turned out to be the final score of a tense and cagey affair, the second half of which saw Tommy enjoy the lion’s share of possession but fail to make significant inroads into their opponents’ defensive rearguard.

Replacement James Foylan went closest for them during a rare period of sustained pressure, but a combination of multiple handling errors and unyielding Dauntsey’s defence, marshalled superbly by their back row of Britton, Small and Sam New, meant that the trophy’s destiny was never truly questioned.

Switch: Sam Tomloin throws the ball away from the scrum