Smiths are heading to Twickenham on Saturday for what will be the biggest game in their 73-year history.

They will play in the Papa John’s Cup Counties 2 Championship final after booking their place with a narrow 31-29 win over Sheffield club Dinnington at the Prince of Wales Stadium at the weekend.

“The special days keep coming,” said delighted Smiths skipper Ben Hawker.

Indeed they do. The club have won three league titles, a Cheltenham Combination Senior Cup and the Papa John’s Cup Counties 2 South Plate in the past four seasons – but this Saturday’s game is a showpiece occasion which will see them centre stage at the home of English rugby.

“It’s been on our radar for a while,” admitted Hawker. “Promotion has always been our number one goal but we knew we were in the main Papa John’s cup which meant that Twickenham was on the horizon.”   

Their Papa John’s final success last season against Harrow – it finished 31-29 – was played at Dings Crusaders, so although they have not played at Twickenham they at least know what it takes to win one of the end-of-season competitions.

The same can be said of Old Elthamians, Smiths’ opponents on Saturday, who secured their place at Twickenham with a 22-14 win at Saltash.

But Old Elthamians, who are this season’s Counties 2 Kent champions, also have recent experience of playing at Twickenham because they won 45-22 against Wigan 12 months ago in the Papa John’s Cup Counties 3 & Below Championship final.

Old Elthamians have a good pedigree. They were playing in National League One – the third tier of English rugby – just a handful of years ago before dropping out in August 2021 due to financial difficulties.

They were placed in Counties 3 Kent but back-to-back titles, plus that 2024 Twickenham win, show they have regrouped and they will provide a stern challenge.

However Smiths, who have beaten Old Patesians, Oxford and Hampstead as well as Dinnington on their way to final, are up for the challenge and Hawker said: “We want to win, 100 per cent.

“We want everyone to enjoy the experience. We will be fully prepared, we’re desperate to win.

“We back ourselves as a team and we back ourselves to put on a performance. I think we’ll play well and hopefully that will be enough.

“We want to come away having fired our best shots, it has to be the biggest game in our history.”

What makes Smiths’ run to Twickenham all the more impressive is that it comes on the back of the crushing disappointment of losing their promotion play-off final to Dings Crusaders 2nds last month.

They were also beaten by Clifton 2nds in the play-off final in 2022/23, so a place in Counties 1 Western North has continued to just elude them.

“We learned from that Clifton experience,” said Hawker. “Last season was a bit of a hangover, we were nowhere near the side of the previous season.

“But we got it together at the end of the season, won the Papa John’s Cup and we’ve carried that momentum forward.

“I was a bit worried after the Clifton defeat, but I wasn’t after we lost to Dings, I always knew we’d keep it going.”

Smiths have been going in the right direction for many years now and Hawker says Saturday’s game is a reward for all the hard work that has been put in over recent times.

“For me it’s so nice for this group of players, they’ve worked so hard over the last five, 10 years," he said. "It’s a dream come true, it’s every amateur rugby player’s dream to play at Twickenham.

“It’s great for the coaches too and all the older boys who watch us every week. When we went to Hampstead they asked us if we’d brought the whole village, we had three times as many supporters as them.”

Smiths are the only senior club for whom 33-year-old Hawker has played. The one-time Bournside School pupil joined them when he was 18 and he has been their captain for the past 10 years.

It’s very special for him, of course, and he readily admits that in those early days he never thought Smiths would get to Twickenham.

Mind you, he never thought they’d win the Cheltenham Combination Senior Cup, something they achieved two years ago when they beat Cheltenham North 30-29 in the final.

“That was our biggest achievement,” he said. “I never thought that would happen, to get our name on the Senior Cup was massive.”

Hawker was a massive part of that success, as he was in Saturday’s win over Dinnington.

Normally a back row, he played in the centre to help overcome a minor injury crisis which saw them without backs Marcus Raymond, Oli Ahearn, Charles Peters and Peter Reed.

All four are hoping to be fit for Twickenham and Hawker said: “Dinnington were the best side we’ve played this season, they’re a proper side, they won 110 points out of 110 in their league this season.”

Smiths weren’t far behind – they won 108 points in Counties 2 Gloucestershire North – and Hawker is looking to play a full part as they chase that elusive promotion in 2025/26.

There will be no play-off final next season – the champions will be promoted – and Hawker said: “I’m nowhere near done, there’s still a lot I think we can achieve.

“My body still feels fine and I feel we still have the ability to get up the league.”

And Smiths will be bolstered in the new campaign by the arrival of former Cinderford back row and Old Patesians skipper George Angell as player/coach.

“He’s just finished playing at Cinderford and he’s working with us now,” Hawker said. “He can’t play on Saturday but he’s already making a big difference.”

Meanwhile, Drybrook will play Sutton and Epsom in the Papa John’s Cup Regional 2 South Plate final at Dings Crusaders on Saturday after beating Bournemouth 26-22, while Cheltenham North will tackle Honiton in the Counties 2 South Plate final on the same day and at the same venue after overcoming Chipstead 26-19.

Gordon League will head to Dings on Sunday for the final of the Counties 1 South Shield against Ashford after winning 26-23 at St Ives at the weekend.