BRFC travelled to Oxford, sitting just above them in the league, in quite appalling, almost Siberian, weather and slumped to a 28-11 loss in the South West 1 East division.

Oxford initially made the better of the conditions, and their splendid new artificial pitch, with their powerful forwards retaining possession for long spells, and their ambitious backs generally defying the elements.

It was, however, BRFC who claimed the first points, after a relatively rare foray into the home half, with the reliable boot of scrum half Aled Lewis putting the visitors three point ahead.

Both teams struggled manfully in the monsoon, and played some creditable rugby, but it was the larger Oxford pack that was to dominate the half, with two scores coming from lax defence, and perhaps frozen brains, on the fringes of the breakdown.

Lewis added another long range penalty to bring the half time score to 14-6.

Beaconsfield’s head coach Simon Tattersall soon introduced the fresh legs of substitutes Kwong Lin, James Lambert and Jack Hockin, who all brought an immediate urgency and thrust, with the evergreen Lin – who is becoming a try-scoring machine - going over for a forwards’ try to bring the score to 14-11.

The comeback was short-lived however, and the clock was against the visitors. Oxford rallied, and exploiting the merciless sleet and wind intelligently, scored two converted tries at the death to secure the game.

Full time score 28-11, with Oxford climbing to fifth in the table, BRFC at eighth.

On Saturday, BRFC travel to Royal Wootton Bassett, currently third, for another tough fixture (kick off 2pm).