Captain Henry Hindley led from the front as Rickmansworth School beat St Joan of Arc 29-17 in dramatic fashion to retain the Chess Cup on Wednesday.

A last-gasp try 12 months ago meant Rickmansworth went into the tenth annual meeting of the two schools as holders but it was Joan of Arc who started brightest, scoring a try to take the lead.

Rickmansworth got themselves back into contention with a try from pacey winger Alex Busby and a conversion from Hindley.

But Joan of Arc were not behind for long, scoring a converted try via Josh Harnett to take a 12-7 lead into half time.

Not to be deterred, the Scots Hill school side came roaring back in the second half. A well-worked try saw Hindley break through the Joan of Arc defence and cross the whitewash.

Two tries from winger Ollie Scott, one converted, saw momentum change hands as Rickmansworth moved out in front 24-12.

Rickmansworth weren’t finished there, with Busby adding another score before Joan of Arc pulled one try back to close the gap.