Kent surprised even themselves by qualifying for the semi-finals as the best runners-up in the County Championship Plate despite losing their final pool match 18-0 against East Midlands at Bedford.

They now face Hampshire in the semi-finals at Basingstoke on Saturday.

Kent trailed 15-0 at half-time and conceded a second-half penalty leaving coach, Canterbury’s Danny Vaughan admitting: “The match was over and I’d done my ‘Sorry, but thanks for all your hard work and commitment’ speech when we found out we were still in the competition.

“We have had a few problems with injury and unavailability at the end of a long season but we will be doing our best to win the semi-final."