ED Phillips was delighted to lead Oxfordshire to the biggest win in the county’s history.

The Banbury scrum half captained the side for the first time against Buckinghamshire last weekend.

And he helped the defending champions earn a dominant 76-27 victory in their Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 3 opener at Henley.

Phillips, who kicked 14 points, was thrilled to get off to a winning start.

He said: “Craig (Burrows, head coach) rang me on Thursday before the training session and asked if I would skipper the boys.

“I was obviously over the moon and bit his hand off.

“I don’t think me being captain had too much to do with the win.

“The way the boys gelled together was the reason, but I’ll take any credit that comes my way.”

Oxfordshire’s side included players from Chinnor, Henley, Banbury, Oxford Harlequins, Grove, Wallingford and Newbury Blues.

Despite having a number of new players in the squad, the side ran riot at Dry Leas.

It puts them in pole position to top Pool 1 ahead of this Saturday’s trip to Essex.

And Phillips was impressed with how well the team dominated the game.

He said: “We put pressure on ourselves after winning last year and we’ve probably got a stronger squad now.

“It was good to live up to the hype.

“It was about gelling together when you throw a team together from different sides.

“We seemed to click straight away, it’s a good sign.”