Cornwall Under 20s made a disappointing start to this season’s campaign, well beaten by a very good Devon side who dominated the game from start to finish.
The Devon win saw them retain the Brunel Cup, which both sides play for annually.
Head coach Richie Kevern was understandably very disappointed by his side’s performance. “We were second best today, what disappointed me most was the vulnerability of our set-piece. Our lineout never got going, whilst our scrum was OK for sixty minutes, when Devon brought on their replacements we went backwards.
“The lads will need to have a long hard look at themselves, ahead of our next game at Somerset next month.”
Cornwall were awarded an early kickable penalty, sadly Jack Statton’s effort went wide of the posts.
Devon were soon on the offensive, a speculative hack towards the Cornwall line saw flanker Isiah Akinrowo win the race to dot down the try.
Cornwall’s scrum was going well during this point of the game, they got a penalty that Statton kicked to the corner from the catch and drive, hooker Pete Harris bagged the try converted by Statton.
Disappointingly for Cornwall that was a good as it got. Devon began to dictate play with fly-half Matt Smale pulling the strings.
They got their reward when prop Dan Butt broke a tackle to score, Smale adding the extras before slotting a penalty shortly after.
Under pressure, Cornwall lost a player to the sin-bin, allowing Devon to pile on the pressure with wing Josef Webber dotting down in the corner, Smale’s conversion giving the visitors a useful 22-7 half-time lead.
Despite Devon also finding themselves down to fourteen men early in the second half, Smale scored and converted Devon’s fourth try.
Cornwall Rugby Football Union (CRFU) Under 20 County Championship campaign 2024 gets underway with their first fixture in the Jason Leonard Cup. The team hosts neighbours Devon for their first pool game of the competition on Sunday 10 March. The game will be played at Camborne RFC with a 2 pm kick off.
CRFU President Andy Reed said “It is great to get this year’s campaign off with a local tie against our neighbours Devon. We thank all our sponsors for their support and assistance with this group of players in this important game representing Cornwall. It is fantastic to see so many different clubs represented, and we thank them for their support to enable these fixtures to be played”.
Admission is by programme £5, with Under 16s free.
Both sides will also compete for the Brunel Cup in this fixture.
Cornwall have named Will Perkin (St Ives), pictured above, as the captain for the season, alongside him is another player from last season, Jack Statton from Launceston, who is the vice-captain.
Coach Rich Kevern said – “This will be a good test for this new set of young players. We start a fresh with a whole group of new players entering the competition for the first time. Playing Devon is never easy, playing Devon in the very first game of the season will be an even bigger challenge for these guys”.
Cornwall has a new coaching set up this season, so joining well established Rich Kevern is ex U20 player and current Cornish Pirates lock Steele Barker as the forward’s coach. Always keen to encourage young coaches into the game we see ex senior county player David Mankee assisting the backs with Rich, and Jago Sheppard another ex U20 and member of the winning 2022 team and current Camborne player assisting Steele with the forwards.
Cornwall Captain Will Perkin said, – “It is an honour to be asked to be captain the side for this season. I know the guys are up for a tough campaign as always and have trained well in preparation for this game. This is my second season with the 20’s and I know that it is a tough competition, and we will have to perform at our best in every game. We have had great numbers at training, and I know some guys will be disappointed not to be in the team, but this is a squad for the season so keep pushing us for those places, nobody’s shirt is fixed. For those who will run out with me on the 10th, we have a big task ahead of us but I’m confident in our ability”.
Cornwall ‘s second pool game will be Somerset away on Sunday 21st April at Taunton RFC with a 2 pm kick off time and then Gloucestershire at Cheltenham RFC on Sunday 5th May again with a 2 pm kick off.
We will be monitoring the weather this week. If there are any changes regarding the venue of the match this will be advised on the Cornwall RFU website and social media channels.
CORNWALL U.20: Harvey Penhallurick (Falmouth), Ben Roskilly (Penryn), Jack Statton (Launceston), Alfie Hammersley (Falmouth), Jack Keogh (St. Just), Dean Wills, Jacob Chapple (both Redruth); Rowan Lawrence (Falmouth), Pete Harris (St. Austell), Angus Williams (Penryn), Charlie Knight (Saltash), Will Perkin (Capt, St. Ives), Finn Lister (Penryn), Wes Eddy (Pirates Ams), Dom Ellery (Newquay Hornets).
Replacements: Dan Pope (Camborne SoM), Finn Holt (Redruth), George Oakley (St. Austell), Olly Derry, Will Symons (both Wadebridge Camels), Harry Walsh-Newton (Falmouth), Rhys Richards (Redruth).
Cornwall began their preparations for this season’s Bill Beaumont Cup campaign in an exciting match against a very lively Royal Navy side which ended all square on the night.
After a cagy opening it was the Navy who landed the first salvo when their wing Kane Teear-Bourge plucked a Cornish pass as the Black & Golds looked to play out of their twenty-two, to fly in under the posts. Full back Ben Chambers adding the simple conversion.
Roared on by the one thousand plus Tregorrick Park crowd, flanker Adam Hughes steamed up to the Navy twenty-two, the ball was re-cycled quickly by the forwards who went through a couple of phases before the ball got to wing Harry Larkins, via a Josh Matavesi pass, darting into the corner to score, full back Matt Shepherd judging the conversion to perfection.
Cornwall kept the momentum going when hooker Luis Powell finished off a great phase of play for the Black & Gold’s second try, which went unconverted.
The nip and tuck of the game continued as Navy skipper Kye Beasley made good ground into the Cornwall twenty-two, from an ensuing maul the Navy got over the line with hooker Jack Wright credited with the score.
Teear-Bourge time and again showed his pace out wide keeping the Cornwall defence on it’s toes.
Just before half-time Wright got his second try, again from a powerful Navy maul, with Chambers adding the extras, Navy turned around at the break 19-12 up.
Shepherd, fly-half Will Hennessy and flanker Cam Taylor had caught the eye for Cornwall in the opening period.
Kickable penalties were ignored by both sides as they looked to their set-piece. From a kick to the corner Cornwall got the drive on for Powell to score his second try of the game, Shepherd adding the extras to tie the scores.
With the game well into the final quarter and both sides emptying their benches, Cornwall’s No.8 Brandon Rowley cut a fine line to dot down a fourth try for the Black & Golds, Shepherd judging his third conversion to perfection.
Navy had a final broadside up their sleeves; a chip over the Cornwall defence was seized upon by Teear-Bourge who steamed in unopposed under the sticks for Danny Ronald to tie the game with his conversion.
Both sides had chances to win it, but a draw was a fair result at the final whistle.
After the final whistle, Cornwall head coach was satisfied with the result. He said. “Credit to the boys, they played for the shirt tonight, we can look back and perhaps if one or two lineouts had gone our way we could have made more of it. Our scrum went well, thought the reserve front row went well when they came on, overall we missed some chances in that second half.
“Hopefully the lads will go away and train hard, improve their fitness and look to fight their way into the squad come May.”
Francis Edwards looks at an interesting event that almost led to a Rugby League Club in Cornwall in 1912.
Reading time: 40 minutes
…I have sat in my living-room with my mother and father at home and seen a rugby league representative take sheafs of pound notes out of his pocket…but…I have never wanted to be paid for playing rugby…
~ Gareth Edwards, Gareth: An Autobiography, Stanley Paul & Co., 1978, p91. As Edwards makes clear in The Autobiography (Headline, 1999), his 1978 book professionalised him in the eyes of the WRU and he was barred from coaching.
…when I went, I said the right things in the Press…I ‘needed a new challenge’…that was bullshit…I needed security for my family…
~ Jonathan Davies, The Rugby Codebreakers, BBC documentary, 2018
Cornwall U20’s started off their 23/24 County Championship season with a fine win in a warm up game over the Camborne School of Mines XV, running out 48 – 7 winners. A large crowd of over 300 watched from the clubhouse touchline. The first half was scoreless, with both teams appearing to be nervous and the game was error strewn throughout. The Cornwall players seemed to be trying to force the game, which was the primary cause of the errors. Both teams had opportunities to cross the line, but both defences proved resolute.
Head coach Ritchie Kevern must have said something to fire the players up as the second half producing a much improved performance with the team scoring 8 tries, 4 of which were converted. A spirited CSM XV never gave up and their efforts were rewarded in the 74 minute with a converted try. They were well supported by a vociferous group of fellow students..
All the substitutes were used so the coaches had a good look at players and all are looking forward to the next warm up game v Cornwall Clubs at St Austell. There was a lot to take in from last night’s performance; a negative first half but a vastly improved second half. Four of the CSM XV are eligible for the County U20’s, so the coaches were able to cast their eyes over 29 players last night.
We use cookies to help give you the best possible browsing experience. By using our site, you are accepting our use of cookies. OKReject
Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.