By Bill Hooper TASC Press Officer

Cornwall had their final training session at home before embarking on Saturday morning to their base near Twickenham in readiness for Sunday’s Bill Beaumont Cup Final. It’s is this season the 125th year of the venerable County Championship.

Cornwall coach Graham Dawe was in upbeat mood on Thursday night as he prepares once again for a County Championship Final his ninth as either a player or coach and his third with Cornwall following those of 1989 and 91.

PHOTO – GRAHAM DAWE & IAN MORGAN CORNWALL’S COACHES

“We should be ready after tonight we’ve ticked all the boxes so hopefully we should be in good order going into Sunday. The boys have trained well this week with good intensity, we had good numbers though Craig Williams didn’t train which was a bit of a worry, but I would expect him to be OK for Sunday, he’s been one of our big performers over the whole of the campaign, but we have got options with Jamal Ford-Robinson and Rupert Freestone.

Dawe has the utmost respect for Sunday’s opponents. “Lancashire are always a tidy side with good players, I’ve had some good tussles with them over the years. They have a good base of National League 1 players and I know their coach Mark Nelson well, a very passionate coach who always gets the best out of his team.

“Having played in last year’s final will help the players as they will know what to expect, I remember the experience of having played against Durham in 1989 helped us greatly when we beat Yorkshire in 1991, if I can instil some clarity and composure in their performance then that will help them through the occasion.”

Playing in his first game ever at Twickenham on Sunday will be Cornwall’s fly-half Lewis Webb. Having missed last season’s campaign when away travelling Webb is keen to run out on the Twickenham turf. “I am really looking forward to Sunday I was gutted to miss it last year hopefully this year we can take that extra step and win it.

PHOTO – CORNISH ALL BLACKS FLY-HALF LEWIS WEBB WAS FORMERLY WITH PENRYN

“Graham and Ian coming in has made a big impact this year adding a bit of professionalism to us as a squad, Graham is very good with the forwards and is good with his tactical play and has a hard edge, whereas Ian takes a slightly different approach, he doesn’t mince his words and has a real passion for the side.”

Cornwall’s hooker Jamie Salter is also raring to go on Sunday. “It’s the second time I’ve been to Twickenham with Cornwall having played in the County Shield Final against Northumberland in 2007, but this time it’s the main event. I was disappointed to miss out last season but I am really looking forward to Sunday. We set out with the goal of not just to get to Twickenham but to bring home the cup.

PHOTO – JAMIE SALTER & TOM RAWLINGS CONGRATULATE LEWIS VINNICOMBE

After the County Final Jamie will be off with the England Counties squad to Georgia. “I am really proud to have been selected it’s nice to get the recognition but it also reflects on how well Cornwall have done this season with four of our squad making the team. My focus first and foremost is with Cornwall then after Sunday I’ll think about the tour to Georgia which will be a massive challenge.

Cornwall’s winger Lewis Vinnicombe another to make the selection for England Counties, his first call up since playing in France in 2006, has happy memories of last year’s final having scored one of Cornwall’s three tries. “I am looking forward to returning to Twickenham to play on that big pitch in front of a huge crowd is pretty exciting and hopefully the game will go our way this year. Last year I was pleased with my try but that’s my job to finish off moves and cross that whitewash.

“The Counties call up came as a pleasant surprise and I am chuffed to get the nod, I played against France in 2006 and we won that day so hopefully we can repeat the performance out in Georgia, they are renowned to being a big solid side with very much a forward orientated game so it should be interesting.”

The Cornwall team to play Lancashire, sees the return of winger Lewis Vinnicombe, whilst Darren Jacques keeps his starting place at loose-head prop. Jamal Ford-Robinson returns to the squad after his run out last Saturday for England Counties Under 20’s against the Georgians.
Lancashire again captained by England Counties fly-half Chris Johnson have no less than nine players from Bill Beaumont’s club Fylde in their starting line up with a further three on the bench.

CORNWALL: Kieron Lewitt (Cornish All Blacks), Lewis Vinnicombe (Truro), Ryan Westren, Nielson Webber (both Cornish All Blacks), Tom Notman (Redruth), Lewis Webb (Cornish All Blacks), Greg Goodfellow (Redruth); Darren Jacques (Truro), Jamie Salter (Cornish All Blacks), Craig Williams (Reduth), Ben Hilton (Cornish All Blacks, Capt), Damien Cook, Chris Fuca (both Redruth), Tom Rawlings, Barrie-John Chapman (both Cornish All Blacks)

Replacements: Richard Brown (Redruth), Jamal Ford-Robinson (Cambridge), Bryn Jenkins (Cornish All Blacks), Tony Whittle (Falmouth), Steve Johns (Birmingham & Solihull), Sam Parsons (Redruth), Matt Shepherd (St. Austell).

Travelling reserves: Rupert Freestone (Clifton), Joel Matavesi (Camborne)

LANCASHIRE: Sean Taylor (Preston Grasshoppers), Warren Spragg, Chris Briers (both Fylde), Matt Riley (Sedgley Park), Oli Brennand), Chris Johnson (Captain), Ryan De La Harpe; Adam Lewis, Mark Rylance (all Fylde), Ben Black, Louis McGowan (both Sedgley Park), Gareth Gore (Fylde), Gareth Rawlings (Longton), Evan Stewart (Fylde), Matt Lamprey (Sedgley Park).

Replacements: Simon Griffiths (Fylde), Peter Altham (Preston Grasshoppers), David Fairbrother (Fleetwood), Paul Arnold, Tom Burtonwood (both Fylde), Phil Baines (Preston Grasshoppers), Steve Collins (Sedgley Park)

By Bill Hooper TASC Press Officer

Cornwall go into Sunday’s Bill Beaumont Cup Final knowing they will need to create a little bit of history if they are to lift the trophy.

The Black and Golds will be looking to be crowned for only the fourth time as County Champions following their successes in 1908, 1991 and 1999.

For Lancashire, playing in a sixth consecutive final and seeking a twenty-third County Crown, they will travel south in the knowledge that in three previous meetings with Cornwall in the final, 1969, 1992 and last season, they have triumphed on each occasion.

Last year’s defeat 35-26 on a hot day at Twickenham saw Cornwall having to play catch up rugby for most of the game despite taking an early lead via a Paul Thirlby penalty. Errors were to prove costly as Lancashire capitalised with their swift backs to score tries through Ben Royle (2), Dominic Moon and Ben Rath. Each time Cornwall pulled a score back Lancashire scored again to keep their noses ahead.

Cornwall’s tries came from Nielson Webber a penalty try and Lewis Vinnicombe with Thirlby adding a conversion and three penalties.

In the second –half the momentum was with Cornwall as the pack took control but it was sadly too tall an order having to play catch up rugby on such a hot day.

It was Lancashire fly-half Chris Johnson who controlled the game with his touch kicking and three conversions, two penalties and a drop-goal.
Now another chance to add to Cornwall’s one major win over the red rose in 1958 when Cornwall won a thrilling semi-final at Redruth 14-8.

The game was nip and tuck until a penalty from Harold Stevens and a try scored by Ken Abrahams gave Cornwall a six-point margin. Lancashire threw the kitchen sink at Cornwall in a bid to turn the tide, but they foundered on the Cornish defence and Cornwall went through to the final against Warwickshire which they lost at Coventry 16-8.

For Cornwall RFU President Kenny Plummer a member of the side that lost to Lancashire in 1969 he hopes Cornwall can turn the tables at long last. He said. “A superb advert for Cornish rugby, the boys played with heart and passion in front of a mainly Cornish crowd in Hertfordshire. Now we travel to Twickenham next weekend where I want revenge. Revenge for the game I played and lost in, and revenge for our defeat last season, both against Lancashire. Boys go and play your hearts out in one of the best stadiums in the world for rugby, many dream of, but few ever, have the opportunity to play there.”

PHOTO – HEAD COACH GRAHAM DAWE MAKES A POINT IN TRAINING

Cornwall’s head coach Graham Dawe knows too well that the pressure will just continue to grow in the build up to Sunday’s game. He said. “This match was always going to be a real battle, and today the Cornish lads certainly earned their battle colours!! Good defence, a strong forward pack, exciting backs all contributed to the victory. Hertfordshire are a very strong team and we knew we must not only win, but dominate certain areas of play. We have some tired bodies now, but when you see the front row play the full 80 minutes, that’s what it means for them to play in this shirt. Now we work hard this week and prepare for the ultimate test Lancashire. We will train before selecting the match day squad which will be a real headache for us due to the quality and commitment of the squad who have played, and are on the fringes.”

PHOTO – SKIPPER BEN HILTON WITH PROP JESS TOMPSETT

Whilst Cornwall’s skipper Ben Hilton said. “We went to Hertfordshire with a game plan and stuck to it even though the weather changed so much prior and during the game. The guys knew what we had to do it was not as high scoring or with as many tries as are previous games, but getting the win was the important factor and takes us our second successive Twickenham appearance. He further commented; – What can I say about the support, magnificent as always and thank you everyone who made the effort to attend today’s match. The crowd was just over 550 and I think 500 of them were wearing or cheering the black and gold, absolutely awesome. Now we need to get the rallying call going out all across the Duchy for next weekend. All roads lead to Twickenham where we face the team that beat us last year Lancashire. It would be great if we could see that stadium turn black and gold.”

PHOTO – CORNWALL LOOKING SHARP

Speaking at the first training session held on Tuesday evening at Camborne RFC, assistant coach Ian Morgan having had time to further reflect on the Hertfordshire game summed up his feelings. He said. “We went up there to do a job and got it done. We knew we had to stop them playing and take the chances that came our way.

“I think we could have had further tries through our mauls but the referee had other ideas, at the end of the day we are pleased with the performance a win on the road is always great it may not have been pretty but hey ho we’d have take 3-0!!

Defence was key to Cornwall’s success on the day. “That’s what we worked on last week, we knew that was the key to winning the game. Our forwards gave us the platform to set up our driving mauls which killed Hertfordshire.

PHOTO DAVE & MORGAN ON THE BALL

Turning his thoughts towards Sunday and Lancashire Morgan said. “We are not too bothered about last season’s result, the past is the pass, there will be no talk this week about revenge or anything like that, we will concentrate on this as our next game and formulate our game plan that we believe will win us the game this is game number four if we get our game plan right on the day then we will cause them problems.

“Lancashire have had some close calls in their games on the road to Twickenham they scrapped through against both Yorkshire and Cheshire they have had a couple of close calls and will have to look at why that is.

“We have got some real selection issues this week with everyone available and raring to go, but I wouldn’t expect too many changes going into Sunday.”

Cornwall will train Thursday this week at Camborne RFC.

Team news from both camps when announced.

Congratulations to Cornish Pirates’ player/coach Alan Paver who has been appointed as Forwards Coach for the England Counties XV’s two-match tour to Georgia reports Cornish Pirates Media Officer Phil Westren.

The England side can expect two very tough fixtures against the Emerging Georgia team, with both games scheduled to take place at Georgia’s High Performance Centre in Tblisi. The first is to be played next Wednesday 4th June and the second on Sunday 8th June.

Of interest, as if to underline the developing strength of rugby in Georgia, at Cambridge on Saturday an England Counties under 20s side suffered a 23-22 defeat at the hands of Georgia under 20s.

Speaking with reference to his invite to help coach the England Counties XV, Alan, who has played for both Devon and Cornwall in the past, said:

“My fortune is on the back of someone else’s misfortune, as the current forwards coach had to drop out. Obviously I had to check that the club was happy for me to respond positively, but I needn’t have worried as there was immediate support and congratulations from Ian and colleagues.”

Photo – Alan Paver England Counties forwards coach this June.

Alan doesn’t profess to know too much about rugby in Georgia, other than it is clear that they are a developing strength. He added:

“People are taking them seriously and a number of their forwards are appearing in the French leagues. As for travelling to Georgia it is a tough place to go, but the England team will travel with a positive attitude and be competitive in both matches.

“For the players selected in the England Counties XV it is a fantastic opportunity.”

Plymouth Albion’s Head Coach, James Shanahan, will be in charge of the England Counties side, and the team will be led by Cornwall’s skipper and lock Ben Hilton.

Photo – Ben Hilton set to captain England Counties in Georgia

Joining Hilton in the 26-man squad are three other players who have represented Cornwall during this month. Prop Jamal Ford-Robinson (Cambridge) and wing Lewis Vinnicombe (Truro) have been previously capped by England Counties, as has Hilton, and joining them and looking forward to a first ‘cap’ is hooker Jamie Salter (Cornish All Blacks). All four players are also likely to appear for Cornwall against Lancashire on Sunday in the County Championship Final to be played at Twickenham.

Photo – Lewis Vinnicombe who returns to the England Counties squad for the first time since 2006

Photos – Simon Bryant Iktis photo & John Beach

Cornwall booked a final place in this season’s Bill Beaumont Cup Final next Sunday at the home of English rugby with a hard-fought win over Hertfordshire at Hoe Lane.

Bruised and battered bodies will need to heal this week but the prospect of another trip to Twickenham and a chance to put right the defeat last season at the hands of Lancashire should prove the boost the players need.

In difficult playing conditions the Cornish pack was once again the cornerstone of the famous win as the Black and Golds sucked the life out of the Hertfordshire eight.

Despite falling behind to an early penalty kicked by Hertfordshire fly-half Lawrence Rayner, Cornwall stormed back at their hosts with a trade-mark driving maul which saw No.8 BJ Chapman claim what was to prove the game’s only try.

Kieron Lewitt kicked a good conversion for a 7-3 lead, a lead Cornwall were never to relinquish.

Cornwall’s defence was sorely tested throughout the game; however the Cornish lads stuck to their defensive game plans to restrict Hertfordshire to just another Rayner penalty before half-time for the slimmest advantage of just a point 7-6 at the turn.

Hertfordshire lost their prop William Briggs sin-binned allowing Lewitt to increase Cornwall’s lead but that was soon cancelled out as Cornwall were also reduced to fourteen men when skipper Ben Hilton committed an indiscretion in the red zone allowing Rayner to pull three points back.

Lewitt stretched Cornwall’s lead once again with a second penalty on 57 minutes putting the Duchy 13-9 up.

The Cornish All Black’s full-back had further chances to put Cornwall further ahead on the scoreboard but his efforts failed to add to the score.

Hertfordshire looked to find a way back but the Cornish defence held firm, whilst the Cornish pack almost scored a second try to make the game safe but were deemed held up by the referee over the line.

Frusrations erupted near the final whistle with Hertfordshire No.8 Matt Chambers and Cornwall’s replacement lock Bryn Jenkins both sent to the bin for fighting.

When Cornwall got a final penalty St. Austell’s Matt Shepherd booted the ball into touch and the celebrations began!

The celebrations will be short-lived as the Cornwall squad will begin to prepare for next Sunday’s final at Twickenham which will kick-off at 12-15 pm. The Cornish side will look to get revenge for the defeat last season by Lancashire 35-26.

HERTFORDSHIRE 9pts
Penalties – Rayner (3)
Yellow Cards – Briggs (49), Chambers (80)

CORNWALL 13 pts
Try – Chapman, Conversion – Lewitt, Penalties – Lewitt (2)
Yellow Cards – Hilton (51), Jenkins (80)

Hertfordshire: H Robinson (Darlington MP), S Smart (Hertford), C Lombaard (Old Albanian), S Ellis (Luton), S Hankin (Bishop’s Stortford), L Rayner, S Liebenberg; W Briggs (all Old Albanian), W Roberts (Bishop’s Stortford), S Staff, L Bickle (Capt, both Old Albanian), B Odell, T MacDougall (both Hertford), O Cooper-Millar, M Chambers (both Old Albanian).

Replacements (all used): W Cope (Spalding), O Walliker (Swindon), H Green (Tring), J Corcoran (Hertford), A Mahoney (Bishop’s Stortford), J Sharp (Ampthill & District), D Holmes (Old Albanian).

Cornwall: K Lewitt (Cornish All Blacks), S Parsons (Redruth), R Westren, N Webber (Both Cornish All Blacks), T Notman (Redruth), L Webb (Cornish All Blacks), G Goodfellow (Redruth); D Jacques (Truro), J Salter (Cornish All Blacks), C Williams (Reduth), B Hilton (Cornish All Blacks Capt), D Cook, C Fuca (Both Redruth), T Rawlings, BJ Chapman (Both Cornish All Blacks).

Replacements (used): B Jenkins (Cornish All Blacks), S Johns (Birmingham & Solihull), M Shepherd (St. Austell), J Matavesi (Camborne)

Replacements (not used): R Brown, J Tompsett (Both Redruth), T Whittle (Falmouth).

Referee: James Clarke (RFU)

Crowd: 580

MATCH PHOTOS BY DAN BARBARY DAN REDS CAMERA MAN

Cornwall travel to Hoe Lane, home of Hertford RFC for Saturday’s winner takes all encounter with Hertfordshire, at stake a place in the final of the Bill Beaumont Cup on Sunday 1st June against in all probability holders Lancashire who defeated Cornwall in the 2013 final.

Both sides come into the match with identical records having both secured try-scoring bonus points in their previous two encounters.

Hoe Lane has proved an unhappy hunting ground for Cornwall in recent seasons however Cornwall coach Ian Morgan knows how to win on the ground as he kicked Cornwall’s winning points there in 2010 when Cornwall won 32-30 under the captaincy of Mark Richards.

Ryan Westren, Darren Jacques, Damien Cook, Ben Hilton, Tom Rawlings, Lewis Webb and Tom Notman are all survivors from that match day 22, no lacking of experience there then!

PHOTO DAMIEN COOK POWERS THROUGH HERTS LAST SEASON

Cornwall coach Ian Morgan said; – “The match against Gloucestershire was never going to be easy with people’s expectations high after last week’s win over North Midlands. Everyone involved with the squad knew this was going to be a tough mountain to climb; Gloucestershire teams are renowned for their power and were out to avenge their defeat of last week against Hertfordshire. The sun was lovely for the spectators but was really telling on the players and so we used our rolling substitutions and lots of hydration during the game. Everyone involved played with heart and pride to ensure a climax to the pool stage next week at Hertford RFC”.

Ian went on to say;- “The game on Saturday will be as difficult as any we have faced this season with Hertfordshire out to avenge the result of last season. They have a strong pack, fast backs, and on their home patch will be a real test for us. We will be working with our guys in training this week and travelling up on Friday night, we will travel with confidence in our abilities to get the job done.”

Changes there will have to be with prop Jamal Ford-Robinson selected to play for England Counties U.20’s against Georgia U.20’s on his club home pitch at Volac Park Cambridge, whilst backs Lewis Vinnicombe is unavailable this Saturday and Lewis Paterson has been forced to rule himself out of the rest of Cornwall’s campaign for personal reasons. Rupert Freestone is still unavailable after picking up an injury in the North Midlands game whilst Ben Priddey hasn’t recovered from the injury he sustained against Gloucestershire.

PHOTO RHODRI MCATEE BACK IN THE SIDE TO FACE HERTS

On the plus side winger/utility back Rhodri McAtee is available this week following his trip to the Amsterdam 7’s tournament and he replaces Vinnicombe on the wing. Darren Jacques steps up from the bench to start at loose-head prop.

The bench sees the return of Richard Brown (Redruth) as hooker cover with Jess Tompsett (Redruth) coming into the starting 22 as prop replacement for the first time in a Championship game. Sam Parsons completes a trio of new faces in the match-day 22 from Redruth as centre cover in place of Paterson, whilst Cornish All Blacks’ fly-half Jake Murphy completes the half-back cover with St. Austell’s Matt Shepherd who along with lock Bryn Jenkins (Cornish All Blacks) and back row Tony Whittle (Falmouth) are on the bench for the third game running.

PHOTO TRELAWNY’S ARMY WILL TRAVEL EN-MASSE TO HERTFORD SUPPORTED BY MANY CORNISH EXILES

Youngsters Joel Matavesi, who was on the bench at Camborne last week, is a travelling reserve along with Cornwall U.20 prop Tyler Gendall from St. Ives.

Cornwall Captain Ben Hilton was happy with his side’s performance against Gloucestershire. He said; – “This game proved that we have an excellent squad and team ethos, with players wanting to pull on the jersey and win!!! There were some tired bruised and battered bodies at the end of the game these guys fought hard for the shirt today. But having those young people form a tunnel as we ran onto the pitch was awesome, then their finals being played in front of such a crowd must have been a great rugby experience for them all”.

He further commented “This was a massive game and the crowd gave Gloucestershire a real Cornish rugby welcome, vocal but fair. The people who come to support us are second to none; you just have to see the attendance figures elsewhere to know we are the best supported county in the competition so a big thank you and it would be great to see so many of you at Hertford RFC next Saturday”.

Cornwall’s Number 8 Barrie-John Chapman knows that the game on Saturday is going to be a massive test for both sides. “They (Herts) know we are not going to travel all that way and gift them the game. We want this and it’s going to come down to who wants it the most on the day, I know we will go there and give 110% and hopefully we can come away with the win.”

It promises to be a titanic clash with the winners earning the place in a Twickenham final. Cornwall by virture of being the away side will be underdogs at Hertford but that will be a position that will favour them. They have the heart and determination to succeed as they long as they keep their discipline and take the points on offer then I feel that they can win their place at another Twickenham showpiece final.
UP CORNWALL!

CORNWALL: 15. Kieron Lewitt (Cornish All Blacks), 14. Rhodri McAtee (Redruth), 13. Ryan Westren, 12 Nielson Webber (Both Cornish All Blacks), 11. Tom Notman (Redruth), 10. Lewis Webb (Cornish All Blacks), 9. Greg Goodfellow (Redruth); 1.Darren Jacques (Truro), 2.Jamie Salter (Cornish All Blacks), 3. Craig Williams (Reduth), 4. Ben Hilton (Cornish All Blacks, Capt), 5.Damien Cook, 6.Chris Fuca (Both Redruth), 7.Tom Rawlings, 8.Barrie Chapman (Both Cornish All Blacks).

Replacements: 16.Richard Brown (Redruth), 17. Jess Tompsett (Redruth), 18. Bryn Jenkins (Cornish All Blacks), 19. Tony Whittle (Falmouth), 22. Sam Parsons (Redruth), 23. Jake Murphy (Cornish All Blacks) 24. Matt Shepherd (St. Austell).

Reserves to travel: Tyler Gendall (St. Ives), Joel Matavesi (Camborne)

This was a day that we all wish never happened but will remember for many a year. Two groups of young (and not so young) men came together to remember a friend, teammate and comrade. A crowd of some 500 joined them to celebrate the life of a man who was taken too young.

The evening began with a poignant last post and minutes silence with both teams lined up across the pitch.

The match was kicked off and a very entertaining game of three twenty minute periods ensued, with the ball being thrown about in barbarian style but with no quarter being given. The match ended in the Former Colts side edging out the Army Air Corps by 34 – 24. There then followed one of the most bizarre 20 minutes of rugby that has been seen at Redruth. All of the shirts were thrown into a pile and the players each selected a shirt in turn which ended up in Redruth seemingly having about 25 players to the army’s 20 with just about everybody playing out of position. Despite this the Army side (with some unlikely recruits) won 17 – 5. With honours even at 1 – 1 both side were warmly clapped off the field by the enthusiastic crowd.

In the clubhouse Dave Tresidder gave an excellent speech recalling the time James spent with the colts and Craig Bonds presented to Tracey Walters the actual shirt James wore as a colt. Redruth shirts were also presented to the Army and to Farnborough Rugby Club where James played his rugby recently. In return the club received from the Air Corps a magnificent large framed photo of a Lynx Helicopter by night.

An auction then took place with proceeds going to the Turner Syndrome Support Society, a charity close to James’ heart. The biding was as competitive as the rugby and over £10,000 was raised. Great effort.

Well done to all who supported and helped to organise the match and helped to celebrate the life of an admirable young man, gone but certainly not forgotten.

Corporal James ‘Bungle’ Walters – 3 Regiment Army Air Corps

11/01/1978 – 26/04/2014

PHOTOS – DAN BARBARY – DAN REDS CAMERAMAN

It was good to hear that Luke Cowan-Dickie had been called up to the England training squad in preparation for the game against the Barbarians on the 1st June and the following tour to New Zealand and the three tests along with Matt Kvesic from Gloucester who has Cornish connections.

Latest name to be added to the training party is former Cornish Pirates and Harlequins hooker Dave Ward. Well done lads.

Wouldn’t be great if Cornwall and these lads were at Twickenham on the same day!

Good to see the Cornish Pirates having a pre-season friendly against the Cornwall Cup winners Camborne, as well as games against Redruth, Aberavon and Rosslyn Park in their build up to the new Championship season during August.

CORNWALL made hay in the sunshine at Camborne on Saturday with a 33-27 over old foes Gloucestershire to set up a winner takes all contest at Hertford next Saturday at Hertfordshire who dispatched North Midlands 54-20 at Old Albanians reports Bill Hooper from the Recreation Ground.

The hot weather made it difficult for both sides with rolling subs being a god send for some of the wilting players. However, Cornwall lasted the pace the better to set up next Saturday’s enthralling encounter at Hertford.

PHOTO – MY MAN-OF-THE-MATCH BJ CHAPMAN ON THE CHARGE

After the match coach Graham Dawe gave his reaction to his side’s win. “It was a battle out there today, I think both sides gave everything, credit to our boys for coming out on top, all credit to Gloucestershire they came down to play some good rugby and they gave us a stern test.
We scored some good tries, two or three were well-worked using space and gaps to exploit, we built pressure and that leads to points.

“In the conditions it was a tough day for the forwards we tried to use the rolling subs to our advantage, unfortunately we lost Ben Priddey with a knock to the head and Craig Williams had run longer than we wanted, we managed the best we could, all credit to our back row who were superb today, it’s a team game but I thought Tom Rawlings tackled like a demon, BJ Chapman again made some big carries and Chris Fuca is the cement of the team really.

“I thought Tom Notman took his tries very well he showed his pace and agility and he certainly grew in stature today with that performance. Lewis Vinnicombe showed his alertness with his try, we are blessed with a couple of proven finishers out wide.”

It was Gloucestershire who made the better start kicking off playing towards the clubhouse end. Two early penalties from Chinnor wing Leo Fielding gave the visitors a useful 6-0 lead, which could have been more had they not butchered a try-scoring chance in the corner.

Slowly Cornwall started to get a foothold in the game, scrum-half Greg Goodfellow was a constant threat, whilst fly-half Lewis Webb spotted gaps and went for the break.

Good work from the rampant No.8 BJ Champan and centres Nielson Webber and Ryan Westren set up flying winger Tom Notman for Cornwall’s first try on 20 minutes in the Park Gate Corner, converted by full-back Kieron Lewitt.

PHOTO – KIERON LEWITT POINTS THE WAY FOR GREG GOODFELLOW

Moments later Cornwall had a second try as Goodfellow and flanker Chris Fuca traded passes before the scrum-half scooted in for an un-converted score.

Gloucestershire were dangerous with their centre pairing of Seb Rodwell and Jaike Carter a handful for the Cornish defence as was scrum-half Sam Arnott.

Both sides lost a player each to the sin-bin on the run up to half-time in separate incidents, prop Joe Smart for Gloucestershire and hooker Jamie Salter for Cornwall.

Salter’s yellow card saw Royal Navy player Ben Priddey, a three-try hero from the recent Army v Navy game at Twickenham, enter the fray.
Gloucestershire finished the half the stronger and in time added on hooker Tom Bozzard powered over for their opening try with Fielding adding the extras and a 13-12 lead to the visitors at the turn.

PHOTO – CRAIG WILLIAMS SCORES CORNWALL’S THIRD TRY

Playing down the slope second half Cornwall needed a big start and it really couldn’t have better. A ruck in the Gloucestershire twenty-two saw Goodfellow snipe once again his inside pass to prop Craig Williams saw the big red stride through the cover and head for the line with the speed of the Cornish Rivera , Lewitt’s conversion putting Cornwall back in the lead at 19-13.

The nip and tuck of the game continued as Gloucestershire again regained the advantage with the impressive Fielding scoring his side’s second try and again adding the extras for a 20-19 lead.

Cornish winger Lewis Vinnicombe charged down and gathered a clearance near the Gloucestershire line to get Cornwall’s fourth try and secure the try-scoring bonus point.

PHOTO – KIERON LEWITT TAKES ON GLOUCS
Then for the first time in the game Cornwall got some breathing space as Notman again finished off good work from Chapman to notch try number five, Lewitt was again on the money with the conversion.

Gloucestershire rallied with a controversial consolation try scored by flanker Loti Molitika, the ball appeared to have lost forward with Fielding again landing the extras to give themselves a useful losing bonus point.

CORNWALL 33 PTS
Tries: Notman (2), Goodfellow, Williams, Vinnicombe; Conversions: Lewitt (4).

Yellow Card: Salter (40)

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 27 PTS
Try: Bozzard, Fielding, Molitika; Conversions: Fielding (3); Penalties: Fielding (2).

Yellow Card: Smart (39)

Cornwall: K Lewitt (Cornish All Blacks), L Vinnicombe (Truro), R Westren, N Webber (both Cornish All Blacks), T Notman (Redruth), L Webb (Cornish All Blacks), G Goodfellow (Redruth); J Ford-Robinson (Cambridge), J Salter (Cornish All Blacks), C Williams (Redruth), B Hilton (Cornish All Blacks, Capt), D Cook, C Fuca (both Redruth), T Rawlings, B J Chapman (both Cornish All Blacks).

Replacements (used): B Priddey (Redruth & Royal Navy), D Jacques (Truro), Bryn Jenkins (Cornish All Blacks), L Paterson (Ivybridge), J Matavesi (Camborne).

Replacements not used: T Whittle (Falmouth), M Shepherd (St. Austell).

Gloucestershire: S Hawley, S Baker (both Cinderford), J Carter, S Rodwell (both Hartpury), L Fielding (Chinnor), M Wilcox (Cinderford), S Arnott (Lydney); J Smart T Bozzard (both Cinderford), S Fritchley (Old Centralians), B Scriven (Lydney), L Randall, L Molitika (both Cinderford), W Jones (Lydney Capt), M Uren (Dings Crusaders).

Replacements (all used): J Brooks (Cinderford), N Taylor (Hartpury), J Lloyd (Dings Crusaders), H Hone (Avonmouth OB’s), R Birkin, A Frame (both Cinderford), C Gervais (Old Redcliffians).

Referee: Paul Kimber (RFU).

Crowd: 2000

Cornwall-man-of-the-match: Big performances all over the park, but Barrie-John Chapman was simply awesome!

ALL PHOTOS BY SIMON BRYANT IKTISPHOTO

Cornwall go into the second pool match against Gloucestershire at Camborne this Saturday (kick-off 3 p.m.) buoyed by their fine win against North Midlands at Redruth last Saturday 65-22.

Gloucestershire travel to Cornwall on the back of a 30-19 defeat at Cinderford against Hertfordshire knowing that a second defeat will leave them in a battle to avoid relegation on the final day.

PHOTO JOHN BEACH – BJ CHAPMAN ON THE BREAK AGAINST NORTH MIDLANDS

Cornwall coach Graham Dawe isn’t one to get carried away as he knows that sterner tests are to come, beginning with visitors Gloucestershire this Saturday. He said. “Although we won the match against North Midlands there were areas of our game that we need to work on during this week. We had much of the play up front but we need to tighten up our defence before the game against Gloucestershire this week. It was good for us to introduce some new young faces into the match day squad. Nobody should be complacent over their place; we have a number of good quality players to select from for the next games”.

PHOTO – CORNWALL TRAINING AT CAMBORNE RFC YESTERDAY EVENING

Cornwall captain Ben Hilton was pleased with his players’ efforts and the support of the Cornish fans at Redruth. “Pulling on the Cornwall strip is a real honour for these guys and the battle scars and tiredness of the domestic season seems to fade away. It is also so pleasing that players from the different clubs join together at the end of each season to become team Cornwall. Our guys really appreciate the very loyal and large number of people who turned up support the team.” He further commented “The players really respond to the fans, and thanked them for attending and urged them to come along and support the team at the remaining games”.

A player who caught the eye last Saturday was young Cambridge prop Jamal Ford-Robinson, Jamal came up through the junior ranks at Penryn, Penzance & Newlyn and Redruth before attending the Leicester academy, he has already played for the full England Counties XV this season against France and Ireland. He spoke of his great thrill at playing for Cornwall last Saturday. He said. “It was great to come back and play at Redruth, at the beginning of the season I made my senior debut with Cambridge at Redruth, this time it was good to have the crowd on my side when we were scrummaging down in Hell fire corner during the first half the atmosphere was great and really lifted the pack. There is a real buzz within the camp going into this campaign which has given the boys a real lift, but the coaches are keeping our feet on the ground and we are just taking it one game at a time”.

PHOTO BY JOHN BEACH – JAMAL FORD-ROBINSON ON THE CHARGE

CRFU President Kenny Plummer who played for Cornwall in the 1969 County Championship Final at Redruth was delighted with Cornwall’s opening performance in tricky conditions. “A potential tricky first game against North Midlands was going to be a test for our squad. It ended with a well-deserved but hard-fought victory, winning 65 – 22. The weather conditions at Redruth were extremely blustery however apart from one shower it remained dry for the guys in the Black & Gold, I am extremely proud of the start they have made to this year’s campaign”.

Cornwall have been forced into making changes with the unavailability of winger Rhodri McAtee, who is competing at the Amsterdam 7’s tournament this weekend, and injury to fly-half Paul Thirlby. Tom Notman comes into the starting XV from the bench with Camborne’s Joel Matavesi, who enjoyed a fine game in the Cup Final against St. Austell coming onto the bench. Former Penryn and Cornish All Blacks’ Lewis Webb takes over the fly-half berth form the un-lucky Thirlby.

Tom Rawlings is fit having missed the Tamar Cup and North Midlands games and comes into the side in the back row at the expense of fellow All Black Lloyd Duke.

Darren Jacques unavailable last weekend comes back into the frame and will be on the bench.

Gloucestershire, so often Cornwall’s bête-noir in the 1970’s and 80’s, travel to Cornwall having lost their opening game to Hertfordshire at Cinderford 30-19 last Saturday.

Gloucestershire started poorly against their visitors who with the wind raced into a 20-5 half-time lead and then in the second half soaked up pressure seizing scoring chances to close out the game despite a mini-revival from the Gloucestershire side.

They have made some interesting changes with the dangerous Jaike Carter forming a club partnership at centre with Seb Rodwell and the abrasive Loti Molitika coming into the back row. Gloucestershire are always formidable opponents and they will hope to repeat the result of their Under 20’s against Cornwall earlier in the season at Camborne.

TEAMS UP

CORNWALL: 15. Kieron Lewitt (Cornish All Blacks), 14. Lewis Vinnicombe (Truro), 13. Ryan Westren, 12 Nielson Webber (Both Cornish All Blacks), 11. Tom Notman (Redruth), 10. Lewis Webb (Cornish All Blacks), 9. Greg Goodfellow (Redruth); 1.Jamal Ford-Robinson (Cambridge), 2.Jamie Salter (Cornish All Blacks), 3. Craig Williams (Reduth), 4. Ben Hilton (Cornish All Blacks, Capt), 5.Damien Cook, 6.Chris Fuca (Both Redruth), 7.Tom Rawlings, 8.Barrie Chapman (Both Cornish All Blacks).

Replacements: 16.Ben Priddey (Redruth & Royal Navy), 17. Darren Jacques (Truro), 18. Bryn Jenkins (Cornish All Blacks), 19. Tony Whittle (Falmouth), 20. Lewis Paterson (Ivybridge), 21. Matt Shepherd (St. Austell), 22. Joel Matavesi (Camborne)

Reserves : Richard Brown, Jess Tompsett (Both Redruth), Jake Murphy (Cornish All Blacks), Sam Parsons (Redruth)

GLOUCESTERSHIRE: 15. Stefan Hawley, 14. Sam Baker (both Cinderford), 13. Jaike Carter, 12. Seb Rodwell (both Hartpury ), 11. Leo Fielding (Chinnor), 10. Mike Wilcox (Cinderford), 9. Sam Arnott (Lydney); 1. Joe Smart, 2. Tom Bozzard (both Cinderford), 3. Scott Fritchley (Old Centrailians), 4. Brett Scriven (Lydney) 5. Lance Randall (Cinderford, 6. Loti Molitika (Cinderford ), 7. Will Jones (Lydney, Capt), 8. Mike Uren (Dings Crusaders).

Replacements: 16. James Brooks (Cinderford), 17. Nathan Taylor Hartpury),18. Josh Lloyd (Dings Crusaders), 19. Harry Hone (Avonmouth OB’s), 20. Roger Birkin 21. Alex Frame (Both Cinderford), 22. Christian Gervais (Old Redcliffians).

Cornwall began their Bill Beaumont Cup campaign with a comprehensive win over North Midlands at Redruth, reports Bill Hooper from the Recreation Ground.

The Black and Gold scored ten tries in total with four touchdowns during the first half which saw the try-scoring bonus point wrapped up at the turn as they led 31-8, before scoring a further six tries to end up 65-22 winners.

After the final whistle assistant coach Ian Morgan was delighted by his side’s result. He said. “I think if you had offered us that result before the match I’d have bitten your hand, a great win to start with but when we analysis the performance there will be areas to look at, we leaked three tries and we will need to review that.

“We got the spine of the team right a big strong scrum up front putting them under pressure from the off and then the half-backs dictating play. We are more than happy in scoring sixty-five points and can now build for Gloucestershire with some confidence.”

Equally satisfied with his side’s work was Cornwall skipper Ben Hilton. He said. “I am really pleased with that result, the conditions were not easy especially with that strong wind which made throwing-in at the lineout awkward and kicking not much easier, a great performance exactly what we needed to start off the campaign.

“There will be even greater expectation next time out after this performance, so it’s down to me and the team to respond to that pressure, despite their loss today Gloucestershire will be formidable opponents next Saturday if we take them lightly they will kill us so we must get our preparation right this week.

Cornwall were obliged to make a late change prior to kick-off when flanker Tom Rawlings had to drop out with a quad injury picked up during training last Thursday, fellow Cornish All Black Lloyd Duke was drafted in for a first championship start for the Black and Golds having previously been capped in the 2010 Tamar Cup match.

It was the Cornish pack which laid the foundations for this large win, playing down the slope during the first half towards Hell fire corner, Cornwall had their visitors on toast as they scrummaged North Midlands into the Cornish turf.

There were some fine performances on the pitch with prop Jamal Ford-Robinson again catching the eye with his runs, No.8 BJ Chapman a constant threat off the back of the scrum and scrum-half Greg Goodfellow putting Cornwall on the front foot.

Photo by Simon Bryant Iktisphoto – Jamal Ford-Robinson shows his strength

The opening score came following fine play from Goodfellow who set up winger Lewis Vinnicombe, the Truro winger ran in from 50 meters to score under the posts with just four minutes on the clock.

Photo by Simon Bryant Iktisphoto – BJ Chapman on the charge

Full-back Kieron Lewitt kicked the first of his six successful conversions, before landing a penalty just moments later to put Cornwall into double figures on the scoreboard.

North Midlands could not live with the searing pace of Goodfellow who scored a fine individual try for try number two, which Lewitt again converted.
It was then the turn of the pack to really get on top of their opponents a series of penalties taken as scrums by Cornwall eventually saw referee Nick Williams jog under the posts for a penalty-try, which Lewitt had no problems converting.

Having scored three early tries Cornwall began to use the rolling subs with Rupert Freestone, Tony Whittle and Tom Notman all getting an early run.
North Midlands got their first points on the board with a penalty by fly-half Alex Warner on 27 minutes, but back came Cornwall with a seconf penalty-try to secure the try-scoring bonus point, Lewitt again adding the extras for 31-3.

Winger David Evans got in at the scoreboard corner just before half-time for an un-converted try to leave Cornwall 31-8 to the good at the break.
With the slope in their favour North Midlands put Cornwall under early pressure in the second half with No.8 Drew Harper scoring a good try, which Warner converted.

Cornwall hit back with further scores, a breakaway score from winger Rhodri McAtee converted by Lewitt and then Notman raced on to kick-ahead by fly-half Paul Thirlby, which bounced over the defender’s head allowing Notman to hack on and score.

Hooker Jamie Salter came up with the ball following a powerful forward drive form the Cornish pack and then Notman completed his brace when he fielded a loose kick out of defence by North Midlands, swivelled and then beat the defender to go over the scoreboard corner for 53-15.

Chris Fuca back on as a replacement for skipper Ben Hilton was the next to get on the score-sheet finishing off a training pitch move involving Goodfellow and McAtee.

Photo – Simon Bryant Iktisphoto Chris Fuca scores try No. 9

North Midlands salvaged a bit of pride with a third try scored by flanker Niall Dacres which Warner converted, but fittingly it was Cornwall who had the final say with a tenth try scored by replacement back Lewis Paterson.

Photo – Simon Bryant Iktisphoto – Lewis Paterson heads for the try-line

The Cornish crowd were delighted at the final whistle and will now be anticipating the visit of a Gloucestershire at Camborne next Saturday who will be looking to bounce back after their opening day defeat at Cinderford to Hertfordshire 30-19.

Coach Graham Dawe wasn’t giving too much away after the game. He said. “We didn’t know too much about North Midlands, so to get a high scoring win today is a good start, the games ahead of us are going to be strong tests, over the next few days I’ll be talking to the players about certain aspects of the game. We will keep our feet on the ground and prepare well this week for Gloucestershire at Camborne next Saturday.”

Cornwall 65 pts
Tries – Vinnicombe, Goodfellow, Penalty-try (2), McAtee, Notman (2), Salter, Fuca, Paterson, Conversions – Lewitt (6), Penalty – Lewitt

North Midlands 22 pts
Tries – Evans, Harper, N Darces, Conversions – Warner (2), Penalty – Warner

Cornwall: K Lewitt (Cornish All Blacks), L Vinnicombe (Truro), R Westren, N Webber (Both Cornish All Blacks), R McAtee, P Thirlby, G Goodfellow (All Redruth); J Ford-Robinson (Cambridge), J Salter (Cornish All Blacks), C Williams (Reduth), B Hilton (Cornish All Blacks Capt), D Cook, C Fuca (Both Redruth), L Duke, BJ Chapman (Both Cornish All Blacks)

Replacements: R Brown (Redruth), R Freestone (Clifton), B Jenkins (Cornish All Blacks), T Whittle (Falmouth), L Paterson (Ivybridge), M Shepherd (St. Austell), T Notman (Redruth)

North Midlands: A Canning, D Evans (Both Birmingham & Solihull), S Smith (Bromsgrove), G Evans (Coventry), A Knight (Luctonians), A Warner (Bourneville), D Brazier (Bromsgrove); A Marfell (Luctonians), 2 W Radburn (Birmingham & Solihull, Capt), R Jones (Luctonians), C Goddard, M Spink (Both Birmingham & Solihull), N Dacres (Stourbridge), C Thomas (Moseley Oak), D Harper (Stourbridge).

Replacements: S Thorp (Birmingham & Solihull), G Belmonte (Bromsgrove), S Dacres (Bromsgrove), M Tibbatts (Coventry), R Petty (Birmingham & Solihull), T Jones (Luctonians), W Crane (Bromsgrove)

Referee: Nick Williams (RFU)
Crowd: 1300

Man-of-the-match: All the boys played well but another stand out performance from scrum-half Greg Goodfellow a constant threat.