CORNISH PIRATES 46 – 14 REDRUTH

By Bill Hooper at the Mennaye Field.

Redruth will take plenty of positives from their game at the Greene King Championship side, it was a performance that pleased head coach Steve Larkins as the Reds look to build for next Saturday’s opening National League 2 South fixture at Southend. Larkins said after the match. “I thought we played very well and I think for the first hour you would have been hard pushed to tell the sides apart. We showed great enthusiasm during the game and showed up well both in attack and defence, you couldn’t fault us.

“We took our tries very well and I think our second try was the best of the game. We said to the lads if it’s on give it a go and I think Rhodri saw the opportunity to set the move in motion, great hands from Fucs and Browner slipped the tackle and got over the line put us in the lead at that stage.

“Despite the lack of game time I think to hold our own against a Championship side for a good hour and go toe to toe physically with them for the entire game was tremendous and I think we are in a good place prior to Southend. Yes we’ve only had the two games but they have been hard games and will stand us in good stead.

Redruth’s back row of Kyle Marriott, Chris Fuca and Owen Hambly got through a lot of work with locks Chis Bailey and Todd Prisk competing well at the lineout.

The combination of Rhodri McAtee and Greg Goodfellow at half back will cause the opposition plenty of headaches this season, whilst in mid-field Nielson Webber and Sam Parsons will pack a hefty punch going forward.

Despite a few knocks to players Larkins was happy it was nothing too serious. “One or two of the lads had a knocks so we took them off as a precaution but there was nothing serious and they should be fit for next week.”

Prior to the kick-off there was a minute’s silence in respect of Pirate’s supporter and volunteer Peter Cogbill and for Redruth’ s legendary player “Bonzo” Johns.

The first points scoring chance went the way of the Reds after just 3 minutes but full-back Murray Westren saw his effort sale wide of the posts.

The Pirates lost their skipper Chris Morgan very early in the game with a cut which required some twenty stitches, however fly-half Kieran Hallett gave the hosts the lead with a penalty soon after.

Having weathered the early pressure Redruth got back into the game with a series of penalties down in the clubhouse corner, which Westren kicked to touch. The Reds looked to set up a driving maul finally succeeding at the fourth attempt when the Pirates were down fourteen men after lock Will Graulich was yellow carded having taken Red’s skipper Chris Fuca out in the lineout, scrumhalf Greg Goodfellow getting the score.

Westren added the extras for a 7-3 lead. Goodfellow was at his incisive best making some good breaks and bouncing off tackles.

The Pirates soon re-gained the lead with a good try from Canadian full-back Matt Evans from a Luke Jones’ pass. Hallett slotted the conversion for a 10-7 advantage.

Brown’s try again converted by Westren saw the advantage swing back to the Reds as the game went over the half-hour mark.

Scrum-half Tom Kessell made a good break which led to a penalty for the Pirates, which was kicked to the corner, eventually prop Paul Andrew burrowed over for an un-converted try.

Then just on half-time Evans scored his second try of the game with Hallett adding the conversion for a 22-14 lead to the Cornish Pirates.

Kessell took a quick tap penalty in the Reds’ twenty-two early in the second half to run in the Pirate’s fourth try in the scoreboard corner with Hallett again on the money with the extras.

Both sides brought on a raft of replacements during the second half to give players much needed game time, among them last season’s Cornwall 18 group skipper Locryn Williams from the Pirates guesting for the Reds as replacement hooker.

Redruth went down to fourteen men after replacement fly-half Ashley Hosking was yellow carded.

The Pirates greater fitness began to tell as they ran in further tries from Hallett replacement scrum-half Mike Pope and replacement hooker Tom Channon with Hallett adding another couple of conversions.

Cornish Pirates: M Evans, L Jones, T Riley, R James, K Moyle, K Hallett, T Kessell; P Andrew, A Carpenter, A Jamieson, W Graulich, D Barry, C Morgan (capt), A Cheesman, L McGlone

Replacements – T Channon, J Ford-Robinson, T Gendall, W Carrick-Smith, B Howe, J Atkinson, C Pope, L May, T Hendrickson, M Bodilly, M Bolwell

Tries – Evans 27, 40+4; Andrew 35, Kessell 42, Hallett 59, Pope 67, Channon 77

Cons – Hallett 35, 40+4, 42, 59

Pens – Hallett 15

Yellow Card – Graulich 22-32

Redruth: M Westren, R Wedlake, N Webber, S Parsons, J.Kessell, R McAtee, G Goodfellow; J Tompsett, R Brown, C Williams, T Prisk, C Bailey, C Fuca (capt), O Hambly, K Marriott

Replacements – B Drew, L.Williams, T Phillips, J Lamsin, P Joyce, A Hosking, D Rutter, L Thomas D Bonds. T Notman

Tries – Goodfellow 23, Brown 31

Cons – Westren 23, 31

Yellow Card – Hosking 55-65

Referee – D.Proctor (RFU)

Attendance – 843

A true colossus of Cornish rugby Charles Robert “Bonzo” Johns has passed away at the age of 80.

He was a player revered not only by those he played with, but also and perhaps just important, those he played against.

Picture- Cornwall’s 1958 County Championship side, Bonzo middle of back row

This was so well epitomised the last time he played against Gloucestershire in 1970 when at the final whistle the whole of the Gloucestershire pack, which at that time included many International players, hoisted Bonzo on their shoulders and chaired him off the field in recognition of their great battles over the years. He was also a firm favourite with the crowd wherever he played, Bonzo loved the crowd and the crowd loved Bonzo. In the 1950’s and 60’s there wasn’t a household in Cornwall that didn’t know who was Bonzo.

Working on a Saturday morning as a coalman would see him cycle to Redruth from Portreath on his bicycle. Later on many will remember him on his milk round in the Redruth area always with his chirpy smile and chat.

It was his engaging personality and a huge smile that made him so popular with fellow players and the public.

I can well remember prior to the County Final in 1969, Cornish supporters parading a large mascot around the pitch at Redruth to huge cheers; needless to say the mascot was named Bonzo.

He was a player who possessed huge strength; once he had the ball you had a job to get it off him. He was a renowned srummager and powerful in the loose and driving with the ball from the front of the lineout. In those days if a player was driven into touch with the ball his side would retain possession when play re-started. “Driven into touch ref” Bonzo would plead to the official; invariably the decision went his way.

Picture Bonzo Johns in possession at the front of a Cornwall lineout vs Devon at Redruth.

Bonzo played all his career 21 years with Redruth and made his debut for the club at the age of sixteen. At that time he played mostly in the second row.

It wasn’t long before he caught the eye of the county selectors earning the first of his eighty-eight county caps, which stood as a record for well over twenty years, against the British Police at Camborne in September 1954.

He scored the only try in the Championship game against Somerset in October of the same year at Redruth as Cornwall topped the South West group in a run that saw them lose the semi-final against Middlesex at Redruth, however it was Bonzo who caught the eye with a tremendous performance winning lineout after lineout and driving down the pitch with the whole of Middlesex hanging on his back!

His performances saw him earn the first of many England trials but to the dismay of everyone in Cornwall and many beyond the Tamar he never got his England cap.

Moving up into the front row Bonzo would play for Cornwall in two County Championship Finals against Warwickshire in 1958 and Lancashire in 1969, both were to end in disappointment.

Despite not earning international recognition Bonzo was invited by the Barbarians to play in their prestigious Easter tour of Wales in 1962.

He faced the might of the Southern Hemisphere Nations playing for Cornwall & Devon against the All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies. His final appearance for Cornwall was in Clermont-Ferrand when Cornwall drew 11-11 with a powerful French Selection side boasting many future Internationals.

After his playing days Bonzo turned to rugby administration both at Redruth and for Cornwall. He was Chairman of Selectors when Cornwall triumphed at Twickenham in 1991 against Yorkshire. There would not have been many happier, nor broader smiles that Cornwall had after 83 years finally won another County Championship.

In 2000, Bonzo was made a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh with the bardic name Gwarier du Hag Owr, which translates to Black and Gold player, he was a true son of Cornwall.

The funeral will be held on Tuesday 2 September 2014 at Treswithian Downs Crematorium at 3pm.

Trelawnys Army Supporters Club wishes to extend its condolences to family and friends.

There is bound to be added interest this season in the fortunes of Cornwall’s premier rugby club from the Penryn club as two of their own are set to help the Cornish Pirates campaign in both the Championship and the British & Irish Cup.

Head coach Ian Davies knows a thing or two about checking out rugby talent both near and far and whilst he had his eye on prop Jamal Ford-Robinson for a while, many were surprised when he signed up Penryn’s promising lock Ben Trevaskis this summer.

However, Ben, son of former Penryn player and coach Paul Trevaskis, has been catching the eye with his performances for Penryn that led to his opportunity to sign for the Pirates.

The chance to go down to the Pirates was one that his home town club and his employers, Blue Flame, urged him to grasp with their blessings and backing.

Just prior to the Pirates’ first home pre-season game with Rosslyn Park I managed to catch up with Ben to see how he’d settled in to life a professional player. He said. “I feel that I’ve settled in well down here, it’s a big step up from Penryn and from training just two evenings a week to training every day but everyone has made me feel welcome down here and I feel I’ve fitted in well.

“The daily training has taken a bit of getting used to, the physicality of the sessions and pace is big step up from at Penryn, and to start with I felt spent but as I get more used to it I am finding it more comfortable to cope with.

Ben’s keen to see how far he can go this season and having got his first pre-season game under his belt at St. Austell last week he’s keen to progress further. “I hope to get myself in the mix for some of the Championship games as well as the British and Irish Cup matches, it’s a constant learning curve here which makes it all the more exciting but the aim this season is to learn and improve myself as best I can.

Ben hopes that his progression to the Pirates can be a beacon for other youngsters in the Falmouth/Penryn area, that they to, with hard work can catch the eye and get a chance.

There’s a bit of a Borough corner down the Mennaye this season with Jamal Ford-Robinson, Alex Ducker and Ben
“I played minis and juniors with Jamal at Penryn and he was in my tutor group at Penryn College and he’s a good mate and of course Alex was with us down at Penryn before returning to Camborne last season so it’s been good to have people I know being down here to help me fit in.

And when Ben gets home he conceded that father was waiting for a de-brief on the day’s events. “When I get home Dad want’s to know what I’ve been doing in fine detail, he’s proud of what I’ve managed to achieve and with him not coaching at the moment he’s got time to take plenty of interest.

Talking of Jamal I managed to speak to him after him after his home debut for the Cornish Pirates in the pre-season win over Rosslyn Park on Saturday.

Jamal came on as a replacement at half-time for Adam Jamieson and had a good forty minutes on the Mennaye pitch.

It was a great breakthrough season for the young prop last season which saw him capped for England Counties at both senior and Under 20 level as well as being one of the stars of Cornwall’s run in the County Championship and scoring a memorable try in the final at Twickenham.

On life down at the Mennaye. “I am loving it down here, I’ve been here since the beginning of July and settled in really well, the boys are a real good bunch and I’ve been made to feel really welcome. Looks like I am having some good banter with the crowd down on the “Naughty Boy’s Corner” so it’s all good.

Having been through Leicester Tiger’s Academy Jamal is used to the pressurised environment of professional rugby. “I was used to the training at the Academy but obviously it’s step up from last season at Cambridge and the physicality of the training here, it’s a massive step up from National League 2 South to the Championship but I will give it my best.

“Pre-season’s been good and we all enjoyed our trip to the Isles of Scilly and then last week to Guernsey where we a good game against the local side.

“I think the benefits of that showed in the game today, especially during the first half when we played some good rugby, but I think the second half showed that we still have some areas to work on but that’s what pre-season is all about.

And Jamal is keen to learn all he can from Ian Davies and Alan Paver about the art of scrummaging. “It’s one of the main reasons I came down here, I had a week with Paves out in Georgia with England Counties in June and I think they can help school me in the “dark arts” and it’s something I am really looking forward to.

“I just hope the preparation goes well so that I can be in the mix for the opening games of the Championship season we’ve got some great lads here and with Paul Andrew back at the club after his stint in the Premiership with Worcester places in the match day twenty-two are going to be tough to nail down.”

Whilst the tail end of Hurricane Bertha hasn’t quite broken the summer weather, it heralds that the end of summer and the start of the rugby season are just round the corner.

Preparations stepped up a gear last weekend with the first pre-season friendlies being played.

The Cornish Pirates continued their island hoping having enjoyed a week in the Scillies they moved on to the Channel Island of Guernsey to play their first pre-season fixture against the National 3 London & SE side.

Picture – Cornish Pirates on Tresco

Close ties have been built between Guernsey and the Pirates over the last couple of years with islanders Luke Jones and George Collenette both plying their trade in West Cornwall.

The match in Saint Peter Port was played over 3 x 30 minutes periods, with the Championship side running out winners 62-8.

Tom Kessell (2), Kieran Goss (2), Tyler Gendall, Darren Barry, Joe Atkinson, Alex Cheesman, Oliver Snook and an penalty-try award accounted for the five point scores, whilst Kieran Hallet (2) and Sam Marland (4) slotted the extras.

Guernsey Head Coach Jordan Reynolds said of the Pirates visit: “The experience our guys will get out of this week is something you could not put a price on, just being able to lean on them, engage with them and get ideas off them is going to be of massive benefit to us.”

Ian Davies, Cornish Pirates Director of Rugby was full of praise for the hospitality experienced during the trip and pleased with the final outcome.
“We have had a fantastic training week and have been impressed by the Guernsey club’s organisation and facilities.

The boys have enjoyed working with the community here and if the opportunity arose to visit again we’d welcome it with open arms.”

On Sunday afternoon the Cornish All Blacks travelled to Brickfields to take on Championship side Plymouth Albion in both sides first pre-season game.

The game was a good work out for both sides as they look to bed in their new signings. As you would expect, Albion had too much noose for the All Blacks winning 55-3. Both sides had a player red carded following a tiff between Albion player-coach Ruairi Cushion and the Cornish All Blacks’ former Plymouth player James Salter.

Sam Matavesi continues in his new role as hooker for Albion and got on the score sheet.

Launceston’s only points came via a Kieron Lewitt penalty during the first half.

Former St. Austell player Matt Shepherd made his debut at full back for the All Blacks though he moved to scrum-half later in the game.

Difficult for Launceston but they will look to step up when they face Newton Abbot on Friday evening under the Polson lights.

Congratulations to both Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickee on being included in Stuart Lancaster’s England squad training camp at Loughborough, which started yesterday for four days.

This week’s main pre-season fixtures;

Tues 12th Redruth v Exeter Academy 7.15pm
Thu 14th, Truro v Camborne 7.00 pm
Fri 15th Cornish All Blacks v Newton Abbot 7.45 pm
Sat 16th Cornish Pirates v Rosslyn Park 3.00 pm
Sat 16th St. Austell v Redruth 3.00pm

Four more gifted young rugby players have been added to the Cornish Pirates squad, reports Cornish Pirates’ Media Office Phil Westren. They are fly-half/utility back Sam Marland, fly-half Oliver Snook, hooker Dean Brooker, and back-rower Brad Howe. Brief profile details on each are as follows:-

Sam Marland

This 21-year-old back represented Cheshire Under 16s and was a member of the Myerscough Academy in Preston. He has played in Italy, firstly for Aironi’s Academy and then last season in Romagna Rugby Football Club’s senior side.

Oliver Snook

From North Yorkshire, Oliver, who is aged 20, formerly played for Otley Under 17s and then their senior side, and he has also gained experience playing two years in New Zealand. Based in Christchurch he represented Christchurch Old Boys in 2013, and then Marist Albion in 2014.

Dean Brooker

Aged 20, Bristol-born Dean was educated at Colstons School. He had two years playing at Hartpury College under the guidance of Alan Martinovic and then spent a season with Ealing Trailfinders. His honours include having played for South West Under 20s, whilst he has also featured for Gloucester Academy and for London Wasps Academy.

PHOTO – BRAD HOWE IN ACTION FOR CORNWALL UNDER 20’S AGAINST DEVON LAST SEASON AT PENRYN

Brad Howe

Of the players named Brad, who is aged just 18, is the only one who joins as a member of the recently announced Player Development Foundation, which was introduced by the Cornish Pirates to ensure that such players have an opportunity to see their potential fully developed here in Cornwall. Educated at Helston Community College and at Truro & Penwith College, Brad has played for Cornwall Under 20s and for the Exeter Chiefs Academy.

Commenting with reference to the latest squad acquisitions, the club’s Director of Rugby, Ian Davies, said:

“All four lads have impressed during their trial period with us and will be welcome additions to the squad.”

The Cornish Pirates, who are on the Isles of Scilly this week participating in team building and engaging the community, also took the opportunity during their sea crossing from Penzance on Wednesday to announce that Chris Morgan will captain the team this season with Canadian international Matt Evans confirmed as vice-skipper, reports Pirates’ Media Officer Phil Westren.

Photo – l-r Gavin Cattle, Chris Morgan, Ian Davies, Matt Evans & Alan Paver

Based at St. Mary’s following a near perfect sailing aboard the passenger vessel “Scillonian III”, the squad ventured across to Tresco on Wednesday afternoon and St. Martin’s on Thursday morning, before their scheduled return to the mainland on Friday pm.

Thanks are extended to all who have so warmly welcomed the players and coaches on the islands, with appreciation also to those supporting the visit, including the Isles Of Scilly Steamship Company, the Adam Mallon Sports Fund, Tresco Estate, Nick George of the Mermaid Inn, the New Inn at Tresco, the Sevenstones Inn on St. Martin’s, plus the school at St. Mary’s where the Pirates are camping.
Cris Morgan has led the Cornish Pirates a number of times in the past, including during last season when club captain Gavin Cattle was injured. His appointment will be a popular one, likewise Matt’s.

Having first played rugby for Burnham-on-Sea at the age of eight, Chris later went to Millfield School and then to Bristol when at the same time he started a chemistry degree at Cardiff University.

He had played for England U18s (Clubs), in a side captained by ‘Pirate’ Paul Devlin, and a year later played for England Schools 18 Group alongside players the calibre of Olly Barkley and James Simpson-Daniel, as well as the late Nick Duncombe.

Just part way through his first year of ‘Uni’, Chris was offered a full-time contract with the ‘Shoguns’ through the then Bristol boss Dean Ryan. He decided to give up his studies and made his Premiership debut against Wasps in 2001/02, which was a tremendous experience playing alongside players such as Julian White, Gareth Archer and Augustin Pichot, to name but a few of the then Bristol stars.

In 2005/06, Chris, who had played against us when Bristol were in National One, had a loan spell with the Cornish Pirates, making his debut away to Bedford. He impressed then, and did similarly when he played for Newbury Blues for two years.

Chris was really excited about joining the Cornish Pirates, and in his first full season played a total of 33 games (29 in the league) for the club. Also, after our last game he was presented with ‘The President’s Cup’ by Robin Turner, the award going to the player who, in the opinion of the President, had been the most outstanding contributor on the field during the season.

At the start of the 2009-10 campaign Chris was in tremendous form before injuring his knee at the end of September. He thankfully recovered by Christmas, however, and was back in action when the Pirates walloped Plymouth Albion 46-7 at Camborne.

A winner of the ‘Edwin Bryant Trophy’ at the end of 2010-11, Chris was also awarded the ‘John Stirling Cup for Commitment’ the following year. It was well deserved, the word ‘commitment’ suitably worthy, and he also took his total games tally to 123.

Injury, unfortunately, restricted Chris to making just five appearances in 2012/13, so it was of no surprise that he was hungry for regular action again in 2013/14. Thankfully he stayed more or less fully fit and enjoyed an outstanding season in making a further 27 appearances for the club. Receiving due recognition at the end of season awards he also scooped up four trophies, winning the ‘Edwin Bryant Trophy’ and the ‘Travelling Supporters Player of the Year’ awards, besides being the adjudged ‘Player of the Year’ and the ‘Players’ Player of the Year’.

When it was confirmed that the injury suffered by Wes Davies at Nottingham in October was worse than at first thought, and that he was likely to be unavailable for some time, the Cornish Pirates reacted quickly to replenish their squad by signing Matt.

A Canadian international full-back, Matt has been a star performer for the ‘Canucks’ since making his debut in 2008 and he had just played in the Rugby World Cup when it was announced that he would be joining the Cornish Pirates after firstly competing for Canada in the Pan American Games rugby 7s competition held in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he and his team incidentally won gold.

Matt, who was brought up in Wiltshire – his mum is Welsh but his dad is proudly English and is a former captain of Salisbury and Dorset & Wiltshire – moved to Vancouver Island when he was aged 11, and he could have qualified for England, Wales or Canada, where he ultimately qualified on residency grounds and gained his first cap against Ireland in Limerick in November, 2008. It was during a time when he attended Hartpury College, where his mentor was former Wales assistant coach Allan Lewis, who predicted a bright future for him.

His second game was at the Millennium Stadium against Wales, when members of his family, a number of whom live in Cardiff, naturally had divided loyalties. Of no surprise, even Matt himself had ambitions to play for Wales when he was a boy, but that changed with his move to Canada and he has been immensely proud to represent the Canucks.

In 2009, playing at full-back and wing, his tally of four made him top try-scorer in the Churchill Cup, and in the 2010 competition he excelled once more. Playing at fly-half, in the final against England Saxons he scored the individual try of the game.

Mentioning Matt’s try-scoring ability, ahead of his arrival into Cornwall it was remembered that he had scored against the Pirates in the past. A first try was registered when playing for Newport Gwent Dragons in their 27-11 points pre-season friendly win at the Mennaye Field in August, 2010, and he then scored a brace when the Pirates lost a British & Irish Cup encounter 34-32 away to Newport in January, 2011. To have lost the game in Wales at the very end was bitterly disappointing, but it had been a encounter when Matt again confirmed that he was a polished and talented performer.

In his first three seasons with the Pirates Matt played in 53 games and scored 30 tries.

Cornish rugby has lost one of it’s most famous sons with Harold Stevens, who famously captained Cornwall in defeat to Warwickshire in the 1958 County Championship Final played at Coventry’s Coundon Road Ground, sadly passing away this week following a long illness.

He was considered by many to be one of the finest Cornish three-quarters ever to take the field.

His rugby career started with St. Ives and he was part of the fine “Hakes” side of the early fifties.

Being a teacher at Trewirgie School in Redruth it was inevitable that the Reds would come calling for his services.

An elusive runner, a superb kicker, tactician and fierce tackler, he played mostly at centre after joining Redruth from St. Ives in 1953, he played 350 games for the Reds and gained 60 Cornwall caps before returning to play for St. Ives in 1960.

He captained Redruth during the 1954-55 and 1955-56 seasons.

During the 1957-58 season not only did Stevens captain Cornwall to the County Final, which included a semi-final win over Lancashire at Redruth, he also played for the Possibles in an England Trial and was considered unlucky not to have been capped for England.

The Barbarians picked him for their Easter tour to Wales in 1959.

He also played for Cornwall & Devon against the All Blacks in 1953, the Wallabies in 1958 and the Springboks in 1960 in three different positions, wing, centre and full-back.

After the 1958 County Final he wrote a letter of thanks to the Cornwall rugby supporters for their support at Coventry which was published in the West Briton.

Trelawnys Army Supporters Club extends it’s sincerest condolences to family and friends. The funeral will take place in St.Ives at 2.30pm on Tuesday 15th July at Fore Street Chapel. Parking is at St.Ives RFC and a shuttle bus to the church has been arranged.

By Bill Hooper TASC Press Officer at Twickenham Stadium

Lancashire again dashed Cornish hopes of Twickenham glory in a Bill Beaumont Cup Final where the game ebbed and flowed before a final surge from the cup holders secured a twenty-third county crown for the red rose in the Championship’s 125th year.

PHOTO – CORNWALL TEAM AT TWICKENHAM

In the player’s tunnel after the game Cornwall coach Graham Dawe was understandably disappointed that his side ended up second best on the day. He said. “I was pleased with the way we went about the game and get ourselves a two score lead, but we couldn’t hold onto it. We had done our homework on them but they played a simple and effective game very well.

“We looked to the bench quite early to try and give players a break conditions out there were very tough, last week at Hertford we didn’t use the bench but this week you want to give the players a run and see what they can offer this is very much a squad based team. We wanted to control the third quarter and then finish the game with our strongest formation as we anticipated a big finish from Lancashire.

“Lancashire’s game of coming around the corner and making yardage with their powerful players is hard to defend and very much energy draining but full-credit to our boys who stuck at it well.

PHOTO – LANCASHIRE TEAM AT TWICKENHAM

“After a defeat you are always disappointed and sometimes it works different ways. It will be interesting to see how the boys react they have come here twice in succession and lost on both occasions so we will see how many will look to come back on board next season following another tough league campaign.

“They are a good team and a great bunch of lads I expect they will get together and make the decision that they really want to give it another crack next season.”

Whereas twelve months ago Cornwall were forced to play catch up rugby for most of the game, this time Cornwall thanks to a superb first half performance saw a 26-10 lead established early during the second half crumble as Lancashire staged a remarkable comeback to score twenty-six unanswered points.

Cornwall spurned the chance of early points as full-back Kieron Lewitt pushed a penalty attempt wide on 4 minutes.

Lancashire’s skipper Chris Johnson – a thorn in Cornwall’s side last season and to be just as troublesome this time round – put his side on the scoreboard moments later as Cornwall conceded a penalty in their own twenty-two.

Lewitt made amends for his initial miss with Cornwall’s first points as the Cornish forwards earned a penalty from a scrum in front of the Lancashire posts.

Having again nudged his side ahead Johnson then added the extras to Lancashire’s opening try which came from a line out in the North East corner, lock Louis McGowan took the ball and then re-fed his hooker Mark Rylance who crashed over the line.

Cornwall’s scrum-half Greg Goodfellow was the usual spark getting Cornwall on the front foot and a trade-mark break from the flying Scot with support from fly-half Lewis Webb saw Cornwall earn a penalty with Lewitt reducing the deficit.

In mid-field centres Nielson Webber and Ryan Westren were industrious with Westren especially getting over the gain-line on occasions.

PHOTO – NOTMAN PULLED BACK !! PHOTO – DAN BARBARY

Goodfellow was at it again when he took a quick tap before his pass found winger Lewis Vinnicombe, the Truro flyer beat two players and then chipped the ball into Lancashire in-goal and won the race to the touchdown for a remarkable score which had the Cornish support on their feet. The officials were happy with the score and Lewitt added a good conversion from the touchline to put Cornwall 13-10 up.

PHOTO – VINNICOMBE GROUNDS THE BALL – PHOTO DAN BARBARY

Cornwall were well on top in the set-piece and when Lancashire’s veteran lock Paul Arnold was yellow carded for slapping Tom Rawlings across the face, Lewitt took full advantage adding another penalty score to Cornwall’s tally.

Tom Notman showed his pace and was close to a try before prop Jamal Ford-Robinson powered through some poor Lancashire defence to score Cornwall’s second try with Lewitt again on the money with the conversion and a 23-10 with 36 minutes played.

PHOTO – JAMAL FORD-ROBINSON CELEBRATES HIS TRY – PHOTO – DAN BARBARY

Webb put in a tremendous tackle to stop Johnson just prior to half-time.

Cornwall were obliged to make changes as the heat and intensity took it’s toil on the players with influential lock Damien Cook having to leave the field following a blow to the head.

Cornwall were the first to add points in the second half when Lewitt kicked a further penalty to put Cornwall more than two scores ahead at 26-10 and it seemed that Cornwall had built the foundations they needed to kick-on towards a fourth county crown, however Lancashire had other ideas and they dug deep into their resolve to claw their way little by little back into the game, Lancashire had heeded the lesson from last season when the Cornish pack almost snatched the game from them until a late score secured the win.

The Lancashire forwards kept the ball and began pounding the Cornish pack, Cornwall were forced into making energy sapping tackles to keep Lancashire at bay, Tony Whittle put in a big tackle to deny Lancashire on the Cornish line but the pressure was relentless with flanker Evian Stewart eventually grounding the ball over the line. Johnson’s conversion cut Cornwall’s lead to just nine points and they sniffed blood.

Lewitt missed with a crucial penalty opportunity which could have stemmed the Lancashire revival and then just two minutes later Johnson finished off a move from a catch and drive to bring Lancashire back to within four points.

Lancashire sensed the Cornish side was tiring retook the lead when No.8 Matt Lamprey crossed for Lancashire’s fourth try with Johnson adding the conversion for 29-26.

That score was a killer blow to Cornwall and the final nail in the coffin was knocked in when replacement hooker Tom Burtonwood scored try number five with just seven minutes remaining with Johnson again adding the extras to complete the scoring and securing Lancashire’s fifth title in six years and Cornwall’s fourth defeat to Lancashire in a county final.

Speaking after the game a visibly disappointed Cornwall captain Ben Hilton found it very hard to conceal his emotions. He said. “We are devastated to lose a game from a position that we had worked hard to build, Lancashire as we know are a good side we managed the end of the first half well and then Kieron kicked a penalty to nudge us sixteen points up but then we couldn’t get our hands on the ball and we had to soak up a tremendous amount of pressure to constantly defend like that in those conditions means that you will eventually make that crucial mistake and that is exactly what Lancashire hoped for.

“I want to apologise to all the supporters here and back home because I know how much Cornwall winning here at Twickenham means to them all and we the players feel that responsibility, we don’t come up here to pick up the silver medal. It was a great advert for county rugby and I hope the powers that be at Twickenham will sit up and take note that county rugby is not such a low level competition as some would have you believe.”

All I can say to Ben and all the Cornish players you have nothing to reproach yourselves for. We are proud of you all and for fifty minutes we dared believe that this might just be the day. One day it will be again!

CORNWALL 26 pts

Tries – Vinnicombe, Ford-Robinson, Conversions – Lewitt (2), Penalties – Lewitt (4)

LANCASHIRE 36 pts

Tries – Rylance, Stewart, Johnson, Lamprey, Burtonwood, Conversions – Johnson (4), Penalty – Johnson

Yellow Cards – Arnold (34), Fairbrother (77)

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 (all used): 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).

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

Referee: Andrew Rawson (RFU)

Assistant Referees: Veryan Boscawen & Ian Pengelly

Crowd approx: 15,000

Cornwall-man-of-the-match: Greg Goodfellow, at the heart of Cornwall’s best moments while on the field a constant threat.

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.