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.

CORNWALL begin their 2014 County Championship campaign at Redruth on Saturday with an opening fixture against The North Midlands.
Two years ago Cornwall enjoyed a 29-5 win over Saturday’s opponents at Camborne scoring five tries through Jamie Salter, Steve Johns, skipper Ben Hilton, Tom Rawlings and a penalty-try award.

PHOTO BY BILL HOOPER LINEOUT DRILL AT REDRUTH THURSDAY EVENING

This time round the Cornwall selectors have gone for an experienced side with the core of the pack that featured in the Tamar Cup match against Devon with Craig Williams skipper Ben Hilton and Tom Rawlings moving up from the bench.

At half-back the Redruth pairing of Greg Goodfellow and Paul Thirlby will look to dictate play, in mid-field the Launceston centre partnership of Ryan Westren and Nielson Webber get the nod with a back three of Kieron Lewitt Rhodri McAtee and Lewis Vinnicombe have pace and expierence.

The bench which has plenty of well seasoned names sees the return of hooker Richard Brown, who didn’t feature in the Tamar Cup, along with prop Rupert Freestone, who started the Tamar Cup match as did lock cover Bryn Jenkins, and half-back cover St. Austell’s Matt Shepherd. Lewis Paterson and Tom Notman are the other backs replacement, whilst Falmouth’s Tony Whittle did enough to impress in the Tamar Cup game to retain a berth on the bench as back row cover.

PHOTO BY SIMON BRYANT IKTISPHOTO – RICHARD BROWN BACK IN THE MATCH DAY SQUAD

The squad for Saturday had a final training session at Redruth on Thursday evening with Graham Dawe and Ian Morgan joined by Dawe’s old Cornwall team mate scrum-half Dave Rule to run the rule over the squad.

Prior to the session Cornwall’s captain Ben Hilton spoke to me. He said. “The excitement is building with the opening game so close, pressure on us to perform. The Cornish supporters expect a big performance and really the shirt deserves nothing less. Hopefully the squad that has been put together with the loyal core bunch, know what is expected and what is required. We want to win on Saturday and nothing else will do.

“A few weeks ago we were all feeling exhausted after a long hard club season but having now focused on Cornwall we all seem to have been reinvigorated by the prospect of another shot at a Twickenham final.

“We had great numbers for training at Truro on Tuesday almost enough for two match day squads, sadly there are players who will be disappointed at missing out this time round, but I know from experience that during the course of the Championship there will be opportunities for players who have missed out this weekend to come into the squad and stake their claim.

“I am very pleased for Tony Whittle who has made the Championship squad for the first time it’s a great honour for the Falmouth club to have a player playing in the county Championship once again.

PHOTO – GRAHAM DAWE CONDUCTS PACK DRILL

“With a great crowd behind us I am looking for a good win to set us up for the rest of the campaign, the crowd will have their role to play and I hope they turn out for us on Saturday.”

With regard to the North Midlands squad Stourbridge, Birmingham & Solihull, Bromsgrove and Luctonians have again given their enthusiastic support to the County Championship.

Birmingham & Solihull hooker Will Radburn will captain a side that includes nine newcomers in the starting XV with three more on the bench. Scrum-half David Brazier is the sole survivor in the North Midlands line up from the game two years ago though head coach Dan Protherough was an unused replacement that day.

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

Replacements: Richard Brown (Redruth), Rupert Freestone (Clifton), Bryn Jenkins (Cornish All Blacks), Tony Whittle (Falmouth), Lewis Paterson (Ivybridge), Matt Shepherd (St. Austell), Tom Notman (Redruth)

Reserves: Lewis Webb (Cornish All Blacks), Jess Tompsett (Redruth), Jake Murphy (Cornish All Blacks), Ian Venner (St. Austell)

North Midlands: 15 Adam Canning (Birmingham & Solihull); 14 David Evans (Birmingham & Solihull), 13 Scott Smith (Bromsgrove), 12 Greg Evans (Coventry), 11 Drew Cheshire (Luctonians); 10 Alex Warner (Bournville), 9 David Brazier (Bromsgrove); 1 Anthony Marfell (Luctonians), 2 Will Radburn (Birmingham & Solihull – captain), 3 Richard Jones (Luctonians), 4 Chris Goddard (Birmingham & Solihull), 5 Matt Spink (Birmingham & Solihull), 6 Niall Dacres (Stourbridge), 7 Charley Thomas (Moseley Oak), 8 Drew Harper (Stourbridge).

Replacements: Steffan Thorp (Birmingham & Solihull), Gino Belmonte (Bromsgrove), Solomon Dacres (Bromsgrove), Matt Tibbatts (Coventry), Rod Petty (Birmingham & Solihull), Tom Jones (Luctonians), Adam Knight (Luctonians)

CAMBORNE 24 –10 ST. AUSTELL

Camborne retained the Tribute Cornwall Knock Out Cup with in the end a convincing win over a brave St. Austell side who found the driving of the Cherry and Whites’ pack too much as the conditions at Redruth deteriorated during the second half.

For St .Austell it was a third loss in a county cup final and a second in three years having lost to Wadebridge Camels in 2012 and before that Camborne back in 1978.

After the game Saints skipper Matt Shepherd was clearly disappointed but acknowledged that the better team had won on the day. “We are very disappointed the weather conspired against us as the wet conditions suited Camborne’s game. I was pleased with our start as we are normally slow starters, we didn’t make the most of our early domination and then Camborne got back on level terms before half-time, we knew then it would be an uphill task.

For the cup winners man-of-the-match George Hall was pleased with his own performance as well as his side’s. “It was a good match, we expected a hard match and we got that they are a physical team. We had to match them up front to get on the front foot and we managed that. This is up there with our Boxing Day win over the Reds and a great way to round off our season.

Camborne skipper Steve Kenward was equally delighted having received the cup from CRFU President Ken Plummer. “Hats off to our forwards who really laid the platform for our win the boys did really well especially during the second half.

“I won the toss and elected to play into the wind, I knew that if we were within touching distance at half-time we could use the conditions to our favour second half. We arrived at half-time at 10 all so I was pretty happy, Joel Matavesi kicked very well to put us in good field position and then the pack did the business.”

It all began so brightly for St. Austell they began the game with the greater intensity and were rewarded with a try after just 14 minutes scored by winger Ashley Taylor following good work from prop Hugh Noot up in the scoreboard corner. Scrum-half Matt Shepherd kicked a fine conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The lead stretched to 10 points when Shepherd added a penalty shortly after.

Sadly for the Saints the game soon began to unravel as did the weather. Hooker Miles Davey was sin-binned as Camborne at last began to get a foot-hold in the game.

Camborne began to counter the threat of Shepherd and the Saints back three of Dan Pearce, Ben Chenoweth and Taylor, with some formidable work from their back row of Dave Roberts, Cameron Bone and man-of-the-match George Hall, whilst player coach John Griffiths showed his experience as the conditions began to worsen.

Good work from fly-half Richie Kevern and prop Leigh Hocking saw Bone go over for the Cherry and Whites’ first try on the half-hour mark.
Then Hall scooted in at the Piggy Lane corner to tie the scores with a second un-converted try just prior to half-time.

With the mist and drizzle swirling round the ground Camborne kept the ball tight in the second half with Mankee and Joel Matavesi kicking the Cherry and Whites into field position. The Camborne pack resorted to the pick and go which served them up three penalties, which Mankee converted to put them in a commanding position of 19-10 after 57 minutes.

The game was made safe with a third unconverted try scored by winger Rob Floyd in the scoreboard corner, 24-10.

St. Austell to their credit kept going to the end with No.8 Adam Kellow unlucky to have a try chalked off for a forward pass.

Near the end there was a minor dust up which saw Kellow and replacement scrum-half Dean Pascoe dispatched to the sin-bin, it mattered not as Camborne had their eighth Cornwall Cup safely secured.

Camborne: G Thirlby, R Floyd, L Manna, S Kenward (capt), J Matavesi, R Kevern, D Mankee (D Pascoe 67), N Endean (W Webster ht), S Bartle, L Hocking (M Hearn 67), J Griffiths (Reynolds 80+2), B Kemp, G Hall, C Bone (Woolcock 67), D Roberts.
Replacement (not used): L Chapple.

Camborne Scores: Tries – Bone, Hall, Floyd, Penalties – Mankee (3)

Yellow Card – Pascoe (80)

St Austell: D Pearce, A Taylor (S Tank 73), D Pellow (T Murley 80), A Welland, B Chenoweth (K Edwuzi 80), A Ashwin, M Shepherd (Capt), H Noott, M Davey (J Grigg , M Martin (P Rowe 80), M Vian, A Pearce, P Winterbottom (J Grigg 31-36), I Venner, A Kellow.

St. Austell Scores: Try – Taylor, Conversion – Shepherd, Penalty – Shepherd

Yellow Cards – Davey (26), Kellow (80)

Referee: Simon Lane (Devon RRS).

Crowd: 1,358

Man-of-the-match: George Hall (Camborne) a fine display from the Camborne blindside flanker, got through a lot of work over the ball at ruck time.

TRIBUTE CORNWALL CLUBS CUP FINAL
LISKEARD-LOOE 29 – 17 PERRANPORTH

Liskeard-Looe completed a league and cup double but they were made to work hard all the way by a plucky Perranporth side who took the game to the East Cornwall Lions especially during the first half before Liskeard-Looe’s fitness told and they pulled away during the second half.

The Brewers got off to a great start with a try after just 6 minutes play. A kick to the corner saw a catch-and-drive before the ball was moved wide with full-back David Rees scoring under the posts.

Prop Matt Burton slotted the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

Perranporth’s lead only lasted a few minutes as The Lions got back downfield and earned a succession of penalties which they kicked towards Hell fire corner with eventually No.8 Gareth Cooke crashing over, fly-half James Noel-Johnson slotted the conversion to tie the scores.

Perranporth almost conceded a second try when pressing in the Liskeard-Looe 22 when Lions winger Ben Kitto collected a loose ball and set off towards the Piggy lane corner, he was hauled down inches short of the line by Perranporth’s winger Charles Buscombe.

However, the Lions did get their second try shortly after when skipper Lewis Elliot made the most of a kick ahead by scrum-half Andrew Sheer, Noel-Johnson couldn’t add the extras.

Elliot then found himself in the sin-bin for pulling down a maul as Perranporth mounted the pressure. From a quick tap penalty Brewers fly-half Alex Wright darted over for their second try with Burton adding the extras and then a penalty on half-time for a well-deserved half-time lead 17-12.

Liskeard-Looe got their noses back in front when scrum-half Andrew Sheer darted over from close range though there appeared to be an element of a knock-on in the move! Noel-Johnson was once more on the money with the extras.

In the final quarter the Lions made the game safe with a further try scored by winger Kieran Underhill in the scoreboard corner which Noel-Johnson converted from the touchline and then with a penalty from the same player.

The win marked Liskeard Looe’s fourth win in the Clubs Cup in it’s various guises with a first since 2007.

After the game Stevie Arthur for Perranporth was proud of the boy’s efforts. “We came down and gave it our all, we had a big crowd that came down from Perranporth to cheer us on and I think Liskeard-Looe know they have been in a game today, it was good to play in front of big crowd today, normally we get about three and a couple of dogs at Ponsmere Valley, today Perran’s had a day out.

“All credit to them their scrum was good with a powerful catch-and-drive and line out, I felt in the loose we matched them if not edged it but without the first phase ball you are always struggling.”

For Liskeard-Looe skipper Lewis Elliot was delighted with his side’s win. “We were up against it at half-time and the wind pushed us down in that corner but at half-time just five points behind we felt we were in a good position to take it to them second half and we did that. Great to play in front of a big crowd, it’s been a great day out and to win the double this season really crowns the season.”

Liskeard-Looe: M Charlwood, K Underhill, P Regan, D Hannah, B Kitto, J Noel-Johnson, A Sheer; M Mander, T Nicholas, P Morford, M Davy, T Blake, L Elliott (Capt), J Townsend, G Cooke.

Replacements: S Patten, J McKay, T McLuckie, W Pepworth, M Porter, J Gavin.

Scores: Tries: Cooke, Elliott, Sheer, Underhill; Conversions – Noel-Johnson (3); Penalty – Noel-Johnson.

Yellow card: Liskeard-Looe: Elliott (31)

Perranporth: D Rees, C Walker, C Long, T Job, C Buscombe, A Wright, M Moncaster (Capt); M Burton, C Lampshire, P Stevenson, B Parker, D Shears, D Sheen, B Skuse, R Simmonds.

Replacements: D Bennetts, T Thipthorpe, G Beale, T Tiffin.

Perranporth: Tries: Rees, Wright; Conversions – Burton (2), Penalty – Burton.

Referee: Andy Robinson (Cornwall RRS).

Crowd: 835

Man-of-the-match: Andrew Sheer (Liskeard-Looe) Tremendous performance from the Lions’ scrum-half constant thorn in the side of Perran took his try well