The Cornish Pirate’s final game of the season at the Mennaye against Jersey (won 28-24) was also the swansong for many of the current squad.
Amongst those know to be moving on is prop forward Paul Andrew a local lad who has made tremendous progress whilst being at the Pirates.

The former Cornwall U.20 star and indeed past Trelawny’s Army U.20 player of the year has signed for Aviva Premiership side Worcester Warriors for next season.

After the final whistle against Jersey, Paul gave us his thought’s about his time at the Cornish Pirates and his impending move to England!

“I’ve got so many good memories to take with me from my five years here. Two RFU Championship finals and of course a British & Irish Cup final win over Munster at Camborne, I’ve seen some good boys come and go during my time here but as a proud Cornishman it’s been a real privilege to play for the Cornish Pirates. I shall miss so many of the players and people involved with the club who have become firm friends. I am moving on for now, but who knows maybe in the future I could get a chance to return”!

Despite being signed whilst former coach Richard Hill was still in charge, Paul knows he will have to impress new coach Dean Ryan the former Gloucester coach and SKY pundit.

“Next season is going to be a big challenge for me, hopefully I can make an impact up there and break into the squad, but I am really excited by the prospect. Dean Ryan is coming in up there, he’s well-known and been part of the SKY team analysing rugby for them and this season was involved with Scotland during the Six Nations. He knows the game inside out and I am looking forward to learning from him and taking my game to the next level.
Paul won’t be alone if he fancies a group round for a pasty supper”.

“I will be joining a little Cornish group up there with centre Josh Matavesi –the Flying Cornish-Fijian – and former Pirate flanker Sam Betty who hails from just outside Truro, but I am sure after a few weeks I’ll be settled in at my new club and raring to go”.

Acting Cornish Pirates CEO Josh Lewsey talking to local media about his plans

Photo Simon Bryant

On Wednesday morning at the Mennaye Acting CEO of the Cornish Pirates, former England full back and World Cup winner, Josh Lewsey shared with the assembled members of the local media his vision to plot the Cornish Pirates course towards the Aviva Premiership.

The first thing that strikes you as you would expect is Josh’s total commitment to the job in hand and a firm belief that with the right structures and people in place he can deliver and put in place the right framework for success.

Of course the key is the delivery of the Stadium, which will open the door to the Premiership when the time comes, but for now the emphasis is to put in place his vision to take the club forward both on and off the field, it’s a vision shared by the coaching staff of Ian Davies and Harvey Biljon.

Looking to reverse the decline in spectator numbers that started to set in when the club relocated back from Camborne, Lewsey said that feedback from the supporters had suggested that the match day experience at the Mennaye was not good enough.

“We have to look at what we are offering on match days, not just that but what we are doing around that at a commercial level, we need to speculate to accumulate and upgrading the facilities that we offer will assist in re-connecting with the community.

To that effect the bulldozers will soon be in with the demolishing of the main grandstand and the rebuilding of a new grandstand over the summer along with the installation of floodlights at the ground.

Lewsey feels very strongly that the club has to re-establish lines of communication with the rest of Cornwall and to get the club’s message across to people from further afield, to this purpose the appointments of a full-time commercial manager and a full-time community manager are key to this process.
He also feels strongly that there is a strong regional connection that people will buy into, the feeling of belong to and coming from Cornwall is a strong sense of identity is something the Cornish Pirates need to tap into. “All my friends and former players from Wasps and England who are coming down for the weekend at St. Agnes they see the potential down here and they are extremely envious.

He is also under no illusion as to the challenges he faces to win over hearts and minds of those who remain sceptical to the idea of the Cornish Pirates and what they stand for.

“If the people of Cornwall get behind this club then I really do believe that it can become the Munster of English rugby. If people don’t get behind it then it won’t and that would be a great opportunity lost and something that will be very regretful.

“Ultimately people want to see quality sport, you saw the effect of the Olympic Games in London last year what it means, what it can do to galvanise people and ways to breaking down barriers, if you produce enough of a quality product and people have ownership of that, then that’s the opportunity. It’s trying to get people to see the bigger picture.

“We want to create an environment which appeals to greater cross-section of people to attend games. We want to see families and younger people coming into the ground to enjoy the match day experience that’s vital to grow the match day attendance with the values we aim to put in place I feel that will appeal to a younger generation of supporter.

On the playing side Lewsey hopes to have the Cornish Pirates capable for the Premiership by 2015, but that it would not be done by throwing money for a short- term fix, instead the club will be looking to identify young talented players to progress with the Cornish Pirates.

To that end connections are being put in place with local colleges and schools across the county.

The team will be back into training on June 10th and with a fitness program put in place by Faye Downey the squad will be put through their paces.

Training will be moved around the county during pre-season to further build community ties across Cornwall.

In another move to reconnect with the community a Cornish Pirates 7’s side will be entered into the Newquay 7’s with players picked from other Cornish clubs. There will also be an opportunity for this side to play at Twickenham against a British & Irish Lions 7’s side in mid August as part of a touch tournament.

The Cornish Pirates will play a friendly against Saracens at the Honourable Artillery Company ground situated near the City on Thursday August 22nd, with a further game against a Cornwall Select XV, with every club in the county being involved in the team, to be played at a revamped Mennaye on Friday 30th August under the new lights.

All in all exciting times lie ahead.

Photos courtesy of Simon Bryant Cornwall skipper Ben Hilton holds Tamar Cup aloft, TASC Chairman Phil Trevarton present Martin Rice with man-of-the-match award.

CORNWALL comfortably if unspectacularly retained the Tamar Cup against old foes Devon on a damp misty evening in Plymouth.

Cornwall were forced into making some late changes for the game with prop forward Darren Jacques (Redruth) not recovered from an ankle injury and flanker Tom Rawlings (Launceston) also missing through injury.

Martin Rice (Launceston) came into the front row and enjoyed a fine game capped by scoring Cornwall’s second try of the game during the second half. His performance on the night deservedly saw him named Trelawny’s Army man-of-the-match and pick up the award in memory of our late Chairman and much respected local rugby journalist Paul Bawden.

There was a good contingent up from St Austell RFC there to cheer on their boys in the Cornwall squad fly-half Matt Shepherd and replacement lock Adam Pearce. Saints have enjoyed a fine season and this was a fitting acknowledgement to the club.

Cornwall dominated opening period of the game but couldn’t turn possession into points.

Eventually Cornwall’s domination paid off as they were awarded a penalty from a scrum which saw Shepherd open Cornwall’ s account after 13 minutes.

Cornwall then began to string a few moves together with one such move involving centre Lewis Paterson forwards Chris Fuca, Damien Cook and Josh Lord just seeing the final pass go astray.

On the half-hour mark another flowing Cornish move saw full back Jo Parma heading for the corner only for Saltash’s Max Venables to save the day for Devon.
Pressure continued to mount on the Devon line with Paterson’s long pass reaching the onrushing Tom Notman on the wing, the Reds flyer finished in some style from 20 meters out in the marquee corner of the ground. Shepherd added the extras with a fine conversion from the touchline to put Cornwall 10-0 up.

Devon had a period of pressure prior to half-time, which resulted in Cornwall’s Richard Bright being yellow carded for a professional foul.

During the second half Cornwall despite numerous changes continued to dominate the game. It was good to see former Cornish Pirate and now of Plymouth Albion Rhodri McAtee come on his pace certainly injected some impetus into Cornwall’s play.

Cornwall got a lineout near the Devon line which Chris Fuca took to set up a driving maul which saw Rice power over for Cornwall’s second try. Shepherd maintained his fine kicking record with the conversion to make it 17-0 and the game was safe for the Black and Golds.

The biggest roar of the night came from the St Austell contingent as lock Adam Pearce made his county debut on 71 minutes.

Devon looked to salvage some pride with a score but Tom Goodman was denied by a great tap tackle by Jamie Salter, whilst Richard Friend was hauled down close to the line, Cornwall cleared the danger and saw out the rest of the game despite losing Paterson to a late yellow card for a professional foul.

Cornwall skipper Ben Hilton proudly held aloft the Tamar Cup having received the trophy from Devon RFU President Maureen Jackson.

Devon 0 pts

Cornwall 17 pts
Tries – Notman, Rice, Penalty – Shepherd, Conversions – Shepherd (2)
Yellow Cards – Bright (34), Paterson (80)

Cornwall: J Parma (Camborne), R Bright, L Paterson, N Webber (all Cornish All Blacks), T Notman (Redruth), S Perry (Barnstaple), M Shepherd (St Austell); M Rice (Cornish All Blacks), R Brown, C Williams, D Cook (both Redruth), B Hilton (Cornish All Blacks, capt), C Fuca (Redruth), J Goldsworthy (Camborne), J Lord (All Blacks).

Replacements (all used): L Vinnicombe (Redruth), B Drew (Redruth), J Salter (Plymouth Albion), M Hearn (Camborne), R McAtee (Plymouth Albion), A Pearce (St Austell), A Hosking (Redruth), L Duke, BJ Chapman, T Hurdwell (all Cornish All Blacks).

Referee: Mr D Parrett

Trelawny’s Army Paul Bawden Memorial Cornwall man-of-the-match: Martin Rice (Cornish All Blacks)

Crowd: 500

Footnote: Felt sorry for the poor maid who’s the PA announcer at Albion. Some rascal (no names) told her that Cornwall’s fly-half was non other than Cornwall Team Secretary Ewart White! At one point Ewart was in line for the man-of-the-match award!!!

Eventually the poor maid had to concede that the information she had been given was an error and that Matt Shepherd was in fact Cornwall’s fly-half. The “culprit”, member of a well known rugby family from Camborne, was last seen wearing a rather natty hat with pint in hand!!

ST. AUSTELL achieved promotion in front of their home fans some 800 plus at Tregorrick last Saturday when they defeated Exeter Saracens 38-5 putting them 11 points clear of second place Bideford with just one more game to play.

Saints scored six tries with a brace from Matt Shepherd who also kicked four conversions. Other tries came from Sam Tank, Mark Martin, Adam Kellow and Jack Nelson.

Penryn finished their home program with a good win defeating Honiton 34-3. Dan Booth, George Jones, Gareth Tedstone and Lewis Vague all scored tries for the Borough with Jake Seviour adding all four conversions and a couple of penalties.

Truro couldn’t do much against play-off bound Bideford, the North Devon side winning 20-3 at St. Clements with just a Jake Champion penalty to show of their efforts.

Bude lost a tight game at Wellington 23-22. Dan Pearce and Kyle Speare (2) scored their tries with Pearce kicking a penalty and two conversions.

Both Truro and Bude will enjoy next season at this level.

In the RFU Championship, the Cornish Pirates completed their away program with their televised visit to Meadow Lane to take on Martin Haag’s Nottingham. The Green & Whites have had a great season having qualified for the play-offs. An entertaining game saw the homeside hold on for a narrow 28-26 win. For the Pirates tries were scored by Matt Evans (2), skipper Gavin Cattle and Kieran Hallett, Hallett also added a couple of conversions whilst in the first half Aaron Penberthy booted over another conversion.

Pirates will end their season this Saturday at home to Jersey. It will be an opportunity to see the departing players one final time.

In National League 2 South, Redruth finally ended their losing run defeating Southend 38-22 with tries scored by Chris Fuca (2), Tom Notman (2), Neal Turner and the by now obligatory Penalty-try! Paul Thirlby kicked four conversions in the difficult wind.

Launceston had no joy on their trip to Canterbury losing 10-0.

In Tribute South West 1 West, Camborne beat Paignton 51-0 in a mud bath. Despite the conditions the Cherry & Whites scored seven tries through Ben Kemp, Ashley Lawton, Aaron Hunt, Steve Kenward, James Moore, Adam Notman and Grant Thirlby. Dave Mankee landed three conversions and a couple of penalties with Thirlby also kicking a couple of conversions.

Camborne need to win their final game of the season at home to Oldfield Old Boys to secure a play-off berth.

Wadebridge Camels won 22-16 at North Dorset. Adam Collings (2) a penalty-try and a try from Matt Ballard – his 22nd of the season and a new club record – saw Camels home

In London 2 SW, London Cornish playing their final game of the season ensured they stay up with a fine win over Portsmouth 38-10. Well done, it’s been a tough season but in the end they have celebrated their 50th anniversary in some style with back to back wins in their final two games.

In Tribute Cornwall & Devon League, Teignmouth made sure of the league with a 29-0 win over Hayle.

St. Ives finish runners-up and are also promoted despite being awarded the points against relegated Liskeard/Looe a friendly game was played with the Hakes winning 43-0.

Falmouth lost at Tiverton 32-0, whilst at the Mennaye Pirates Amateurs lost to Withycombe 20-12. Saltash defeated Newquay Hornets 15-12.

Cornwall have selected a useful side to defend their Tamar Cup against Devon at Plymouth Albion’s Brickfields Stadium on Monday night kick – off 7-30 pm.
Disappointingly the small number of Cornish Pirates’ players who have been training with the Cornwall squad have been withdrawn by the club and as I understand will not be participating in Cornwall’s County Championship campaign this season!

Cornwall still have a number of players to call on who are unable to make the Tamar Cup fixture notably from Plymouth Albion
However on a positive note, Pirate’s head coach Ian Davies along with players Gavin Cattle and Alan Paver will continue to assist Dave “Benji” Thomas and Steve Perry in preparing the squad.

Cornwall will use this game as preparation for their opening Championship match against Gloucestershire.
Both Cornwall and Devon have agreed to use up to twenty five players during the game.

Cornwall: J Parma (Camborne), R Bright, N Webber, L Paterson (all Cornish All Blacks), T Notman (Redruth), D Mankee (Camborne), M Shepherd (St Austell); D Jacques, R Brown, C Williams (all Redruth), B Hilton (All Blacks, capt), D Cook (Redruth), C Fuca (Redruth), T Rawlings, J Lord (both All Blacks).

Replacements: N Simmons (Redruth), L Yeo (All Blacks), L Vinnicombe (Redruth), S Perry (Barnstaple), M Rice (All Blacks), J Salter (Plymouth Albion), M Hearn (Camborne), L Collins (Redruth), J Goldsworthy (Camborne), L Duke (All Blacks).

A STOPPAGE time try scored by the men in red (only they wore blue) sent the Cornish Pirates tumbling out of the British & Irish Cup at the Quarter-Final stage last Sunday at the Mennaye.

The 10-9 loss effectively ended their season with just pride to play for in their remaining three RFU Championship fixtures. The first being their game at Rotherham Titans this evening followed by the Sky game at Nottingham on Sunday with Jersey rounding off the season at the Mennaye on Saturday week.

It will be a chance to bid a fond farewell to players who are moving on such as Paul Andrew (Worcester Warriors), Phil Burgess (England 7’s) and a well deserved retirement for Wes Davies who has served the Pirates so well having enjoyed two spells at the club.

Others too, will no doubt be playing their final game in the famous shirt, whilst some will no doubt be back once the “contract negotiations” are cut and dried!

Great to read news from Dicky Evans about plans to revamp the Mennaye with a new main stand and new flood lights amongst some of the works planned. This will give the Pirates greater flexibility in playing games with no doubt a few evening kick-offs to look forward to. You can read Dicky Evans’ statement in the following link.

Dick Straughan’s match report can be found in the following link

It was a day of mixed fortunes and big scores for both our National League 2 clubs. The Cornish All Blacks beat relegated Barking 74-10 scoring eleven tries at Polson Bridge. Whilst for Redruth their end of season woes continued with a 61-19 defeat at promotion chasing Henley Hawks.

Launceston v Barking match report from WMN here.

Henley Hawks v Redruth WMN match report here.

As widely expected Redruth scrum-half Greg Goodfellow got a three week ban for his red card at Canterbury. He will be available for Redruth’s final league game of the season against Taunton and for Cornwall’s County Championship campaign.

However, it looks like Launceston’s Mike Rawlings could miss the County Championship due to injury.

In the local leagues, Camborne kept up their push for a play-off place with an entertaining 43-20 win over Sidmouth. Ashley Lawton scored a couple of tries with Dave Mankee, Adam Notman, Luke Johnson and skipper Dave Roberts crossing the whitewash. Mankee kicking the rest of the points.

Wadebridge Camels had a narrow win at home against Thornbury 32-30. Sean Johns, James Grubb, Adam Blackmore and Cam Lees scored the Camels’ tries with James Grubb kicking the other points. That win lifts the Camels up to fifth in Tribute SW 1 West.

In Tribute Western Counties West, despite losing at Devonport Services last Saturday 27-24, St. Austell are all but crowned Champions as their nearest challengers Bideford failed to claim a bonus point win. The title should be sealed at Tregorrick when the Saints take on Exeter Saracens. Matt Shepherd scored a brace of tries with Jack Grigg and Adam Pearce also crossing. Shepherd also kicked two conversions.

Penryn with a few players missing and others playing out of position, won at Exeter Saracens 36-20. Grant Randlesome, Ethan Patterson (2), Gareth Tedstone, Alex Ducker and Lewis Vague. Ducker adding three conversions.

Bude defeated Tavistock 31-20 to ensure they remain at this level next season. Luke Dunkin, Olly Denford and Kyle Speare scored the tries with Dan Pearce kicking the other points with the boot.

Truro are just above Bude in the table as they lost at Torquay 29-13. Ashley Riches scored a try for the City boys near the end which Jake Champion converted to add to two penalties kicked earlier by Justyn Irons.

Up in London 2 SW London Cornish won their vital game at Old Alleynian 44-15 to finally banish any fears of the drop in their 50th season! Read DoR Dickon Moon’s report in the link

In Tribute Cornwall & Devon League, Champions-elect Teignmouth won at Falmouth 36-0.

Runners-up St. Ives won the derby against Hayle 25-7. For the Hakes Neil Corin (2), Tyler Gendall and Ellis Cox scored tries with Max Bodilly kicking a conversion and a penalty.

Pirates Amateurs lost at OPM’s 31-14. Matt Nicholas and Stephen Osbourne crossing for the Ams with Rhys Brownfield adding a conversion.

Saltash won the East Cornwall derby and Liskeard/Looe 41-15. Max Vennables scored 26 points with two tries, other tries came from Sean Crawford, Joe Skinnard and Josh Webb. For the Lions who will be plying their trade in Cornwall 1 next season, Lewis Elliot, Ben Kitto and Gareth Cook scored tries.

Finally, congratulations to Wadebridge Camels prop Zac Cinnamond who has been selected for the England Counties U.20 tour to Georgia next month. See link

SADLY, there was no glorious win to take St Austell RFC to rugby HQ in the semi-final of the RFU Intermediate Cup last Saturday. The Saints fell at the penultimate hurdle at Brighton’s Waterhall Playing Fields ground by 31-19, they did cover themselves in glory and did both St Austell and Cornwall proud.

Read Paul Hayes match report from the Saints website in the link here

Also Director of Rugby Steve Murley’s thoughts in the link here.

St Austell will now concentrate on finish their league season and be crowned Tribute Western Counties West Champions.

Congratulations to Camborne and Veor who ensured a “Town” double with victories in the Tribute Cornwall RFU Cup Finals at Penryn on Easter Saturday. Camborne defeated holders Wadebridge Camels 22-0, whilst Veor overcame Stithians 17-9.

Camborne v Wadebridge Camels report in the link

Veor v Stithians report in this link

There was some league action over the weekend on Easter Sunday the Cornish Pirates took on Bedford Blues in the RFU Championship. It was a game the Pirates needed to win to keep their slim hopes of qualifying for the play-offs alive. Sadly it was not to be as the Blues won at the Mennaye 26-18. You can read Woll’s match report from the Official site in the link

In National League 2 South more misery for Redruth as they slipped to a fourth defeat on the trot as they lost at the Rec to Shelford by 36-28. Bill Sobey’s match report from the Morning News can be found here

There was better news for Redruth on Easter Monday when they retained the Rodda’s Milk Cup at Camborne 43-31. You can read my report in this link

Better news from Polson were the Cornish All Blacks defeated Bournemouth 35-22, with Lewis Paterson grabbing a couple of tries. You can read Dick Benson-Gyles report from the Morning News in the link

In Tribute Western Counties West Truro played their outstanding fixture at Wellington but lost 51-24.

In Tribute Cornwall & Devon League Pirates Amateurs defeated Newquay Hornets 13-8

In the final game outstanding in Tribute Cornwall 2 bottom side Lankelly-Fowey finished on a high defeating Camelford 17-10.

Congratulations to Truro College boys Matt Bolwell and Luke Chapman who spent Easter over in France at the FIRA-AER Justin Bridou U.18 European Championships playing for England.

England won the final played at Grenoble’s Stade des Alps in front of a crowd of 15,000 against hosts France 27-22 with Bolwell scoring the first of England’s three tries in the final.

Also in action at the weekend was young Pirate Jack Stanley who played for England U.16’s against Italy at Litchfield. Jack is also in contention for this Saturday’s game against Wales.

This Sunday will see the Cornish Pirates’ Quarter-Final tie in the British & Irish Cup at the Mennaye against MUNSTER. Kick-off is 3-00 pm.

LAST weekend was certainly am important one in St Austell’s season with a comprehensive 48-10 win over Bude which has virtually confirmed them as Tribute Western Counties West Champions for 2012/13. One more win will make it cast iron certain but for Bideford to catch the Saints will require an extraordinary run of results.

Adam Kellow (2), Mark Vian, Matt Shepherd (2), Andy Ashwin, James Earp and Sam Tank all crossed for the Saints, whilst Shepherd added four of the five conversions with Ashwin the fifth. Dan Pearce scored all of Bude’s points with a converted try and a penalty.

This Saturday St. Austell travel to play Brighton Blues in the semi-final of the RFU Intermediate Cup. A Twickenham final would be the icing on the cake for a remarkable season. I am sure I speak for all in Cornwall in wishing St Austell; Good Luck on Saturday, they will do the town and Cornwall proud.

I watched the only other Western Counties West match involving a Cornish side on Saturday when Penryn entertained Devonport Services.It was a frustrating afternoon for the Borough faithful with 80% of territory and possession Penryn really should have won, however the Services defended stoutly and took the few chances that came their way.

Trailing 12-0 at the break it wasn’t until the final 10 minutes that Borough got a score when winger Alex Ducker rounded off a fine move in the College corner adding a fine conversion to boot. Ducker almost broke away for a second try moments later but the sticky pitch hindered the Penryn flyer. Services held out to end Penryn’s fine run of late. Final score 12-7 to the visitors.

With the Cornish Pirates RFU Championship match at Rotherham twice postponed within 24 hours and Launceston not having a match in National League 2 South it was left to Redruth to hopefully end their run of losses at Dings Crusaders. Sadly it was not to be as the home side won 16-14 to leave the Reds to contemplate another season at this level next term. Scrum-half Greg Goodfellow and winger Lewis Vinnicombe scored the Reds’ tries. For Vinnicombe it was his 100th try for the club! Some record. Paul Thirlby kicked the conversions.

In South West 1 West, Camborne kept up their challenge with a 20-13 win at Bridgwater & Albion. Joe Parma (2) and James Goldsworthy scored the Cherry & Whites’ tries with Dave Mankee kicking the rest of the points.

Wadebridge Camels went down 41-0 at Cullompton.

This Saturday Camborne and Wadebridge Camels meet in the Tribute Cornwall Cup Final at Penryn RFC kick-off 4-30 pm.

In Tribute Cornwall & Devon League, St Ives put their Cornwall Cup disappointment behind them with a 30-3 win over Falmouth to secure promotion back to Western Counties West next season. Ben Taylor (3), Josh Palmer and Ellis Cox scored the Hakes’ tries with Jacob Ninnes kicking the rest of the points. For the Eagles Rob Banks kicked a penalty.

Saltash won the other Cornish derby 41-22 against Hayle. Ryan Cruickshanks and Joe Skinnard both bagged a brace of tries with Will Morton a fifth for the Ashes. Max Vennables kicked all five conversions and a couple of penalties.

The final Saturday of matches in both Tribute Cornwall 1 & 2 saw the Champions confirmed. Veor’s win over St Agnes 26-5 see’s them confirmed champions and back into the Cornwall & Devon League next term. Stithians won at relegated St Just 75-5 and will be in the play-off against the runners-up from Devon 1.

Joining St Just in Cornwall 2 next season will be Roseland who signed off with a 12-11 win over Helston.

In Cornwall 2 Champions Bodmin beat Camelford 64-8, Illogan Park and St Day drew 24 all whilst Redruth Albany won at Lankelly-Fowey 33-15. Camborne School of Mines accompany Bodmin back up to Cornwall 1 next season.

Also on Saturday it’s the Tribute Cornwall Clubs Cup at Penryn RFC with the top two from Cornwall 1 battling it out. Veor v Stithians kicks off at 2-15 pm.

Congratulations to Luke Chapman and Matt Bolwell who this week have been in the French Alps competing with England U.18’s in the Justin Bridou FIRA-AER Championships. Wins over Portugal and Scotland see them in the final to be played on Saturday against France at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble.

Also this weekend sees Redruth’s Neil Broadbank and Tom Hendrickson along with Camels Zac Cinnamond take part for the South West in the RFU U.20’s Festival at Welbeck College.

Easter weekend will see the arrival of tourists Old Dunstonians for their games against Penryn, Falmouth and Truro. Also on Sunday the Penryn Easter 7’s. Not forgetting the Cornish Pirates match against Bedford Blues at the Mennaye.

Fifty Shades of Beige – A 6 Nations Reprise Part 1.

THERE WAS REALLY no need for any black and gold smoke to billow out of the chimney at a chilly Truro College on Monday evening, as largely expected last season’s skipper Ben Hilton (Cornish All Blacks) was confirmed to lead the Duchy’s quest for a fourth county championship title in 2013.

Hilton, though confessed surprise at being re-appointed. He said.”The trend in recent years has been to appoint a fresh captain each season, having said that I am extremely honoured at being re-appointed. There are some excellent players in our squad anyone of which could easily have been appointed, Tom Rawlings (Cornish All Blacks), Chris Fuca and Darren Jacques (both Redruth) could easily have done a very good job. I know I can count on them to help me with the side and that is a big plus”.

“The whole squad really want to reward the loyal Cornish rugby supporters. Let’s give them something to celebrate!!”

Cornwall’s Head Coach Dave “Benji” Thomas was equally satisfied with the appointment. He said. “The 2013 season will be very challenging with away games to Gloucestershire and then Kent before our only home game against Hertfordshire on Saturday 18th May. Choosing the right leader for players from different clubs is important and Ben Hilton certainly meets our needs and can build on his leadership from last season.”

Chair of selectors Terry Carter was also pleased with Hilton’s appointment and by the encouraging turnout of the players on a cold Monday evening at Truro College. “Ben captained the side four or five seasons ago (when Cornwall travelled to Brittany) he then lost the armband but he has stuck with us through thick and thin despite having offers from another county to play for them. Last season he was an inspirational captain for us so I am delighted that he has been given another chance to lead the side, hopefully back to Twickenham!”

Away from County news and a quick review of league and cup matches over the past fortnight.

In the Championship the Cornish Pirates’ got back to winning ways with a hard-fought win over Moseley at the Mennaye 17-14. When it looked like their chances of making the play-offs had as good as evaporated, other club’s frailties have again opened the door and whilst the chink of light is small there is still a glimmer of hope!

Two big pieces of news from the Mennaye is the departure of Rod Coward as CEO, although he remains on the board of Penzance & Newlyn RFC and will continue to represent the club at the RFU.

In Rod’s place as an interim appointment come former England World Cup winner Josh Lewsey, who as many know has a home in St Agnes. As Dicky Evans said in his press release on the Pirates’ website “Why would Josh want to help the Pirates you may ask? His greatest passion is the advocating of Values through Sport to Communities and having a home in St Agnes, caring hugely about the county, is therefore keen to help a club and community for which he has a great affinity with.”

“Josh and I have been in touch for a couple of years on the future of rugby in Cornwall, the Pirates and the stadium and his advice to me behind the scenes has been invaluable.”

In National League 2 South, it looks like Redruth’s promotion hopes have been dealt a fatal blow with consecutive loses at home to Hartpury College and then last week at Canterbury. Whilst all is not lost the chances of promotion have receded and I reckon they will probably finish at best fourth in the league. The probable loss through suspension of scrum-half Greg Goodfellow who was red carded last Saturday will also hinder the Redruth side.

The Cornish All Blacks have also suffered two successive defeats losing on the road at both Lydney and Shelford, though a mid-table finish looks secure.

In Tribute South West 1 West, Camborne having defeated North Petherton two weeks ago look likely to finish runners-up and go into a play-off against Old Centralians from Gloucester who are currently second in South West 1 East.

Camborne qualified for the final of the Tribute Cornwall Cup in an unsatisfactory way as opponents Bude pulled out of their semi-final clash. Camborne have reached the final without playing a game in the competition!

They will play the winners of Wadebridge Camels versus St Ives, which was called off on Saturday due a waterlogged pitch. The game is likely to be played this Sunday.

The Final will be played at Penryn RFC on Easter Saturday with a 5 pm kick-off. The Tribute Cornwall Clubs Cup Final which will precede the main final will be between Tribute Cornwall League 1 Champions Veor and Stithians.

In Tribute Western Counties West, St Austell have now got a seven point lead over second place Bideford with just four games remaining and look like being crowned champions. Saints now know their opponents in National Cup semi-final Brighton Blues which will be played on Easter Saturday at Brighton.

Penryn are certainly finishing the season in fine form and their clash with fourth placed Devonport Services this Saturday will be interesting. They got revenge for their Cup defeat at Bude with a fine win at Bencoolen 39-18.

Truro steadied the ship with a home win over Honiton 16-13 to remain in mid-table.

In Tribute Cornwall & Devon League the top two look settled with both Teignmouth and St Ives going up.

Commiserations to Cornwall U.20’s who bowed out of the U.20 County Championship on Sunday when they lost to Devon 32-24 at Brickfields.

Congratulations to Luke Cowan-Dickee and Jack Nowell who both played for England U.20’s in their win against Wales on Friday which clinched the U.20’s Nations for the Red Rose.

In Santiago de Compostela, Tom Parker who hails from Truro, won an eighth cap for Spain playing in the second row in a 9-9 draw with Portugal.

Finally congratulations to Paul Andrew who has signed next season for Premiership side Worcester Warriors. Good to see one of our former Cornwall U.20 players getting to the Premiership.

THE FINISHING LINE is in sight when the beginning of March comes around and those clubs with a sniff of promotion start to believe that it could well be a possibility.

This season apart from the usual promotions from Tribute Cornwall League 1 & 2, which are pretty well dried and dusted, there is a fair bit to get excited about.

The Cornish Pirates though look to be out of the reckoning this season for a Championship play-off place. A top four finish was always going to be a big ask, especially with their small squad. In truth the home loss to London Scottish has done for them, that coupled with Bristol’s win last weekend at Bedford and another loss for the Pirates on the road at Otley against Leeds Carnegie makes a play-off place very unkikely. There is still the British & Irish Cup to play for and the tie against MUNSTER at the Mennaye on Sunday April 7th promises to be a cracker.

Read Dick Straughan’s match report in the link from WMN.

So back to the promotion contenders, let’s start with Redruth in National League 2 South. A second home win on the trot, with Lydney routed 69-0 to follow on from the win against Barking. Next up Hartpury College, who are tucked just behind the Reds in the table. Hartpury inflicted on the Reds their heaviest defeat in the league this season 47-15 back in November.

Whoever wins this game will go a long way towards securing either an automatic promotion spot or at the very least a play-off berth. It promises to be a cracker and bearing in mind the team selection by the Reds last weekend expect a surprise or two this weekend!

Bill Sobey’s match report from the Redruth v Lydney game is in the link

So in Tribute South West 1 West, Camborne are looking good and they too have a big game this weekend when they play NORTH PETHERTON at the Rec. Having won at North Dorset 19-17 last Saturday the news that Pethy had lost at home 56-10 to Chard was an unexpected bonus. Dave Mankee scored all the Cherry & White’s points with a try, conversion and four penalties.

Wadebridge Camels look set to stay put for another season following their defeat at Clevedon 29-18. Tom Rowe and Sam Stone scored tries for the Camels with James Grubb kicking the rest of the points.

In Tribute Western Counties West, St Austell look to be back in the driving seat for automatic promotion following their big win at Tregorrick against Truro 45-3. For the Saints tries were scored by Alex Welland, Matt Shepherd (2), Sam Rhodes, Sam Tank, Ian Venner and Murray McCoan with Shephed kicking five conversions. For Truro Jake Champion kicked a penalty.

Penryn did St Austell a big favour turning over Bideford at the Memorial Ground 34-19. Alex Ducker scored three tries with Andrew Seviour and Matt Williams also crossing the whitewash. Ducker also added three conversions and a penalty. If only Penryn had played like this before Christmas!

Bude lost a tight gane at Honiton 19-18. Despite a couple of tries from the impressive Kyle Speare and eight points from Dan Pearce’s boot.

In London 2 SW, London Cornish crashed to another big defeat this time at home to Chobham 61-12. They should be safe from the drop but this has proved to be a very difficult season for our exile club, injuries have done for them, poor DoR Dickon Moon has had to spend a lot of time watching horse racing this season!

In Tribute Cornwall & Devon League, St Ives are still chasing hard on the heels of Teignmouth, who did the Hakes a big favour defeating Tiverton last weekend. St. Ives had a walkover against Wessex.

Hayle won the Penwith derby against Pirates Amateurs 14-6 at the Mennaye. The Lions benfited from two penalty-tries both converted by Martin Strick. Rhys Brownfield kicked a couple of penalties for the Amateurs.

Saltash defeated Crditon 30-27, whist Newquay Hornets had a good win over Withycombe 24-20. OPM’s defeated Liskeard/Looe 20-15 the Lux Park Lions look set to drop back into Cornwall 1 next season.

In Tribute Cornwall 1, leaders Veor had a week off so Stithians win at Helston 77-5 keeps them in the play-off spot. St Agnes won at Roseland 24-17, whilst Perranporth had a walkover against St Just.

In Cornwall 2, Bodmin defeated Lankelly-Fowey 130-3, whilst School of Mines put their Bottle Match defeat behind them with a 22-21 win at Illogan Park. St Day won at Trewirgie against Albany 36-31.