New Cornwall coach Joff Rowe refused to be too downbeat despite seeing his side slip to a 26-3 defeat to Devon in yesterday's Tamar Cup clash at Ivybridge.
Rowe has been handed the task of trying to get the Duchy back into the County Championship at the first attempt following their relegation at the end of last season. Yesterday, he was given his first real taste of the action as his youthful Black & Golds' side attempted to wrest back the Tamar Cup. Devon, though, were in no mood to relinquish their grip on the trophy and ran out comfortable winners, scoring tries through Dave Kimberley, Dan Stead, Shane Kingsland and Jimmy Beardsmore. Plymouth Albion's Dan Hawkes bagged two conversions, while club-mate Arran Cruickshanks added the extras to Beardsmore's late score.
In reply, Cornwall's solitary points came courtesy of a second- half penalty from Ian Morgan.
Although undone, Rowe insisted afterwards that there were positives to take from his side's showing.
"I'm really quite pleased in what we have achieved today," he said. "What we have shown today is that we have a lot of youth and a lot of talent in Cornwall, which we can work and develop over the next couple of years.
"At times today we have shown a little bit of inexperience and naivety, but we gave it our all. Before the game all I asked for, and so did Julian [Wilce] the captain, was that we show some commitment and some pride for the jersey and the occasion - and I think we got that.
"Whether we were better than Devon on the day, we proved by the result that we weren't. That said, there is certainly something to work on and we will look to move on."
Devon: J Fabian (M Wathes 56); D Ritchie, B Armitage, R Allen (W Gingell 63), N Holt; D Hawkes (A Cruickshanks 68), M Newman (G Hooper 63); I Langbridge (J Tithias 63), D Stead, S Kingsland; B Chapman, E King; J Fleming (N Riley 63), G Wellington (K Marriott 56), D Kimberley (P Mortimere 63)
Cornwall: I Morgan; A Wellers, G Thirlby, R Ley, L Trescothick (D Mankee 78); G Lovell, S Turnbull K Martin 51); T Stevens, M Davey (N Clark 53), T Hurdwell (N Endean 78); G Corin, J Wilce (B Jenkins 53); N Corin (D Roberts 53), B Collings, M Woolcock.
CORNWALL coach Joff Rowe hailed the county's training weekend in northern France as a "brilliant success" in the build-up to this season's County Shield campaign.
A squad of 25 players flew to Quimper in Brittany last Friday and spent three days building up a good team spirit and preparing for the opening match of the Shield against Somerset at Bridgwater on Saturday week. They also managed to fit in a match against Quimper (Fédérale 3), which Cornwall won 18-5, with Mount's Bay hooker Darren Semmens scoring two tries and Penryn fly half Ian Morgan kicking a conversion and two penalties. Rowe said: "We had a lot of time together as a squad, and we won the game,which turned out to be quite a competitive one, which was really good for us.
"I was able to watch all the players play and make some decisions on selection for the Shield. "The Under-20s, like Darren Semmens, Bryn Jenkin and Karl Martin, have come through and certainly put themselves up to be recognised and are very, very near to competing for a place in the County Shield side."
Rowe and his players got a bit of a shock in the match as, at certain levels of French rugby, they have slightly different rules regarding the scrum.
"We believe Quimper were about South West One level, and at that level the scrum is allowed to hit and hold, but once you have won the ball you are not allowed to push, and that was a little bit difficult," he explained.
"You are also not allowed to hand off for health and safety reasons, and there were a couple of things, particularly with the language barrier we had, that didn't allow us to get into the game.
"I wanted to ensure all players would play, so even though I picked a strong starting line-up, I brought on eight replacements and we got better as our confidence grew and with time together, and we ran in two tries and kicked two penalties."
Rowe will now spend the next few days finalising his plans for the opening Shield match, finding out which National League players will be available to him, and getting his head around the new laws - including being able to collapse a maul - that will be trialled in this season's county campaign.
He is not hopeful of having any Redruth players in his squad, but the Cornish All Blacks have offered four or five players, having already secured promotion to National Division One, and he is also optimistic of including one or two fringe players from the Cornish Pirates.
Rowe said: "At the moment I am still not in a position to be able to say what my starting line-up will be against Somerset, but we will not be phoning around on the Saturday morning of the game trying to get a side, as was the case last year. "We have 25 people from the tour who could quite comfortably represent Cornwall, and if that is the best side we have, then I have had them together for six weeks and would be comfortable putting them into a Championship."
Meanwhile, Camborne full back Joe Parma has ruled himself out of the Shield campaign with a hamstring strain.
Quimper 5 pts: Try- Kersall
Cornwall 18 pts: Tries- Semmens (2), Pens (2), Con - Morgan
Cornwall: J. Parma (Camborne), O. Faulkner (Mount's Bay), R. Ley
(Camborne), G Thirlby (St Ives), N Corin (St Ives), I. Morgan (Penryn), B.
Keary (Mount's Bay); T Stevens (St Ives), D Semmens, D. Clackworthy (both
Mount's Bay), B. Jenkin (Plymouth Alb), B. Hilton (Mount's Bay, capt), L
Stevens (St Ives), I. Boase (St.Ives), T. Outram (Mount's Bay).
Replacements (all used): T. Hurdwell (St Ives/Launceston), J. Wilce
(Wadebridge Camels), S, Turnbull (St Ives), K. Martin (St Ives), J. Lawrence
(Brixham), B.Collings (Launceston), G Corin (St Ives), M. Woolcock (Camborne).
If Cornwall fans thought it was bad enough getting relegated from the top flight of county rugby last season, then matters got a whole lot worse on Saturday. Joff Rowe and his team were hoping to win promotion from the County Shield at the first attempt and restore the Duchy to where their supporters believe they rightfully belong. Instead, all Trelawny's Army got for their journey to Bridgwater was humiliation as Cornwall crashed to possibly their biggest ever defeat. On the basis of this performance, the Duchy seem more likely to suffer the ignominy of another relegation, than claim the promotion Somerset seem a good bet to land.
Many Cornwall supporters were very unhappy with what they saw at Bath Road, but while the margin of victory was unexpected, defeat was perhaps not, when you look at the two sides that took to the field. Somerset were able to call on nine National League players, and had a further three on the bench, while Cornwall had only four in their whole squad of 22. There were only three players from the county's top three clubs - Cornish All Blacks (two players), Redruth (one), and Pirates (nil) - for whatever reason, and while Saturday was bitterly disappointing, one has to feel for Rowe, who can only work with what is available to him.
No matter how much the fans would love to bring back the good old days of Cornish county rugby, that seems a very long way off unless there is a dramatic change in the relationship between the clubs and the county. After going through a pretty traumatic afternoon, Rowe said: "We weren't good enough. They outgunned us in open play, in rucks and mauls and, in terms of physicality, we weren't up to their level.
"I take full responsibility. Somerset were sharper, they were quicker in the back three, and they looked hungry. We have got no-one else to blame apart from ourselves.
"We need to have a bit of a wake-up call, but we will stick together and come back next week." He added: "I would love to be able to look at other opportunities within the county to see if I can bolster the side, but I don't think that is an option for me.
"What Cornwall, the senior management and everyone else needs to realise is that Cornish rugby is great at the top, but it isn't so great at the next level, and we are competing at the top when we are playing in the Shield."
Despite Cornwall's obvious shortcomings, Somerset were excellent after they survived an initial 10-minute onslaught from the visitors, which crucially failed to produce any points. After that, the hosts took control, with their back row of former Pirates' loan signing Chris Morgan, Weston's Mike Denbee and Newbury's Matt Styles outstanding, as was Clifton full-back Rob Voil, and it was pretty much one-way traffic.
Morgan scored the first try from a catch-and-drive penalty move, and three more followed before the interval. Two stemmed from line-out throws by Cornwall hooker Darren Semmens deep inside Somerset territory that cleared his own jumpers, leading to moves which were both finished off by Voil, while another came from Duchy centre Ryan Westren's under-hit chip over the defence falling gleefully into the hands of winger James Wheeler, who raced 50 metres to score.
Impressive fly-half Sam Osbourne, who finished with a 20-point haul, converted three to add to his early penalty, but Cornwall got their first points on the board in first-half injury time when a great surge to the line by scrum-half Brett Wakfer created the space for Westren to cross beside the posts and Jarvis - who had earlier missed two penalties - converted for a 29-7 interval deficit.
Any hopes of a Cornish comeback were killed off four minutes into the second half when Styles crossed for Somerset, with Osbourne converting, but Cornwall did keep the hosts out for the next 15 minutes, and even managed a try of their own when Rob Ley sent Jarvis in under the posts, with the conversion making it 36-14.
However, the less said about the final quarter, from a Cornwall point of view, the better, as tired legs and some lame tackling saw Somerset run in three tries in nine minutes through centre James Waterman and winger Paul Sprague (2), with Osbourne converting all of them and adding a penalty. Next up for Cornwall? A trip to Chinnor on Saturday to face Oxfordshire, who walloped Surrey 43-14 in their opening game.
SOMERSET 60 PTS: Scorers: Tries: Morgan, Voil (2), Wheeler, Styles, Waterman, Sprague (2); Cons: Osbourne (7); Pens: Osbourne (2).
CORNWALL 14 PTS: Scorers: Tries: Westren, Jarvis; Cons: Jarvis 2.
Somerset: R Voil (Clifton), P Sprague (Weston-s-M), J Waterman
(Minehead Babas), D Litt (Hornets), J Wheeler (Walcot), S Osbourne (Hornets), M
Ranson (Bridgwater & A), A Raines (Clifton), G Cooper (Newbury), C Meddick
(Dings), D Hodge (Bridgwater & A), O Hodge (Exeter), C Morgan (Newbury), M
Denbee (Weston-s-M), M Styles (Newbury, capt).
Replacements: S Brown
(Redruth) for Ranson 69 mins, C Derrick (Cinderford) for Raines 29, G Sparks
(Weston-s-M) for Styles 64 ; S Pape (Cornish All Blacks) for D Hodge 62, A
Russell (Weston-s-M) for O Hodge 62, J Saunders (Walcot) for Litt ht, J Gatford
(Taunton) for Cooper 72.
Cornwall: I Morgan (Penryn), R Ley (Camborne), M Sweeney, R
Westren (both Cornish All Blacks), O Faulkner, L Jarvis (both Mount's Bay), B
Wakfer (Camborne), T Stevens (St Ives), D Semmens, D Clackworthy (both Mount's
Bay), A Harris (Newbury), B Hilton (Mount's Bay, capt), L Stevens, I Boase
(both St Ives), T Outram (Mount's Bay).
Replacements: A Flide (Mount's Bay)
for Clackworthy 56, T Hurdwell (St Ives) for Semmens 64, J Wilce (Wadebridge)
for Harris 62, G Corin (St Ives) for Hilton 64, M Woolcock (Camborne) for
Outram 72, B Keary (Mount's Bay) for Wakfer 62, S Peters (Redruth) for Faulkner
56.
Referee: Nigel Higginson (RFU).
Cornish county rugby had a bit of a smile back on its face last night after an excellent comeback at Chinnor earned them a precious draw. After last weekend's 60-14 thrashing at Somerset, it looked like a case of 'here we go again' as the Duchy trailed 22-0 after only 27 minutes. But, aided by a very strong wind at their backs in the second half, the Duchy came storming back to level the scores and avoid defeat for the first time in two seasons of championship matches.
Trelawny's Army once more turned out in excellent numbers at a very wet Chinnor - a ground where there is no cover - to support the county team in its hour of need. And they will need to be in full voice again next Saturday, when Cornwall face a County Shield relegation decider at Camborne against Surrey, who suffered their second successive thrashing with a 53-14 reverse at home to Somerset on Saturday.
Cornwall coach Joff Rowe made five changes to his starting line-up, but the odds were still heavily stacked against his side, which contained only two National League players compared to 11 representing Oxfordshire. The Duchy once again made a good start, as was the case the previous week, but found themselves trailing after only five minutes, when the ball squirmed out of the side of a scrum on Oxfordshire's 10-metre line and home scrum-half Anthony Cope broke blind and fed winger Eric Brown, who scorched 50 metres down the left flank to score in the corner. Fly-half James Cathcart missed the touchline conversion.
Oxfordshire then made full use of the gale at their backs to score two more tries, but both came from dreadful Cornwall mistakes. First, Oxfordshire full-back Ben Hewitt delivered a huge 70-metre touch-finding kick that took play up to Cornwall's five-metre line, but the visiting forwards failed to learn the lesson from the Somerset game. Mount's Bay hooker Darren Semmens threw the ball over the heads of his own jumpers to Oxfordshire prop Rowan Fuller, and when he was stopped just short of the line, the ball was moved left for Brown to score his second try, and Cathcart kicked a superb conversion before adding a penalty.
Then, with Cornwall deep in Oxfordshire territory, Cathcart banged another clearance kick almost the length of the field, but Brixham full-back Jake Lawrence's wayward return effort fell into the grateful arms of Jaike Carter, and his pass sent in Hewitt, with Cathcart converting for a 22-0 lead.
The Cornwall players showed plenty of passion and pride in the shirt and camped on the Oxfordshire line in the run-up to the interval, and they were given hope when the ball was moved swiftly right from a scrum on the Oxfordshire 22, and fly-half Lee Jarvis put Camborne winger Rob Ley over in the corner.
Only fine home defence prevented Cornwall scoring again before the break, but the visitors came out all guns blazing in the second half. More concerted pressure and good work by the outstanding duo of Mount's Bay centre Pale Nonu and St Ives number eight Louis Stevens saw Bay winger Olly Faulkner go over in the corner, with Jarvis converting.
Then, soon after Oxfordshire hooker Henry Mace had been sin-binned for deliberately killing the ball, a turnover in midfield provided the chance for Nonu to put Cornish All Blacks' centre Ryan Westren in behind the posts for his second try in two games, with Jarvis adding the simple conversion.
A 66th-minute penalty by the former Welsh international made it 22-22, and he then went close with a couple of long-range drop goal attempts as Cornwall sought the score to grab what had seemed an unlikely victory. But their cause was not helped by the strong wind dropping in the final 15 minutes, and they had to do some frantic defending of their own in the dying moments, with only a superb last-ditch tackle by Nonu denying Brown a hat-trick try in the corner.
Oxfordshire: B Hewitt (Chinnor), J Carter (Chinnor), A Henley
(Oxford Harlequins), J Hewitt (Chinnor), E Brown (Chinnor), J Cathcart
(Reading), A Cope (Oxford Harl), Fuller (Henley), H Mace (Clifton), J Iosefo
(Chinnor), Root (Clifton), Burrows (Chinnor, capt), J De Bruin (Chinnor), Young
(Oxford Harl), G Hayter (Newbury).
Replacements: Chadbone (Oxford Harl) for
De Bruin 50-57 & for Iosefo 74, Eckert (Oxford Harl) for J Hewitt 72, P
Soper (Oxford Harl) for De Bruin 74, Duder (Chinnor) for Cope 72, H Jackman
(Chinnor) for Root 58, R Williams (Chinnor) for Henley 72, D Lynch-Smith
(Chinnor) for Brown 79.
Cornwall: J Lawrence (Brixham), R Ley (Camborne), R Westren
(Cornish All Blacks), P Nonu (Mount's Bay), O Faulkner (Mount's Bay), L Jarvis
(Mount's Bay), B Wakfer (Camborne), A Flide (Mount's Bay), D Semmens (Mount's
Bay), T Stevens (St Ives), B Hilton (Mount's Bay, capt), J Wilce (Wadebridge),
I Boase (St Ives), T Rawlings (Pertemps Bees), L Stevens (St Ives).
Replacements: S Peters (Redruth) for Lawrence 60, B Keary (Mount's Bay) for
Wakfer 75. Not used: D Clackworthy (Mount's Bay), B Jenkin (Plymouth Albion), T
Outram (Mount's Bay), T Hurdwell (St. Ives), M Woolcock (Camborne).
Oxfordshire scorers: Tries, Brown (2), B Hewitt; cons, Cathcart (2); pen, Cathcart.
Cornwall scorers: Tries, Ley, Faulkner, Westren; cons; Jarvis (2); pen, Jarvis.
Yellow cards: Oxfordshire: Mace 47, Jackman 66.
Referee: R Parker-Sedgemoor (RFU).
Cornwall coach Joff Rowe was pleased with his players after they produced an excellent fightback from 22-0 down to draw 22-22 against Oxfordshire at Chinnor yesterday. The point leaves Cornwall facing a County Shield relegation decider against bottom-of-the-table Surrey at Camborne on Saturday, but Rowe is looking forward to it.
"Today is the first time in two years Cornwall haven't lost and I take great pride in being part of that unit," said Rowe. "We could have done with the win today, which would have put us in a comfortable position, but let's bring the Surrey game on. We will take the same approach, I am sure it will be the same group of people, and we have got to show something more on our own turf. We have learned from last week and this week, and next week we have got to be more the finished article in order to maintain our status in this competition."
The Duchy produced a much improved display from their 60-14 thrashing at Somerset last weekend, and could have come away with a win against an Oxfordshire side fresh from a hefty home win over Surrey.
"We started well in difficult conditions and against a very competent side, and our continuity and ball retention was great, but again we made mistakes and they capitalised on those and scored some good tries," said Rowe. "But I thought, when we scored the try just before half-time, we showed strength and power in our game not only to go up the middle, but to go wide.
"Then we came out in the second half and scored, and then maintained possession, and at the very end we had opportunities to win."
He added: "The players have come out today, and for me personally, the performance is a huge victory in itself, but we are disappointed at the result.
"I don't think we were much better than them, but our commitment was excellent and we showed great fight, and that is something we have instilled into the players in the last eight to nine weeks."
There were plenty of fine performances all over the pitch for Cornwall, but Mount's Bay centre Pale Nonu and the back row of Ian Boase, Tom Rawlings and Louis Stevens were particularly impressive.
Rowe said: "Hats off to Nonu, who came in to assist us when we were short of a player, while the back row was outstanding. The amount of work, effort and commitment they put in was a major contribution to our result today."
Cornwall captain Ben Hilton was pleased with the result, but disappointed it was not a victory. "It was a better performance. It was a big step up for us, but the work is not done yet,'"he said. "We gave a good account of ourselves in the second half and I am glad the supporters stuck by us."
CORNWALL produced some sizzling running rugby to record their first championship victory in two years and kill off any fears of relegation from the County Shield. The Black and Golds were completely unrecognisable from the side thrashed 60-14 by Somerset only a fortnight ago and destroyed their opponents in the first half in the sunshine at Camborne. They eventually ran out winners by eight tries to three, with Mounts Bay fly-half Lee Jarvis helping himself to an incredible 30-point haul.
Cornwall survived an early onslaught from their visitors, who needed to win to avoid the drop themselves, and only some fine defence kept them out.
But after Jarvis and Surrey winger Les Todd had exchanged penalties inside the first 10 minutes, it was pretty much one-way traffic up to the interval, with the hosts racking up five tries with a devastating period of play. The first came from turnover ball in midfield in the 13th minute, with Cornish All Blacks' loose-head prop Jason Bolt looking more like a back as he brilliantly linked with Polson team-mate and full-back Ryan Westren to score in the corner. The immaculate Jarvis converted, and then added a penalty to make it 13-3, after Surrey centre Jan Van Ryan had been yellow-carded for a professional foul. His absence was to prove very costly for Surrey as Cornwall grabbed three more touchdowns while he was off the field.
Mounts Bay centre Pale Nonu's superb grubber kick to the corner was dotted down by Jarvis; Marc Sweeney made the most of a kind bounce from Jarvis's deft chip over the defence to put in Mounts Bay winger Ollie Faulkner unopposed; and then a great move involving scrum-half Brett Wakfer, No.8 Louis Stevens and Westren provided a try in the scoreboard corner for St Ives flanker Ian Boase.
The onslaught did not stop there either, with a quick tap penalty by Jarvis under the Surrey posts giving the impressive Nonu the chance to put over Camborne winger Rob Ley. Jarvis converted three of them to leave him with a 19-point first-half haul as Cornwall led 39-3 at the break.
Surrey, with a good sprinkling of players in their ranks from National Division Two champions Esher - though admittedly mostly second-team - were no doubt given a stern lecture at the interval as they started the second half as they had the first. But this time their efforts were rewarded with a try by captain and Esher loose-head prop Duncan Cormack, with referee Nick Williams comically getting down on his hands and knees to obtain the best view to give the score. Todd missed the conversion.
However, their comeback was shortlived, as more intense Cornwall pressure resulted in a deserved try for Nonu, after Sweeney had been tackled just short of the line, and Jarvis added the extras for a 46-8 advantage.
Despite the huge deficit, Surrey refused to lie down, and managed another touchdown through their forwards, this time from Esher flanker Mike Blakemore, which Todd converted.
The tries continued to flow in the dying moments of the game, with Jarvis collecting his second after an interception on Surrey's 22, which he improved himself, while Surrey full-back Dave Charles ran through some poor tackling at the other end, and Todd converted.
The final score came in injury time, and it fittingly went to Cornwall skipper Ben Hilton, with Jarvis yet again adding the extras to reach the 60-point mark.
Cornwall: R Westren (Cornish All Blacks), R Ley (Camborne), M
Sweeney (Cornish All Blacks), P Nonu (Mounts Bay), O Faulkner (Mounts Bay), L
Jarvis (Mounts Bay), B Wakfer (Camborne), J Bolt (Cornish All Blacks), D
Semmens (Mounts Bay), T Stevens (St Ives), J Wilce (Wadebridge), B Hilton
(Mounts Bay, capt), I Boase (St Ives), T Rawlings (Pertemps Bees), L Stevens
(St Ives).
Replacements: B Keary (Mounts Bay) rep for Wakfer 57, I Morgan
(Penryn) rep for Faulkner 73, A Flide (Mounts Bay) rep for Bolt 57, B Jenkin
(Plymouth Alb) rep for Wilce 69, M Woolcock (Camborne) rep for Boase 69, T
Outram (Mounts Bay) rep for L Stevens 73, T Hurdwell (Cornish All Blacks/St
Ives) rep for Semmens 73.
Surrey: D Charles (Esher), L Todd, S MacKinney, J Van Ryan (Old
Walcotians), C Street (Rosslyn Park), B Kitchen (London Irish), B White (O
Wimbledonians), D Cormack (Esher, capt), S Goldsmith (Esher), T Cox (Purley), E
Manu (Esher), M Butterworth (Esher), M Blakemore (Esher), J Barnett, O Hankey
(Esher).
Replacements: S Kearns (Rosslyn Park) rep for Goldsmith 80+2, T
McKellier (Barnes) rep for Cormack 54, T Whitehead (Weybridge Vandals) rep for
Cox 58, A McGuickian (Rosslyn Park) for Manu 66, M Grant (Old Whitgiftians) rep
for Barnett 58, H McHardy.
Referee: Nick Williams (RFU).
Scorers:
Cornwall: tries, Bolt, Jarvis (2), Faulkner,
Boase, Ley, Nonu, Hilton; cons, Jarvis (7); pens, Jarvis (2).
Surrey: try, Cormack, Blakemore, Charles; con, Todd (2); pen, Todd.
Yellow cards: Surrey - Van Ryan 24.
CORNWALL coach Joff Rowe was delighted with the remarkable turnaround his players have shown, with their 60-22 thrashing of Surrey yesterday coming only two weeks after a humiliating 60-14 defeat at Somerset.
Surrey have been relegated from the County Shield after suffering heavy defeats in each of their three games, but that should take nothing away from a Cornwall display that, at times, was a delight to watch.
"We had an opportunity to put a side together for three weeks", said Rowe. "We have learnt an awful lot from our style of play and the changes in the law, and also the tempo of the game, and today, for 60 minutes, we have played a standard of rugby that Trelawny's Army and the supporters in general will have appreciated.
"For that, I commend the lads, who have stuck at it and worked hard."
Some of the rugby in the first half at Camborne was dazzling, with both backs and forwards linking well as Surrey were put to the sword.
"It is something we set out to try and do", admitted Rowe. "Everyone says I like rugby where you stick the ball up your jumper, but we have exploited areas where they have failed to defend, and when we have seen opportunities we have taken them, and with Lee Jarvis on form with his boot, it has been a tremendous effort."
Jarvis had a superb all-round game, scoring two tries and slotting seven conversions and two penalties in a magnificent 30-point haul, as he mastered the strong Camborne wind to perfection.
"I am not a regular at Camborne, but the wind today was very difficult, but for his performance today and his commitment over the last three weeks I'd like to thank Lee, but also every one of the 25 players we have involved", said Rowe.
Mounts Bay inside centre Pale Nonu, who was drafted in by Cornwall for the last two games, also produced another inspired performance.
"He has a great working partnership with Lee, and he is a very committed lad. He plays for the shirt, whether it be for Mounts Bay or Cornwall, and for that I am really, really happy, and that he has been able to come in and make an impact", added Rowe.