Result in today’s Jason Leonard Cup Quarter-final. Report to follow tomorrow.
Cornwall U.20’s name side to face Herts U.20
Cornwall Rugby Football Union (CRFU) Under 20 County Championship campaign 2022 enters the knockout stage of the Jason Leonard Cup on Sunday 20 March. The team host Hertfordshire who was runners up in their pool. The game will be played at Camborne RFC with a 1400 kick off time.
CRFU President John Sumnall said “Following the pool stages in which Cornwall topped their pool we welcome visitors Hertfordshire who have travelled for this quarterfinal match. We thank all our sponsors for their support and assistance with this group of players in this important game representing Cornwall. It is fantastic to see so many different clubs represented, and we thank them for their support to enable these fixtures to be played”
Cornwall started their campaign with a narrow win over local rivals Devon 25 – 24, before travelling to Dorset & wilts where they were comfortable winners 7 – 64 which meant they topped their pool and gained a home quarterfinal.
Coach Rich Kevern said – “We are now in the knockout stage of this year’s competition and from now on you do not get any second chances, so the guys must perform. Following the win at Dorset and Wilts we have had a few training sessions and they need to be ready from the off for this important game. All the teams in the quarter-finals are pool winners or runners up so there are no easy games and having played Hertfordshire before we know they will be up for a keenly fought competition”
The winner of this game will have a semi-final which will be played on Easter Sunday 17 April.
Cornwall Captain Ethan Pearce-Cowley said, – “We’re aware as a team of the pressure that comes with playing in the knockout stages. But we’re ready to take on that pressure and deliver a quality performance on the day. The team is looking in good shape and I have full confidence we’re ready to take on the challenge. We’re unbeaten in this competition and that’s how we plan to keep it.”
Hertfordshire competed in pool 3 winning their first game 26 – 27 away to Surrey, they lost their second game at home to Kent 19 – 56 and therefore emerged as runners up in their pool.
The CRFU Hon Sec Terry Williams said, -” The vagaries of U20 rugby mean we can lose up to 50% of our squad every year through age qualification. This year due to Covid we have lost 2 years’ worth of experience and knowledge. As the U18’s season has finished we have invited players who are over the age of 18 to come to the last few training sessions as part of that transition. So, although this is the quarterfinal the coaches are already looking ahead to the 2022 / 2023 season. We have also had a few new players join the squad who we have identified and or been nominated from their clubs around the county”
Entry on the day will be by programme costing £5 on the gate with Under 16’s entering free.
There will be marketing and sponsorship opportunities with the Under 20’s team and matches, any individuals or companies that may be interested are asked to contact Colin Hatch in the first instance.
Cornwall U20 v Hertfordshire U20
Sunday 20 March @ Camborne RFC 1400 kick off
Cornwall Squad
| 1 | Ethan Pearce-Cowley ( Captain) | Cinderford |
| 2 | Tyler Dower | Camborne |
| 3 | Archie Rolls | St Austell |
| 4 | Pat Walton | Penryn |
| 5 | Toby Osborne | Pirates Ams |
| 6 | Jack King | Camborne |
| 7 | Freddie Trewin | Helston |
| 8 | Archie Pilcher | Pirates Ams |
| 9 | Josh Anderson | Truro |
| 10 | Sam Walker | Exeter Uni |
| 11 | George Hutchinson | St Austell |
| 12 | Jamie Stanlake | Cardiff Met |
| 13 | Harry Andrewartha | Redruth |
| 14 | Lewis Bostock | Truro |
| 15 | Harry Larkins | Camborne |
| 16 | Matt Pritchard | Falmouth |
| 17 | Rowan Lawrence | Falmouth |
| 18 | Connor Triggs | Truro |
| 19 | Dillon Newton | Wadebridge Camels |
| 20 | Adam Hall | Redruth |
| 21 | Joe Tanswell | Penryn |
| 22 | Jack Davis | Royal Navy U23 + Camborne |
| Travelling Reserves | ||
| 23 | Angus Williams | Penryn |
| 24 | Eli Williams | Pirates Ams |
| 25 | Harry Rogers | Pirates Ams |
| 26 | Lachlan Surridge | Camborne |
| 27 | Jacob Gatrix | Wadebridge Camels |
Coaches – Rich Kevern, Tyler Gendall, Adam Kevern, Brad Howe
Team Manager Colin Hatch, Assistant Terry Williams
Medical cover – Dr John Garman, Sam West + Graham Ashton
Kit – Paul Hurrell, Photographer Simon Bryant, Match Day filming David Burrows, Multimedia – Kevin Bishop
Cornwall Under 20 players picked for South West trials
12 Cornwall U20’s in Southwest trials
During the pool stages of the Jason Leonard U20 competition coaches from both sides select and agree a “team of the day” which is also reviewed by the SW selectors if in attendance, or by watching the match footage.
Following the completion of the pool stages the SW selectors have announced a squad to be invited to the trials held on Sunday 10 April at Keynsham RFC.
Cornwall RFU are delighted to announce the following 12 players have been selected.
Ethan Pearce-Cowley – Cinderford
Declan Prowse – Camborne
Pat Walton – Penryn
Jack King – Camborn
Toby Osborne – Pirates Ams
Archie Pilcher – Pirates Ams
Dillon Newton – Wadebridge Camels
Matt Pritchard – Falmouth
Joss Pascoe – Truro
Harry Andrewartha – Redruth
Harry Larkins – Camborne
Lewis Bostock – Truro
Congratulations to all players on their well-deserved selection.
If you want to see these players in action, don’t forget Cornwall V Hertfordshire in the quarterfinal of the Jason Leonard Cup on Sunday 20 March at Camborne RFC with a 1400 kick off time.
Colin Hatch – U20 Team Manager
Alvin Williams – R.I.P. – Funeral Details
It is with great sadness, that we have learned this week, of the passing of former county player Alvin Williams.
Alvin was a powerful and athletic lock forward who played 50 times for Cornwall, including the county final in 1958 against Warwickshire.
He played an astonishing, in modern days, 871 times for Penzance & Newlyn, a club he also captained.
He was a teacher by profession at Pool School and came through St. Luke’s College in Exeter for whom he also played.
He also played for South West Counties against Australia in 1958 at Home Park, a game that ended in a 3-all draw and then a year later against South Africa at Camborne, where he acquitted himself very well against the big burly Springbok forwards.
After his playing career he became a much respected referee.
He was also an excellent Water Polo player.
The President of the CRFU, John Sumnall wishes to express his sincerest condolences to Alvin’s family and friends at this sad time.
The funeral will be held on Monday 28th March at St. Mary’s Church Penzance at 2:30 pm. There follows a private cremation. The wake will be held at Westholme Clubhouse Penzance.
Bill Beaumont Cup – Update, Surrey match Cancelled
We have received a communication from the County Championship Organising Committee informing Counties of a change to this season’s Bill Beaumont Cup fixtures.
Due to an administrative error, Eastern Counties were originally placed in Division 1 South, when they wished to be in Division 2 South. They have been accommodated, the CCOC have therefore decided that as there are only 5 counties left in Division 1 South, that CB budgets are limited and stretched, that each county will play only two group fixtures, 1 home and 1 away.
Therefore, Cornwall’s opening fixture against Surrey due to have been played on Saturday May 7th has been CANCELLED.
Cornwall’s remaining fixtures are now;
Saturday 14th May Cornwall v Hampshire @ Redruth RFC 3 pm
Saturday 21st May Hertfordshire v Cornwall (Venue, kick-off tbc)
The other sides in the South Section are Kent and Surrey.
The team with the best overall record after two games will progress to the final.
The CCOC, stress that these arrangements are for this season only.
Bill Hooper
Assistant Hon. Secretary Cornwall RFU
Jason Leonard Cup Quarter-final 20th March 2022
We now know that we will face Hertfordshire Under 20s on Sunday 20th March kick-off 2 pm. Entry will be by programme £5, with Under 16s given free entry.
We look forward to your support at Camborne on Sunday 20th March.
XGirl Cup: Knife-edge Knock-outs Await
Report by Ross Tucknott
Newquay & Perranporth U15s will be nervously looking over their shoulders going into the XGirl Cup knock-out finale in April, after momentum proved to be firmly with the chasing pack at Truro RFC on Sunday as the league stages reached completion.
Having led the table all season, the gap between themselves and their rivals all but disappeared as Bude won all four of their matches, with the leaders failing to gain a losing bonus point against both Bude and Camborne, who themselves are finishing the season in fine form.
Also peaking at the right time are St Austell, who have found a strong understanding on the pitch with recent partners Penzance and who put five tries past Bude before defeating Camborne themselves. Truro caused problems for both Bude and St Austell/Penzance, demonstrating their increasing competitiveness, whilst it was a first appearance at the XGirl Cup for Wadebridge’s newly set up girls section who joined in with Launceston to book their involvement in the knock-out finals at the end of the season.
Seedings for the knock-out stage are based on the league table positions, so nothing is decided yet and on current form every team will fancy their chances of causing some upsets on the final day!
Meanwhile on the bottom pitches the standard of play in the U13s was skyrocketing, with the highest quality of team play seen at this level for years providing some exceptional matches. Whereas attacking play was the dominating force at the opening stage, now teams were showing robust defences and good continuity going through the phases with one team conceding only 7 tries across their 4 games.
Redruth Water and Camborne/Penzance drew in the opening fixture of the day, and these pair of teams then remained undefeated throughout. Both overcame an equally impressive Redruth Fire, whose 7-0 win over Bude was one of the most best matches of the event, given that Bude put 16 tries past their other opponents.
Liskeard were a single try versus Launceston from finishing unbeaten themselves; Launceston were the only team to score 4 tries past Camborne; Truro restricted everyone but the free-scoring Bude to just 2 tries; and the new Wadebridge U13s joined the Perranporth girls and held Liskeard to a very creditable draw as well as pushing Camborne all the way as well.
Thanks to Truro RFC for being such excellent hosts, and to all the volunteers both on and off the pitch.
Results
U15s
Camborne 22 – 14 Newquay&Perranporth
Bude 50 – 33 St Austell/Penzance
Launceston/Wadebridge 10 – 29 Truro
Camborne 14 – 19 St Austell/Penzance
Newquay&Perranporth 54 – 0 Launceston/Wadebridge
Bude 33 – 21 Truro
Camborne 42 – 7 Launceston/Wadebridge
Newquay&Perranporth 14 – 26 Bude
St Austell/Penzance 61 – 24 Truro
Camborne 10 – 12 Bude
Newquay&Perranporth 35 – 10 Truro
St Austell/Penzance 47 – 15 Launceston/Wadebridge
U13s
Redruth Fire 34 – 0 Perranporth/Wadebridge
Redruth Water 14 – 14 Camborne/Penzance
Truro/St Austell 12 – 12 Launceston
Bude 28 – 42 Liskeard
Redruth Fire 22 – 26 Redruth Water
Camborne/Penzance 26 – 17 Perranporth/Wadebridge
Bude 40 – 26 Truro/St Austell
Launceston 40 – 33 Liskeard
Redruth Fire 7 – 0 Bude
Camborne/Penzance 26 – 20 Launceston
Redruth Water 12 – 7 Truro/St Austell
Perranporth/Wadebridge 7 – 7 Liskeard
Redruth Fire 10 – 28 Camborne/Penzance
Redruth Water 33 – 0 Launceston
Bude 42 – 0 Perranporth/Wadebridge
Truro/St Austell 12 – 14 Liskeard
Aaron Simmonds finally gets his cap!!
Aaron currently plays for Newquay Hornets RFC was recently presented with his U20’s cap by the CRFU President John Sumnall at his home club on their vice Presidents’ Day.
Aaron earned his tie on his first appearance for the U20’s back in February 2019. He was a regular squad member until the last game when Covid 19 struck in the away victory against Gloucestershire in March 2020. During the 2019/2020 season Arron also captained the Cornwall U20’s.
Had it not been for the pandemic he would have potentially made several further appearances and had his cap presented at one of the games in front of his teammates!
The CRFU President congratulated Aaron on his achievement and wished him well in his future rugby career.
Cornwall Girls U18s Squad Announcement
Storms, traffic jams, floodlight failures, locked-up venues. It’s certainly been a memorable couple of trial sessions, but at the end of it all the following 30 girls have been selected to represent Cornwall this season! Well done to all those who have made the cut: emails will be following regarding what comes next. Congratulations!
Those players who trialled but fell just short of making the squad, we don’t want your involvement to end yet though. In recent years we’ve kept the door open to training sessions for players to continue to train with the squad and improve their skills and game understanding and this year is no different: indeed, as part of a formal Cornwall Development Squad we invite all trialists to all county training sessions, including this Friday’s session at Truro College. The Cornwall coaching team can’t wait to start working with all of you.
A massive thanks to everyone involved in running the trials too: none of this would happen without all your continued support and effort.
County gathers at Eden to plan Cup defence
There was an excellent turnout at the Eden Project on Sunday as the CRFU were guests of the Eden Project. Players and their families were treated to a buffet meal and access to the attraction.
The event also saw some good ground plans put in place ahead of this season’s Bill Beaumont campaign as well as the prestigious friendly game in April against Capt. Crawshay’s XV.
As well as familiar faces from previous campaigns there were also some exciting new players keen to show their talent in the black and gold shirt.
CRFU Chairman Dave Saunter welcomed everyone to the event and his welcome was echoed by David Rowe from the Eden Project, who’s logo will once again feature on the Cornwall shirt this season.
Following the usual housekeeping information for the squad and training plans laid out by Marek Churcher, there was an opportunity to recognise some of the award winners in last season’s Mitsusbishi Volunteer Recognition Awards, namely Ian Grantham (St. Austell RFC) and both Joss Pascoe and Orlando Davies (both Truro RFC), presentations were made by CRFU President John Sumnall.
John went on to say that despite many hurdles to overcome, with some goodwill and hard work we had a county championship to look forward to this season and it was down to us to make a success of it and he felt confident that Cornwall would once again prove to be a shinning light in the Bill Beaumont Cup.
Members of Trelawny’s Army Supporters Club were also present and they are delighted to confirm that they will be sponsoring the match balls for not only Cornwall’s home games this season but also for the home games involving Cornwall Women in the Gill Burns Cup and the upcoming Jason Leonard Cup quarter-final to be played on March 20th.
A raffle , featuring some excellent prizes courtesy of the Eden Project, raised the fine sum of £200:00 for the RFU Injured Players Foundation.
