JASON LEONARD CUP

CORNWALL U.20, 7 – 41 DEVON U.20

 By Bill Hooper, Recreation Ground, Camborne

Cornwall Under 20s made a disappointing start to this season’s campaign, well beaten by a very good Devon side who dominated the game from start to finish.

The Devon win saw them retain the Brunel Cup, which both sides play for annually.

Head coach Richie Kevern was understandably very disappointed by his side’s performance. “We were second best today, what disappointed me most was the vulnerability of our set-piece. Our lineout never got going, whilst our scrum was OK for sixty minutes, when Devon brought on their replacements we went backwards.

“The lads will need to have a long hard look at themselves, ahead of our next game at Somerset next month.”

Cornwall were awarded an early kickable penalty, sadly Jack Statton’s effort went wide of the posts.

Devon were soon on the offensive, a speculative hack towards the Cornwall line saw flanker Isiah Akinrowo win the race to dot down the try. The Devon back row looked very sharp all afternoon with blind-side Ethan Millard catching the eye.

Cornwall’s scrum was going well during this point of the game, they got a penalty that Statton kicked to the corner from the catch and drive, hooker Pete Harris bagged the try converted by Statton.

Disappointingly for Cornwall that was a good as it got. Devon began to dictate play with fly-half Matt Smale pulling the strings.

They got their reward when prop Dan Butt broke a tackle to score, Smale adding the extras before slotting a penalty shortly after.

Under pressure, Cornwall lost a player to the sin-bin, allowing Devon to pile on the pressure with wing Josef Webber dotting down in the corner, Smale’s conversion giving the visitors a useful 22-7 half-time lead.

Despite Devon also finding themselves down to fourteen men early in the second half, Smale scored and converted Devon’s fourth try.

Cornwall’s woes in the set-piece continued and when Devon brought on their replacement front row, their final semblance of parity vanished.

Further tries from wing Austin Crow, and skipper George Pooley with a conversion from Stark Leighton completed the win for a very worthy Devon side.

Cornwall Under 20s are next in action on Sunday 21st April when they travel to Taunton to play Somerset Under 20s.

Cornwall U.20: Harvey Penhallurick (Falmouth), Ben Roskilly (Penryn), Jack Statton (Launceston), Alfie Hammersley (Falmouth), Jack Keogh (St. Just), Harry Walsh-Newton (Falmouth), Jacob Chapple (Redruth); Rowan Lawrence (Falmouth), Peter Harris (St. Austell), Angus Williams (Penryn), Charlie Knight (Saltash), Will Perkin (St. Ives, Capt), Fin Lister (Penryn), Wes Eddy (Pirates Ams), Dom Ellery (Newquay Hornets).

Replacements: Dan Pope (Camborne SOM), Fin Holt (Redruth), George Oakley (St. Austell), Olly Derry, Will Symons, Ieuan Evans (all Wadebridge Camels), Rhys Richards (Redruth).

Cornwall scores: Try Harris 10, Con, Statton 11

CORNWALL RFU UNDER 20 COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

2024 The Jason Leonard Cup.

Cornwall Rugby Football Union (CRFU) Under 20 County Championship campaign 2024 gets underway with their first fixture in the Jason Leonard Cup. The team hosts neighbours Devon for their first pool game of the competition on Sunday 10 March. The game will be played at Camborne RFC with a 2 pm kick off.

CRFU President Andy Reed said “It is great to get this year’s campaign off with a local tie against our neighbours Devon. 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”.

Admission is by programme £5, with Under 16s free.

Cornwall and Devon will also be playing for the Brunel Cup in this fixture.

Cornwall have named Will Perkin (St Ives), pictured above as the captain for the season, alongside him is another player from last season, Jack Statton from Launceston, who is the vice-captain.

Coach Rich Kevern said – “This will be a good test for this new set of young players. We start a fresh with a whole group of new players entering the competition for the first time. Playing Devon is never easy, playing Devon in the very first game of the season will be an even bigger challenge for these guys”.

Cornwall has a new coaching set up this season, so joining well established Rich Kevern is ex U20 player and current Cornish Pirates lock Steele Barker as the forward’s coach. Always keen to encourage young coaches into the game we see ex senior county player David Mankee assisting the backs with Rich, and Jago Sheppard another ex U20 and member of the winning 2022 team and current Camborne player assisting Steele with the forwards.

Cornwall Captain Will Perkin said, – “It is an honour to be asked to be captain the side for this season. I know the guys are up for a tough campaign as always and have trained well in preparation for this game. This is my second season with the 20’s and I know that it is a tough competition, and we will have to perform at our best in every game. We have had great numbers at training, and I know some guys will be disappointed not to be in the team, but this is a squad for the season so keep pushing us for those places, nobody’s shirt is fixed. For those who will run out with me on the 10th, we have a big task ahead of us but I’m confident in our ability”.

Cornwall ‘s second pool game will be Somerset away on Sunday 21^st April at Taunton RFC with a 2 pm kick off time and then Gloucestershire at Cheltenham RFC on Sunday 5th May again with a 2 pm kick off.

The CRFU Chair Dave Saunter said, -” The vagaries of U20 rugby mean we can lose up to 50% of our squad every year through age qualification. So, we start to build again with a mixture of players transitioning from the U18’s, new players identified and nominated from clubs around the county. There are a number of these players who will be around for the next two seasons, and we are always on
the lookout at new talent who can come into the squad and join them over the coming seasons”.

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 Tanya Thomas of the CRFU in the first instance, her email is : commercial-development@crfu.co.uk

We will be monitoring the weather this week. If there are any changes regarding the venue of the match this will be advised on the Cornwall RFU website and social media channels.

Cornwall U20 v Devon U20 Sunday 10th March @ Camborne RFC 1400 kick off.

TEAM
1 ROWAN LAWRENCE (FALMOUTH RFC)
2 PETE HARRIS (ST AUSTELL RFC)
25 ANGUS WILLIAMS (PENRYN RFC)
4 CHARLIE KNIGHT (SALTASH RFC)
5 WILL PERKIN (CAPTAIN) (ST IVES RFC)
6 FINN LISTER (PENRYN RFC)
7 WES EDDY (PIRATES AMS RFC)
8 DOM ELLERY (NEWQUAY HORNETS RFC)
9 JACOB CHAPPLE (REDRUTH RFC)
10 DEAN WILLS (REDRUTH RFC)
11 JACK KEOGH (ST JUST RFC)
12 ALFIE HAMMERSLEY (FALMOUTH RFC)
13 JACK STATTON (VICE CAPTAIN) (LAUNCESTON RC)
14 BEN ROSKILLY (PENRYN RFC)
15 HARVEY PENHALLURICK (FALMOUTH RFC)

IMPACT PLAYERS
16 DAN POPE (CAMBORNE SCHOOL OF MINES RFC)
17 FINN HOLT (REDRUTH RFC)
18 GEORGE OAKLEY (ST AUSTELL RFC)
19 OLLY DERRY (WADEBRIDGE CAMELS RFC)
20 WILL SYMONS (WADEBRIDGE CAMELS RFC)
21 HARRY WALSH-NEWTON (FALMOUTH RFC)
22 RHYS RICHARDS (REDRUTH RFC)

TRAVELLING RESERVES
TR ALEX WATKINS (CAMBORNE SCHOOL OF MINES RFC)
TR JAMES SUTTON (SALTASH RFC)
TR AYDEN EARNSHAW (PENRYN RFC)
TR AMORI MATANATABU (HELSTON RFC)

Coaches – Rich Kevern, Steele Barker, David Mankee + Jago
Sheppard
Team Manager Colin Hatch, Assistant Terry Williams
Medical cover – Hen Gard + Ronnie Bartlett
Kit – Paul Hurrell, Photographer Simon Bryant, Match Day filming
David Burrows, Multimedia – Kevin Bishop