Many thanks to Kevin Bishop and Dave Burrows for the making of this, much appreciated.
Community Game Update 25th January
| Back In The Game Update Read Online |
| 1. ACTION REQUIRED Regulation 9 – First Aid Risk Assessment Reminder As part of regulation 9, clubs are required to have completed an annual first aid specific risk assessment. To support this we have created a template as part of the Risk Assessment Tool kit. Please log that you have completed the assessment via the Organisation Profile tile in GMS. Does your club have an Automated External Defibrillator? We would like to get a better understanding of the number of clubs who have the provision in place. Let us know if your club has an AED. 2. ACTION IF OF INTEREST Video: Top tips to keep your Game On A short video on how clubs and CBs have had success in getting more games played, from using Game On principles to flexing the playing offer. Thank you to all those who have shared ideas. ‘Back in the Game’ national campaign During the opening weeks of the Guinness Six Nations, we will be running a national campaign to encourage more social players back into the game. Read more about how to get involved. The Club Support Centre Helpdesk has moved! The aim is to make it easier for you to find the answers and information you need via a new Help portal. You can also submit a request if more help is needed. Share your tries & stay up to date with the latest news via @RFU Follow @RFU to stay up to date with all the latest from the community game and share your best tries, bloopers and videos! Webinars and coaching interview Maximising Bar Profits and Honda Rugby Grounds Connected support, plus an exclusive interview with England Attack Coach Martin Gleeson, available from 31.01.22. 3. FOR AWARENESS Covid-19 measures update A brief update on Covid 19 guidance for those attending training and matches The Touch Union launches soon! The Touch Union officially starts next month. To find out more and register your interest, head to The Touch Union on englandrugby.com National Rugby Survey closes on 7 February Still chance to have your say and help to shape coming seasons. |
Kevern pleased with winning start
RICHIE KEVERN’S THOUGHTS POST MATCH
By Bill Hooper, at the Recreation Ground, Camborne
It turned out to be a very satisfying weekend for Cornwall Under 20 Coach Richie Kevern, not only did he score Redruth’s opening try in their National League 2 South win against Hinckley on Saturday, he oversaw, along with fellow coach Tyler Gendall, the Under 20’s dramatic win against old foes Devon 25-24 in the opening Jason Leonard Cup pool game.
After the game at Camborne on Sunday, Richie had a big smile on his face. “That was a tight one. At half-time we realised we needed to get back to the basics, keep the ball in-hand, use our forwards and look to make Devon force the errors, fair play they got their rewards.
Richie was full of praise for the pack. I thought our forwards carried well, both locks Pat Walton and Toby Osborne, whilst in the back row Freddie Trewin put in a lot of work and was a real menace at the breakdown. Both props skipper Ethan Pearce-Cowley and Declan Prowse made a lot of meters.
Richie was also full of admiration for the performance of fly-half Joe McCarthy, “I thought he had a stand out game, his kicking from hand, passing and breaks really put us on the front foot. Also our full-back Harry Larkins had a great game creating something from nothing, a beautifully balanced runner with a step to die for. I think that final flourish at the end summed the confidence the lad has, he really enjoys his rugby.
“Playing an expansive game is our goal, we tried some good things today, it didn’t always come off, but with just one warm-up game under our belts I think next time out we will be that much better from the experience of today. You learn only so much on the training pitch, it’s by playing the game that you truly learn to better yourself.
Richie’s thoughts now turn to their second game against Dorset & Wilts. “The lads will have learned a lot from today, we will fine tune some aspects and look to build on this result next time out.”
XGirl Cup: The Insurmountable Fortress Camborne
XGirl Cup report by Ross Tucknott
At the third round of the XGirl Cup, draft headlines such as “New Highest Attendance For Cornish Girls Rugby” or “Redruth Join The Girls Rugby Party” found themselves crumpled and thrown in the metaphorical waste paper bin. The home team had simply decided to write a whole new script as the Camborne U15s leapt up the table after going undefeated across the afternoon’s fixtures.
Not that those other headlines didn’t happen. Almost 200 girls turned up to play XRugby at the Rec, with the U13s hitting another first by being the first age group fielding 8 separate teams in the competition. Redruth joined in with the Cornish girls rugby programme for the first time too, having incubated a brand new and proficient U13s squad over the first half of the season and rightly felt their players were ready to take the step into competitive games. Plus the high attendance isn’t likely to stand for long either, with Wadebridge set to join in in the very near future too.
However, the main story of the day was definitely the performance of the Camborne U15s on home turf, ripping up the form book with an impressive brand of bruising defence and strong breakdown pressure.
Their opening 14-7 win against table-toppers Newquay & Perranporth – the first loss for the north coasters in any format all season – was not as close as the scoreline would suggest, with the losing bonus point only conceded in the last play of the game. Three more tries were enough to see off a creditable effort from Truro before inflicting an uncharacteristic 28-0 loss upon Launceston/St Austell/Penzance. The final match of their afternoon saw the home side fight their way to an impressive 17-5 win against second place Bude, hurtling Camborne up 3 places in the league table.
Meanwhile on the U13s pitches, Camborne were also the only side to match Redruth’s fine debut performances. Redruth’s fine recruitment efforts gave them the numbers to split into two squads, and all three of the teams from Cornish rugby’s heartland won three out of their four matches. Bude & Camborne were the only teams to spoil the debuts, with Camborne’s own clean sweep denied in turn by Perranporth. Liskeard finished the strongest, improving every round and putting a whopping seven tries past Redruth but yet still falling just short!
Finally, with injuries and Covid affecting key personnel for all the U18s squads, and with them all having missed out on 15-a-side rugby for longer than the younger age groups, the XRugby 10s programme was put on hold in favour of a standard rugby fixture, with Truro overcoming their combined opponents 42-24.
County Trials:
Updated county nomination and permission forms for the forthcoming trails are available on the CRFU website for the U18s trials (starting Feb 6th) and the U15s trials too (starting Feb 20th). Coaches and team managers have already received and circulated them, but anyone wishing to trial can also grab a copy from here too!
Full Results
U18s
Truro 42-24 Launceston & Belerions
U15s
Newquay & Perranporth 17 – 12 Bude
St Austell/Launceston/Penzance 31 – 21 Truro
Camborne 14 – 7 Newquay & Perranporth
Bude 19 – 7 St Austell/Launceston/Penzance
Truro 7 – 19 Camborne
Newquay & Perranporth 28 – 14 St Austell/Launceston/Penzance
Truro 7 – 26 Bude
Camborne 28 – 0 St Austell/Launceston/Penzance
Newquay & Perranporth 56 – 28 Truro
Bude 5 – 17 Camborne
U13s
Perranporth 28 – 41 Bude
Redruth A 24 – 47 Camborne
Truro/St Austell 12 – 24 Redruth B
Liskeard 15 – 53 Launceston
Perranporth 52 – 35 Camborne
Redruth A 27 – 12 Bude
Liskeard 10 – 36 Redruth B
Truro/St Austell 19 – 50 Launceston
Perranporth 21 – 28 Redruth A
Bude 21 – 38 Camborne
Truro/St Austell 33 – 22 Liskeard
Redruth B 29 – 7 Launceston
Perranporth 43 – 7 Truro/St Austell
Bude 31 – 10 Redruth B
Redruth A 54 – 37 Liskeard
Camborne 52 – 14 Launceston
Second half surge sees Cornwall to win
JASON LEONARD CUP
CORNWALL U.20’s 25 – 24 DEVON U.20’s
By Bill Hooper, at the Recreation Ground, Camborne
Three tries during the second half saw Cornwall Under 20’s overturn an 8-17 half-time deficit and become the inaugural holders of the Brunel Cup, a trophy that they and Devon Under 20’s will compete for on an annual basis.
Cornwall began the game well and were quickly into their stride with the forwards making some big carries, whilst outside the backs looked sharp, notably full-back Harry Larkins.
Sadly, Cornwall had to re-shuffle the backline when centre Charlie Levick went off with a muscle pull after just 6 minutes.
It got worse when Devon wing Cameron Grizzle-Johnson sliced through the Cornish defence before linking with his full-back Fred Smale who romped in for the opening try, converted by fly-half Bradley McKee.
Helston’s Freddie Trewin at flanker was a constant thorn in Devon’s side, a huge workrate.
Cornwall got on the scoreboard with a penalty struck by School of Mines fly-half Joe McCarthy, but Devon soon extended their lead when a bouncing ball bamboozled the Cornish defence allowing Devon centre Sam Plumer to snap up the ball and score his side’s second try, McKee was once more on the money with the extras.
Cornwall needed a swift response, it came as the forwards drove, notably locks Toby Osborne, Pat Walton and prop Declan Prowse before McCarthy put in a cross-field kick that Camborne wing Lachlan Surridge gleefully accepted to dive in at the corner for an unconverted try.
A Mckee penalty before half-time gave Devon their half-time advantage, but Cornwall would have the slope and the wind second half.
The forwards would prove key during the second half as Cornwall kept it tighter, a powerful maul just four minutes in saw Pirates Amateurs No.8 Alfie Pilcher stretch and score. Moments later another powerful maul saw Cornwall head for the Devon line this time hooker Camborne’s Tyler Dower dotted down and astonishingly Cornwall now led!
Cornwall pressed for the bonus point try deep in the Devon twenty-two, suddenly the ball was intercepted by the menacing Grizzle-Johnson, there was no stopping the flyer as he sped to the Cornish line, McKee’s conversion put Devon 6 points up, all to do again!
There was still time for a final twist, Cornwall roared back, McCarthy’s deft kick through bounced up kindly for the on-rushing replacement Camborne’s Jack Davis, who gathered to dot down.
McCarthy picked the right moment to land his first conversion of the match to regain the lead for Cornwall to huge roars from the crowd to huge cheers from the West Bank.
Devon threw the proverbial kitchen sink at Cornwall during the dying minutes, but Cornwall’s defence would not yield, Devon attempted a drop-goal that fell short, gathered by Larkins he set off on a memorable run up-field that ran down the clock and the relief of the referee’s final whistle.
In two week’s time Cornwall travel to Dorchester to take on Dorset & Wilts in their final group game.
Cornwall U.20: Larkins (Camborne), Bostock (Truro), Levick (Penryn), Pascoe (Truro), Surridge (Camborne), McCarthy (CSOM), Anderson (Truro); Pearce-Cowley (Cinderford)(Capt), Dower, Prowse (both Camborne), Walton (Penryn), Osborne, Williams (both Pirates Ams), Trewin (Helston), Pilcher (Pirates Ams).
Replacements: Leigh (Camborne), Cardwell (Pirates Ams), Minnis (St.Austell), Triggs (Truro), King (Redruth), Tanswell (Penryn), Davis (Camborne & R.N.)
Referee: Donald Swart (Dorset&Wilts)
Cornwall looking for good start against Devon at Camborne
Cornwall Rugby Football Union (CRFU) Under 20 County Championship campaign 2022 gets underway with their first fixture in the Jason Leonard Cup. The team host neighbours Devon for their first pool game of the competition. The game will be played at Camborne RFC with a 1400 kick off time.
CRFU President John Sumnall 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.”
Cornwall have named Ethan Pearce-Cowley (Cinderford) as the captain for the season, Ethan came through the ranks at St. Austell RFC and was capped by England Counties U.18’s alongside him is Truro RFC’s Joss Pascoe who is the vice-captain.
Coach Rich Kevern said – “This will be a good test for this new set of young players. Having missed all last season with covid this is virtually a start from scratch team and a big step up for them all. Although we have had only one warm up game, we are in a different ball game now that the Championship is underway. 2 years ago, we were beaten by Devon at Ivybridge, and we know the guys in green and white will be up for a tough game again this season.”
Cornwall has maintained the same coaching set again with Tyler Gendall, Brad Howe coaching the forwards and Adam Kevern and Richie Kevern coaching the backs.
Cornwall Captain Ethan Pearce-Cowley said, – “It is an honour to be asked to 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 first and only 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.”
Cornwall ‘s second pool game will be away to Dorset & Wilts at Dorchester RFC on Sunday February 6. As Gloucestershire have not entered this year’s competition, we only have the 2 pool games and so results are important if we want to progress.
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. 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 guys who will be around for the next 2 seasons and we are always on the lookout at new talent who can come into the squad and join them over the coming seasons.”
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.
Email – hatch0348@btinternet.com
Mob – 07967725368
Cornwall Squad
| 1 | Ethan Pearce-Cowley (Captain) | Cinderford |
| 2 | Tyler Dower | Camborne |
| 3 | Declan Prowse | Camborne |
| 4 | Pat Walton | Penryn |
| 5 | Toby Osborne | Pirates Ams |
| 6 | Eli Williams | Pirates Ams |
| 7 | Freddie Trewin | Helston |
| 8 | Archie Pilcher | Pirates Ams |
| 9 | Josh Anderson | Truro |
| 10 | Joe McCarthy | Camborne School of Mines |
| 11 | Lachlan Surridge | Camborne |
| 12 | Joss Pascoe ( Vice Captain) | Truro |
| 13 | Charlie Levick | Penryn |
| 14 | Lewis Bostock | Truro |
| 15 | Harry Larkins | Camborne |
| 16 | Cameron Leigh | Redruth |
| 17 | Max Cardwell | Pirates Ams |
| 18 | Oliver Minnis | St Austell |
| 19 | Connor Triggs | Truro |
| 20 | Jack King | Redruth |
| 21 | Joe Tanswell | Penryn |
| 22 | Jack Davis | Royal Navy + Camborne |
| Travelling reserves | ||
| 23 | Matt Trehair | St Austell |
| 24 | Lewis Woolaway | Saltash |
| 25 | Adam Hall | Redruth |
| 26 | George Hutchinson | St Austell |
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
Gill Burns Cup Division 3 Fixtures 2022
Gill Burns Cup Division 3 Fixtures 2022
Cornwall Women’s fixtures for this season’s Gill Burns Cup have been released, we have two home games and a trip to Middlesex.
Sunday May 8th, CORNWALL WOMEN 30 – 15 DORSET & WILTS WOMEN @ Launceston RC
Sunday May 15th, MIDDLESEX WOMEN 5 – 10 CORNWALL WOMEN @ Grasshoppers RFC
Sunday May 22nd, CORNWALL WOMEN 28 – 27 SOMERSET WOMEN @ Hayle RFC
FINAL
Saturday June 4th CORNWALL WOMEN 36 – 17 NOTTS, LINCS, DERBY WOMEN @ Richmond Athletic Ground
Bill Beaumont Cup Fixtures 2022
The Group fixtures have been released;
May 14th CORNWALL v HAMPSHIRE @ Redruth RFC 3 pm
May 21st HERTFORDSHIRE v CORNWALL @ Hertford RFC 3 pm
Final;
Sat June 4th CORNWALL v CHESHIRE @ Twickenham Stadium 3 pm
Honda Volunteer of the Year 2022
Honda is now sponsor of the RFU Volunteer awards and it is important that all clubs recognise those who make our rugby possible and I would therefore urge all club management committees to make this an agenda item and forward names of those volunteers who consider the merit of an award for this rugby year.
Those forwarded should not have been nominated in the past two (2) years.
The Honda Volunteer of the Year Awards 2022 will recognise and celebrate volunteers across Rugby for their achievements and efforts over the past 12 months, both on and off the field.
To reflect the challenges that clubs have faced and recognise the outstanding contribution that volunteers have made to both their rugby clubs and the wider community, this year’s national awards programme will focus on three specific categories:
- Unsung Hero
- Beyond Rugby: Connecting the Community
- Game for All
Nominations can be made for an individual, or a team of volunteers within a club, who have gone above and beyond over the course of the past 12 months.
Please read the description of each award in full before submitting your nomination.
Nominations will open from Monday 10th January and will close at 9am on Monday 28 February.
Those who have been shortlisted to attend the national final will be notified by the end of June and will be invited to an awards ceremony at Twickenham in September where the winners of each category will be announced
Unsung Hero
Aim of Award
This award will recognise an individual, or group of rugby volunteers, who have gone above and beyond over the past 12 months to provide positive experiences & ensure their club/referee society is fit for the future.
Award Summary
This award is looking to recognise those who have gone above and beyond and have shown a willingness to try their hand at whatever was needed to support the club over the past 12 months, demonstrating a positive, can-do attitude to overcoming challenges and developing innovative ways to sustain their club. This could be through helping to recruit and retain players, volunteers and officials or someone who is often found working ‘behind the scenes’ to support the future sustainability of the club.
Beyond Rugby: Connecting the Community
Aim of Award
This award will recognise an individual, or group of rugby volunteers, who have made an outstanding contribution and had significant impact within their local community during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Award Summary
This award is open to those who have gone above and beyond to engage and support their local community, while also providing a platform for the development and growth of the club/referee society. This could be through raising money, providing use of the club facilities, working in partnership with other community organisations or supporting local charities. Ultimately using the power of rugby to bring their community together.
Game for All
Aim of Award
This award will recognise volunteers either individually, or as part of a team, who have provided an inspiring and diverse offer, to open the game up to new audiences and make the game more accessible for all.
Award Summary
This award will recognise those who have shown outstanding commitment in developing and delivering an inspiring offer to open the game up to new audiences and make the game more accessible for all. This could be through improving accessibility for participants from ethnically diverse communities, delivering initiatives to overcome barriers for those from lower socio-economic groups, driving work forwards to support increased LGBT+ participation in rugby or delivering mixed ability rugby
If you want to recognise a volunteer, or a group of volunteers, who have gone above and beyond over the past 12 months you can nominate by using the form below.
Nominations close at 9am Monday 28 February 2022
If you have any queries regarding the completion of this form please contact volunteerrecognition@rfu.com
We’ve put together some top tips to consider when writing the application:
- Check the summary for each of the awards to ensure you’re nominating for the right one
- Be sure to answer all the questions, as this will provide guidance to the awards panel, and make sure you consider and respond to all the criteria for that award category
- Nominations should include evidence to support and illustrate the impact and achievements of the volunteer or team of volunteers in the award category, and where possible be supported by facts and figures
- Keep to the word limit and ensure the information provided is concise and relevant. With a word limit of 250, this could mean that some answers are provided in bullet point format
- The awards are focussed on activity which has taken place over the past 12 months
- Once you have drafted an application, it may be worth asking someone else within the club to have a look over the application.
Josie Plant selected for England Women’s Under 18 squad
Congratulations to Josie Plant who has been selected for this season’s England Women Under 18 squad.
Josie, who hails from Perranporth where she began her rugby journey, is currently with Exeter Chiefs having also been with Camborne and Penryn during her rugby development.
We wish her every success for the forthcoming International program.
