Cornwall U18 South West Tournament Round Up

Paul Howard, Team Manager

The U18 season for Cornwall is now complete. We had three very enjoyable games at Hartpury, but overall we have to look back and know we didn’t play to our full potential for long enough periods over the games. When it clicked in the 2^nd half of the first game, 1^st half on the 2^nd game and patches of the 3^rd game, we were the best side on display over all the counties, but at other times we may have been considered one of the worst. We scored some great team tries, were dogged when defending our own line, showed some real power in the scrums and were clinical in the line-out. There were plenty of positives for all the players to take from playing for Cornwall.

Thank you to all the boys and parents for their commitment to train and travel.

After our last game the SW selectors shortlisted players to move forward to SW trials at the end of Jan. Although we would have liked more, well done to the five below who were selected:

Archie Beetles

Ola Phillips

Oli Wells

Joe Horne

Will Geddes-Brown

Best of luck for the next stage.

Results

Game 1 v Dorset & Wilts

Final score 20-15

Try Scorers : Lewis, Murray, Bennett, Holland

Game 2 v Oxfordshire

Final score 20-25

Try Scorers : Dawson, Wells, Lewis, Jago

Game 3 v Somerset

Final score 20-20

Try Scorers : Collins, Holland, Penalty Try, Fletcher

Playing Squad: Archie Beetles, Ola Phillips, Leon Holland, Max Walker, Toby Collins, Dan Davey, Joe Horne, Oli Wells, Matt Walker, Pax McDowell, Will Pellow, Jake Shirlow, Will Geddes-Brown, Ben Dawson, Pete Fletcher, Jake Walker, Alfie Middlewood, Jacob Bennetts, Max Bennett, Jowan Kerry, Ethan Taylor, Tristan Jago, Jack Old, Cohan Wallace, Oshi Baker, Ewan Murray, Barney Lewis.

Cornwall U18 v Dorset & Wilts U18

Report by Paul Howard Team Manager

Sunday was our first game in this year’s U18 SW tournament. Drawn against Dorset & Wilts, we made the long trip to Hartpury College expecting a tough game, after losing to the same side as U17’s earlier in the year.

Cornwall were very slow to get going and for the first 15mins they struggled to get out of their own half, losing the ball in contact or exit poorly. On the positive side, the scrum was dominant, the boys put their bodies on the line and defended heroically holding the ball up over the line 3 times. However, Dorset & Wilts managed to cross the whitewash for 2 well deserved tries.

With the vocal travelling crowd fearing the worst, Cornwall’s nerves settled. The ball handling and decision making improved, and they started to play themselves back into the game. Now on the front foot and in the opposition half, they applied pressure to the opposition defence with the forwards continuing to dominate at scrum time and backs stating to interchange with fluidity, leading to our first try just before half time.

In the 2^nd half, the players confidence grew, and Cornwall had Dorset & Wilts constantly under pressure, with destructive carries from the forwards and the backs slicing through the gain line regularly. Having had the majority of possession, they also found the cutting edge with some defence splitting passes allowing Cornwall to score three more team tries, after strong build up play.

Dorset & Wilts came back with thrilling try right on the final whistle by which time it was too late, and the Cornish contingent celebrated the win with gusto all the way back to the Duchy.

Final score 20-15

Team   : Archie Beetles (Capt), Max Walker, Toby Collins, Joe Horne, Oli Wells, Will Pellow, Jake Shirlow, Will Geddes-Brown, Jake Walker, Jacob Bennetts, Max Bennett, Jowan Kerry, Ethan Taylor, Jack Old, Barney Lewis, Leon Holland, Ola Phillips, Peter Fletcher, Tristan Jago, Alfie Middlewood, Cohan Wallace, Ewan Murray, Matt Wright

Try Scorers : Lewis, Murray, Bennett, Holland

Our next game is on the 15^th Dec @ Hartpury v Berkshire. 14:00 KO.

Match Report – Cornwall U18’s 10 v Gloucestershire 25

7^th January 2024 @ Hartpury College, by Oscar Marr

Cornwall U18’s played their final game of the South West tournament this weekend. A highly anticipated game against Gloucestershire was all that was between Cornwall and an unbeaten run in the tournament.

The first half started solidly with a pointless first 15 minutes. Gloucestershire then began to build some momentum and broke the deadlock with the first score of the match. Cornwall continued to probe and test the Gloucester defence, but they could not end with a score.

Gloucester started to pounce on Cornwall’s mistakes and added two quick scores, but Cornwall were determined not to go into the break empty handed and sustained pressure through direct running from Olly Pellow led to a line break and an easy score in the corner from Bailey Hadfield to end the half.

Down at the break Cornwall were determined to make inroads on Gloucester’s lead early in the second half. However, the mistakes continued to keep them on the wrong side of momentum and Gloucester capitalised once again to start the half.

The next 20 minutes were Cornwall’s most positive of the day. Strong defence led to lots of attacking pressure but a lack of criticality meant they failed to score as many as they should. The pressure was not for nothing though as a slick move to access the wide channels was finished with a quick pick around the ruck from Kaea Griffiths.

Back in the game Cornwall hoped to find an extra score and push for the win. However, that was not the case and Gloucester finished the game with another score ending the game 5 tries to 2.

Squad: Dan Bennett, Charles Byron, Sam Vickery, Pierce Ford, Jack Jenkin, Bailey Hadfield, Issac Jago (Capt), Kaea Griffiths, Idris Logan, Oscar Marr, Ted Kullich, Olly Pellow, Harry Rigg, Jowan Wilding, Ross McKnight, Aaron Jones, Joe Court, Seb Dash, Jude Hardy, Ashton Rowe, Callum Phillips, Fin Stuart.

Tries: Hadfield, Griffiths.

Coaches: Andy Hawken, LJ Colick.

7 Cornwall U18’s selected to trial for the South West Combined side

After some very enjoyable games at Hartpury, where all our players were accessed across the games, congratulations to the following who have been selected to attend the trial for the combined South West U18 side:

Dan Bennett Truro RFC

Sam Vickery Launceston RC

Issac Jago Wadebridge Camels RFC

Kaea Griffiths Penzance & Newlyn RFC

Idris Logan Helston RFC

Ted Kullich Penzance & Newlyn RFC

Callum Phillips Wadebridge Camels RFC

Best of luck all for the 28^th January.