Bill Beaumont County Championship Division One Final
Lancashire 24 Cornwall 39
Gareth Davies, at Allianz Twickenham Stadium
Cornwall claimed their eighth County Championship crown with a hard-fought five try win over a spirited Lancashire outfit at Twickenham.
This victory, coupled with Cornwall Women defeating Durham earlier in the day, completed an
historic double for the Duchy, at the home of English rugby.
Cornwall were overwhelming favourites going into the final after a huge semi-final aggregate win
over Kent, but they were made to work hard by a Lancashire side who were very much in the
game until the final 20 minutes.
Tries inside the final quarter from Josh Matavesi and Max Bodily ensured the Bill Beaumont
crown headed west once more, with Lancashire’s brave resistance finally broken by two of
Cornwall’s stand-out performers.
Black and gold coach Graham Dawe made three changes from the side which overwhelmed
Kent 56-19 in the second of two semi-final legs seven days previously. All the alterations came
in the pack too as Jack Andrew started in place of the injured Archie Rolls.
Tyler Gendall came in for his first County Championship start of 2026 as Sam Rodman was
named on the bench. And in the engine room, Redruth’s Edd Pascoe returned after Royal Navy
commitments with Camborne’s Jago Sheppard one of six forward replacements.
Looking to emulate the magnificent feat of the Cornwall women’s team just a few hours earlier,
Dawe’s charges fell behind inside the first 90 seconds when a ruck infringement was punished by Lancashire captain Chris Johnson.
The Heath veteran, playing in his eighth showpiece final, kicked a long-range penalty to open
the scoring. However, Lancashire’s advance on the scoreboard was tempered by an early injury
to Fylde centre Jordan Dorrington, who slipped into a legal Matt Shepherd tackle and was
carried off.
That narrow Red Rose advantage didn’t last long as with Cornwall’s first assault on their line,
Shaun Buzza went over and Kyle Moyle converted.
Lancashire responded well to conceding the game’s first try and they duly opened their five-
point account in the 11th minute through hooker Jack Ellam. The extras were knocked over by
Johnson and Cornwall were behind.
Two tries in three minutes then underlined Cornwall’s attacking prowess as both Alex Ducker
and then Moyle crossed the whitewash.
Moyle, the former Gloucester and Cornish Pirates full-back, chimed into the three-quarter line to
feed Ducker who showed magnificent footwork to sit two would-be Lancashire defenders down
to score near the posts. Moyle added the extras and almost from the restart, Cornwall struck
again.
A scrum in the centre of field after the ball struck the referee saw Cornwall execute a training
ground move with perfection. Josh Mataevesi’s short delayed pass found Dean Wills and then
Shepherd with Moyle supporting to dot down.
Another seven-point score was registered and at that point Cornwall threatened to run riot but
once again huge credit must go to Lancashire as they dug in magnificently.
So much so that Moyle opted to kick for goal from a penalty inside the Lancashire half as the
interval approached to stretch the score out to 24-10 in Cornwall’s favour.
Lancashire would ensure that Cornwall’s lead would be down to single figures at the turnaround
when powerhouse flanker Ashton Kassam-Sharples scored and Johnson converted.
After the interval, Cornwall nerves would have started to jangle when Lancashire levelled up the
game when full-back Sam Freeman burrowed his way over from close range for his side’s third
converted try of the afternoon.
Freeman’s score came on the back of a penalty advantage for the Red Rose side which also
resulted in Josh Matavesi being shown a yellow card.
At 24-24 and with Cornwall losing one of their many talismen, Lancashire hopes were raised
that they could secure an against all odds triumph.
Moyle kicked a fine penalty from just inside the Lancashire half to edge Cornwall back in front
before the game changing moment arrived in the 53rd minute. Lancashire’s Tom Ailes broke
through the Cornwall defence and his brilliant offload was snared by replacement Matt Bradley.
The Sale scrum-half dived for the line and he slid over, only to be denied by a truly remarkable
try-saver from Wills. Held up was referee Tom Evans-Jones’ call and from the subsequent
restart, Sam Matavesi delivered a captain’s knock to win a penalty and the momentum swung
towards the Black and Gold.
Back from his 10 minutes on the sideline, Josh Matavesi then increased Cornwall’s lead with a
powerful run off the back of an attacking line-out. The former Bath and Newcastle man reached
out to place the ball on the whitewash and despite strong Lancashire protests, which led to
handbags between the two sides, the try was awarded and Moyle converted.
Some real breathing space for Cornwall, who suffocated the Lancashire attack and despite the
Red Rose outfit having a sustained spell of possession and multiple phases, they were nullified.
With 10 minutes to go, another fine backs move resulted in Bodily cutting a superb line to score
a fifth Cornwall try. The conversion was missed as Moyle recorded the only blot on his personal
copybook from the tee.
Ben Priddey thought he had extended Cornwall’s lead further as the clock approached 80
minutes but the referee, in consultation with one of his tough judges, ruled that the Camborne
try scoring machine had knocked on.
It was the final noteworthy action of the match and when the final whistle sounded, despite
heavy rain falling under gloomy London skies, a second side in black and gold had triumphed at
headquarters, in what turned out to be a truly landmark day for Cornish rugby.
Cornwall (Camborne, unless stated): Kyle Moyle, Matt Shepherd (St. Austell), Max Bodilly (London Welsh), Josh Matavesi, Alex Ducker, Dean Wills (Redruth), CJ Boyce; Tyler Gendall, Tom Cowan-Dickie (both Redruth), Sam Rodman, Mawgan Osborne, Edd Pascoe (both Redruth), Shaun Buzza, Sam Matavesi (Capt), Herbie Stupple.
Replacements: Declan Prowse (Penzance & Newlyn), Jack Andrew, Jago Sheppard, Ben Hancock (Launceston), Jordan Nicholls, Will Hennessy, Harry Larkins, Ben Priddey.
Tries: Buzza (5), Ducker (14), Moyle (17), J Matavesi (60), Bodily (70). Pens: Moyle 2/2. Cons:
Moyle 4/5
Lancashire: Sam Freeman, Owain Williams (both Preston Grasshoppers), Jordan Dorrington, Tom Forster, Leo Gililand (all Fylde), Chris Johnson (Capt, Heath), Matt Sturgess (Sedgley Park), Corey Bowker (Fylde), Jack Ellam (Sedgley Park), Sam Kyle-Clay (Preston Grasshoppers), Ben Walton, Matt Garrod (both Fylde), Issac Deans (Sedgley Park), Ashton Kassam-Sharples (Fylde), Tom Ailes (Preston Grasshoppers).
Reps: Freddie Deeks (Fylde), Daniel Birchall (Sale FC), Chris Rudkin, Mike Walton (both Fylde), Hugo Castle (Presto Grasshoppers), Alex Clayton (Fylde), Matt Bradley (Sale FC), Jacob Browne (Preston Grasshoppers).
Tries: Ellam (11), Kassam-Sharples (36), Freeman (44). Pens: Johnson 1/1. Cons: 3/3
Referee: Tom Evans-Jones (RFU)
