THE Cornish All Blacks remain unbeaten at home since early November after dominating bottom side Bracknell from start to finish in a 22-0 success at Polson Bridge.

Launceston had won five of their last seven games but faced a Bracknell side looking to build on their surprise home victory over Ivybridge and force themselves to within a couple points of the Cornishmen.

Launceston joint head coaches Ian Goldsmith and Ryan Westren named an unchanged side from the one that was narrowly edged out 13-6 at Barnstaple, with the only alteration seeing Tom Bottoms recalled to the bench in place of Alex Bartlett.

The All Blacks were looking to build on the crucial bonus point earned at Pottington Road, and despite a lacklustre opening couple of minutes, they didn’t give their Berkshire visitors a sniff.

With Launceston’s pack in imperious form, this allowed the hosts to create several early opportunities, but a combination of poor finishing, a knock-on and poor discipline meant the game remained scoreless.

When the home side did eventually cross through lock Torin Clarke, referee Kevin Williams deemed Greg Thomas’ pass to be forward and disallowed the score.

It appeared it could be one of those frustrating days, much like when Launceston dominated the reverse fixture and lost in the last minute. But home nerves were eased on 28 minutes when Clarke intercepted a pass on the edge of his own 22 and ran the rest of the way to the Bracknell line. Winger Dan Pearce added the extras as it remained 7-0 at the break.

The second-half continued in the same vain with Bracknell having no joy at scrum time and spending most of the time defending.

They fell further behind on 48 minutes through Pearce’s penalty, before a second All Blacks try was forthcoming just two minutes later. A driving maul was finished off by blindside-flanker, Harry Lightfoot.

Pearce made it three from three off the tee.

Launceston continued to bang away but had to wait until the 77th minute for a third try with prop Greg Thomas crashing over from a couple metres.

The All Blacks had one final chance to pick up a deserved bonus point, but Pearce was bundled into touch on halfway.

Wins for Newbury Blues and Exmouth didn’t help Launceston’s cause as they remain five points above second bottom Newbury, but, crucially, with a game in-hand.

Player/coach, Ryan Westren was delighted with the performance, but believes they should have taken maximum points.

He said: “We were very dominant with our set-pieces and the performance was really good in terms of our phases, but we need to a be bit more clinical. But anytime that we lost some control we knew we could reassert ourselves at scrum time which was a big weapon.

“It was pretty evident early on that we were the dominant side, but we lacked a little bit of accuracy in finishing off our opportunities.

“We also had a few chances in the second-half that went down.

“We should have been out of sight by the hour but sometimes it doesn’t work out like that. We know that it’s an area we need to work on and be a bit more ruthless by turning pressure into points. “But that being said we’ve not been so dominant in a game all season. They didn’t pose any real threat, but we said at half-time we needed to put the game to bed and eventually we did.

“At the end of the day we’ve got four league points and there’s an eight-point swing, so we can’t be too despondent. We’d have taken four points before the game, especially with them getting nothing.”

Westren had high praise for full-back Alfie Lang and several of the forwards.

He said: “Alfie Lang got man-of-the-match and was as solid as a rock. He kicked it back when needed, carried it when needed and defensively was as solid as a rock. The one time they made a break, he nullified it straight away and got us back on the offensive.

“He’s a very unassuming bloke but his performances are starting to speak for themselves. Joining a new club can take time for some people to find their feet and but we’re seeing the real Alfie now. “He’s played some really good rugby in the last month.

“The back-row (Harry Lightfoot, Lloyd Duke and Brandon Rowley) was very good again along with Torin Clarke. The three back-rowers and Torin are in some pretty good form right now and if they can keep it up for the last five games, they’re going to be a handful for any opposition they come up against.”

This weekend sees the final Saturday without a game until the campaign comes to a close on April 18 against Exeter University.

Westren said: “We’ve handled the breaks well if you look at our recent results. The first part of the season was fairly full-on with games but since Decemeber it’s been very stop-start. But we’ll use this week as a last opportunity for a down week before five weeks of sacrifice to achieve what we set out to do in July.”

The All Blacks are likely to have to win at least two, maybe three of their final fixtures, which starts at Brixham next Saturday, and Westren is banking on Polson Bridge to continue to serve them well.

He said: “It shows you the standard of the league as in previous years we’d be all but safe. Home form will play a massive part and after Brixham away, three of our last four games are at home, which is a massive bonus.”