Saturday, December 1

Tribute South West One (West)

Cornish All Blacks 33

Keynsham 24

AN EXCELLENT first-half performance sent the Cornish All Blacks on the way to their eighth successive win as they beat Keynsham 33-24 at a damp Polson Bridge.

The visitors arrived in North Cornwall with five wins from 11 games and provided the league leaders with a tough test.

Joint head coaches Ryan Westren, who was still recovering from a hamstring injury, and Ian Goldsmith made just one change from the same side that was scheduled to take on Coney Hill before the Gloucestershire-based side conceded last Saturday as Torin Clarke replaced Sam Snell, who was placed on the bench instead of Dan Goldsmith who was going to play for the seconds. Andy Knight replaced Levent Bulut on the bench.

Every Launceston game seems to see early tries and this time there were two — with one coming from each side.

Keynsham scored within three minutes as scrum-half John Pearce picked up the ball from a scrum on the left-hand side and ran down the blindside to score, although winger Dan Pearce will be disappointed by his attempt at a tackle.

To their credit the home side battled back immediately. From the kick-off, great work from Rikki Bentham and Lloyd Duke resulted in a penalty which was kicked by fly-half Glenn Coles. And on eight minutes the All Blacks went 8-5 up as a driving maul was finished off by Coles’ half-back partner Adam Collings.

On the quarter-hour Launceston grabbed their second score as prop Chae Jenkins finished off another irresistible driving maul.

To Keynsham’s credit they continued to battle away well and reduced the deficit on 23 minutes to just three points at 15-12 as the impressive number eight Jack Weston bulldozed his way over from a couple of metres out after a succession of penalties. Sam Challenger slotted the extras.

But the sign of a good side is to hit back straight away and on 27 minutes the All Blacks made it a hat-trick of driving mauls as Collings dotted down his second of the afternoon.

The first-half was delayed for nearly ten minutes due to a shoulder injury sustained by visiting fly-half Oliver Conybeare and the All Blacks ensured they had a 18-point lead by the break; although for once Coles failed to bring his kicking boots.

First, Pearce made up for his early error by showing excellent balance to catch a kick which swerved back into play before driving infield.

With the play spread, Pearce sent a 20-metre pass out to left-winger Martin Kneebone, who showed excellent pace and strength to run in from 20 metres despite the attention of two defenders.

The All Blacks had played well and grabbed a fifth try in the eighth minute of added time thanks to full-back Reuben Edwards. Coles fired over a pass to the left-wing where Edwards showed a great combination of pace, quick feet and strength to touch down in the corner from 30 yards.

Soon after the half-time whistle went.

The second-half was a dull affair with Keynsham happy to slow the game down and make it scrappy. To their credit the gameplan worked as they won the half 12-3 and secured a try bonus point.

Coles kicked a penalty on 64 minutes to make it 33-12 before the visitors grabbed consolation tries from Challenger and replacement Adam Harrison with the last play of the game.

Challenger missed the final conversion, which would have ensured a second bonus point.

All Blacks player/coach Ryan Westren believes Keynsham’s second-half tactics meant they were never going to run up a big score.

He said: “To the neutral it was a game of two halves. In the first-half we were very efficient apart from the first two minutes, we showed that when we held onto the ball for multiple phases, that pressure tells. In the second-half we struggled to get going. They stopped trying to play any and concentrated on stopping us instead. There was never any danger of us losing with those tactics but they did stop us from getting going.”

“I was very happy with nearly everything in the first-half although moving forward we need to get better at getting out of our 22 as that gives them the possibility of scoring tries. It’s a domino effect, penalties lead to pressure which potentially can lead to scores for them.”

One area where the All Blacks were strong was in the scrum, and their dominance co-incided with the arrival of the towering Andy Knight in the first-half.

Westren said: “Andy Knight was very good and very destructive and was dominant in both attack and defence. He added another dimension to us while Reuben looked sharp and dangerous every time he got the ball in-hand. There was also another notable performance from Martin Kneebone, who was strong like he has been all season and it was good to see Will Morton look lively when he came on.

“But it was a very good performance from everyone. We identified their strengths and made sure that we didn’t play into them, so I’m a very happy coach!”

Westren knows that the All Blacks’ promotion hopes could be decided by the end of January as they prepare to face Thornbury (fourth), Newent (where they lost last term), North Petherton (fifth), second-placed Okehampton and third-placed St Ives in their next five games.

Looking ahead to the challenge of going to Thornbury on Saturday and the crucial run of games coming up, Westren said: “Away to them last year was very tough. They’re going well and are up to fourth and are strong. The rest of December and January will define our league season, there’s no getting away away from that. We know as a squad if we come out of that then we’re in an excellent position for the rest of the season!

“If we hadn’t won the games we have over the first 12 weeks we have we wouldn’t be in this position, but we know the next six weeks out of the 26 weeks will define our league position!”

Westren also had an update on the injury situation.

He said: “Greg Thomas is likely to be available for selection and hopefully I’ll be available but we’ll have to see!”

Kick-off at Rockhampton Hill is at 2.30pm.

Cornish All Blacks —

Edwards, Pearce, Crawford, Sandercock, Kneebone, Coles, Collings; Bentham, J Duke, Jenkins, Williams, Crabb, Clarke, L Duke (captain), Rowley

Replacements: Knight, Snell, Morton

Tries: Collings 2, Jenkins, Kneebone, Edwards

Convs: Coles

Pens: Coles 2

Cornish All Blacks’ man-of-the-match: Andy Knight