Saturday, November 16

South West Premier

Bracknell 15

Cornish All Blacks 13

SAM Dunks’ try with the last play of the game condemned the Cornish All Blacks to a cruel 15-13 defeat at fellow strugglers Bracknell on Saturday.

Dan Pearce’s penalty and superb converted try made it 10-10 at the break, and when Pearce kicked a penalty with ten minutes to go, it looked like a vital Launceston victory was on the cards.

However with player/coach Ryan Westren in the sin-bin for a high tackle, Bracknell kicked the resulting penalty to the corner and scored from the lineout to secure the most thrilling of wins.

Westren and fellow coach Ian Goldsmith made three changes from the side beaten 36-5 by Barnstaple seven days earlier as flanker Tom Bottoms returned after a long lay-off in place of the injured Dom Theobald and Greg Thomas replaced the unavailable Rory Cinnamond at prop.

Full-back Tom Sandercock was also recalled in place of Martin Kneebone, which allowed Reuben Edwards to move to his favoured position on the left-wing.

On the bench, there were places for flanker Joe Stansfield and scrum-half Adam Collings.

Conditions at Lily Hall Park weren’t conducive to free-flowing rugby and both sides traded penalties inside the opening 15 minutes with Chris Laidler notching for the Greens and Pearce doing likewise just three minutes later.

The All Blacks had the majority of territory but failed to make the most of it.

However in Pearce they have one of the most dangerous runners around and his brilliance gave them a try midway through the first-half.

After Bracknell earned a penalty, they kicked to the corner inside the Launceston 22. But the resultant lineout ended up in All Blacks hands and the ball was quickly worked out to the right-wing where Pearce beat a couple of men and raced away to the line. He then converted to make it 10-7.

This pressed the Berkshire outfit into life and they responded before the break. After a number of attacks were deemed to have been thwarted illegally, Thomas was sent to the sin-bin.

The penalty was again kicked to the corner, but this time Bracknell won it. After a handful of phases, Dunks dived over the line.

Laidler added the extras and the game was all square, which was how it stayed until the break.

The visitors were dominant at scrum-time and instead of receiving penalties, were only awarded free-kicks or were made to reset, which took plenty of time out of the game.

To add to their frustration, they were then denied a try.

Stansfield made a superb break from halfway and was tackled just short. The ball was then quickly recycled out to the right for Pearce to dive for the line. However despite touching it down, the home touch judge deemed that his foot had touched the line despite Pearce’s insistence that he was in the air when grounding.

Launceston’s play was eventually rewarded with 12 minutes to go as Pearce kicked a penalty after Dunks was sin-binned.

But despite coming back on with hardly any time remaining, it was Dunks who made the difference.

With less than two minutes to go, the hosts were camped in their own 22. But they managed to get out all the way towards halfway, where they were awarded a penalty.

Westren was soon sin-binned and from the penalty, another kick to the corner saw Dunks catch the lineout and crash his way over to break Launceston hearts.

The conversion was missed but there was no time for the visitors to kick-off as Bracknell moved four points clear of Launceston.

Westren admits he was gutted, yet proud of their performance.

He said: “Ultimately we lost but from where we’ve come from at the start of the season, we played really well.

“We played some proper rugby. We managed the game really well, we were defensively sound but we just couldn’t turn our dominance into points.

“Our execution let us down as did our lineout in both attack and defence.

“But the growth of the squad over the last two or three months has been massive. Everyone in the squad can see it.

“The half-backs played in the right areas, the back three were strong but I can’t fault anyone, everyone did what was asked of them. It was a really good performance without the win. To play the way we did and lose is hard to take. We’ve played worse this season and won.

“Sometimes you can accept being beaten by a much better team but we’ve managed the game perfectly. But we made a couple of mistakes at crucial times and that’s cost us.”

Launceston’s defence came in for criticism in opening weeks, but in the past five games have conceded just 116 points as opposed to the 242 in their first four fixtures.

Westren said: “On Saturday we only missed 12 tackles, which meant we had a 92% success rate. We’ve made huge strides in that and that’s wonderful to see.”

Saturday’s opponents Brixham secured a big derby win over Ivybridge at the weekend, which means Launceston drop into the bottom two, but Westren is more concerned with performances at this stage.

“We’ve still got plenty of opportunities to get out of this. A win would have created a points gap which puts pressure on them and the teams around us. Different people react to that pressure differently and it becomes a mini battle within a mini battle.

“But I do think that some teams around us are at their ceiling. I have every faith in our lads and if we keep improving the way we are then I have no doubt we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

“The bigger picture here for me is the next four or five years and we’re not a million miles away from where we want to be.

“Yes the here and now is important, but it’s about the continued growth of the club.”

Brixham are the visitors to Polson Bridge this Saturday (3pm), and Westren knows it’s a big game against a side three points ahead and with a game in-hand.

He said: “One of the great things about rugby is that seven days later we get to go again. We can’t dwell on Saturday but it should give us some venom for this week for a clash against another side around us in the league.

“But it’s on our own patch. We’ve not been at our best yet at home so we owe the Polson Bridge faithful a proper Cornish All Blacks performance, and there’s not a better time to do that than this weekend.

“With the way the league is and with the opposition we’ve got, hopefully it can provide a springboard.

“The performances are coming now. We’re now understanding what we need to do, so it’s about making sure we take that next step and turn it into league points.”

Westren expects another tough encounter.

He said: “Like Bracknell, Brixham have been in this league a long time and they know what they need to do to stay in this division. They’re a proud club and won’t be happy with where they are, but that makes them dangerous.

“They’re usually quite strong up front and there’s been quite a few personnel changes in the last few weeks, so they’re going to be a tough nut to crack.

“But we need to make sure that come 3pm on Saturday we’ve done everything we can both individually and as a team to give us the best chance of getting the result we need.”

Cornish All Blacks —

Sandercock, Pearce, Crawford, Westren, Edwards, Coles, Mulberry; Bentham, Bulut, Thomas, Macdonald, Clarke, Bottoms, L Duke (captain), Rowley.

Replacements: Bartlett, Stansfield, Collings.

Tries: Pearce.

Convs: Pearce.

Pens: Pearce 2.

Cornish All Blacks’ man-of-the-match: Dan Pearce.