CORNISH All Blacks player/coach, Ryan Westren admits it was ‘very frustrating’ that Coney Hill conceded their Tribute South West One (West) clash at Polson Bridge on Saturday.

The Gloucestershire-based club have had a torrid time of things since promotion, winning just once and conceding on a handful of occasions due to player shortages. Such has been their struggle, they have had to concede their home fixture against the All Blacks back in November due to a lack of fit front-rows.

Despite the cancellation, the All Blacks had a profitable weekend as although leaders Okehampton beat Bridgwater & Albion 18-0 to remain top, their failure to score four tries means they picked up just four points instead of the maximum five, and reduced their lead at the top to two points with three games remaining.

With a bye weekend before Coney Hill, by the time Launceston kick-off at Keynsham on Saturday, they wouldn’t have taken to the field since their 26-22 win at Devonport Services on March 9.

Westren said: “We put a week’s work into getting ready for the game and then the boys would have woken up on the day of the game, started their individual preparations, and then for halfway through it to be told the game is off is very frustrating.

“They claimed that they had got in touch on Thursday night, but the first time anyone was made aware of it was on Saturday morning.”

Westren is trying to look at the bigger picture as the season draws to a thrilling conclusion.

“It’s frustrating, as the target is to keep building the momentum. But there are pluses and minuses to it all. The boys who were injured around Christmas, it gives them an extra week of recovery and come the end of April, when hopefully we’ll have a play-off game at the very least, we will have a whole squad to choose from which will keep training sharp!

“Tomorrow (Tuesday) might have a bit more intensity to it than if we’d have played on Saturday. The stuff we’ll do won’t change but as we build towards Keynsham on Saturday, we don’t have sore bodies like we normally do at this time of year, so hopefully that means we can get a bit of spice into training.”

With just one win between the teams, Westren wants his side to pile on the pressure.

He said: “It’s nice to know that the gap is now two points and not three but the league is out of our hands and the chances are, that if we want to get top spot, Okehampton will have to lose.

“But it’s made it a bit tighter and with 15 points available, they have to take 13. A lot can happen between now and the end of the season We’ve got to go out there and score as many points as we can and win as many points as we can and see where that leaves us at the end of the year.”

Although the All Blacks have beaten Bristol-based Keynsham on all three occasions they have played since the start of last season, including a 33-24 win in December, Westren knows they could be in for a tough afternoon’s work.

He said: “We played them up there last year and they’re very physical and really attack the breakdown. They provide a very physical test.”

Keynsham are now 16 points clear of the bottom three with three games remaining, meaning they can’t go down, and Westren hopes that it’ll work to Launceston’s advantage.

He said: “That might change their will to fight a bit but we have to go up there with the aim of picking up five points and keeping the pressure up on Okehampton.”

Westren expects the majority of the squad to be available.

He added: “A few of the uni lads have got Cornwall Under 20s and uni matches coming up, so we need to manage that situation so we can pick from a full squad for the last couple of games of the season.”

Kick-off at the Crown Field is at 2.30pm.