CORNISH All Blacks player/coach Ryan Westren believes ‘executing the basics on both sides of the ball’ is key to their hopes of reigniting their South West Premier campaign, which restarts with a visit from Maidenhead to Polson Bridge on Saturday (3pm).

With 13 teams in the league, it was Launceston’s turn to have a bye at the weekend, and it probably couldn’t have come at a better time.

However, previously winless Bracknell’s 41-9 thrashing of Brixham meant the All Blacks dropped to the foot of the table with just a bonus point from three heavy defeats to Exeter University, Exmouth and Ivybridge, who are all in the top six.

Much-fancied Maidenhead are third, having won two and lost two of their four fixtures so far, including losing a thriller to Ivybridge on Saturday.

Westren (pictured right) admitted that getting smiles back on faces has been as important as the tactical side.

“It was a good time to have the break and work on some of our issues. Sometimes after three losses, getting the boys enjoying what they’re doing again is just as important, as it can be a hard place when you lose three on the trot.

“Over the last four or five years, Launceston have had some pretty tough times, but after last year where we got used to winning again, it can be difficult. But I’m a big believer that if you work hard for long enough you’ll get the rewards. I’m very sure that we’ll come out the other side, we’ve just got to stick at it.”

The weather forecast for the rest of the week is for rain, meaning conditions on Saturday are likely to be a far cry from the sunny, dry conditions for the 76-24 defeat at home to Exmouth last month.

Westren is full of praise for the Berkshire visitors but is more worried about making sure the All Blacks keep themselves in the contest.

Westren said: “The weather can be a great leveller but we can’t make any excuses for our performances so far.

“We know they’re a good side and finished near the top last year. They’ve started pretty well and are one of those sides that are always talked about, but I’m not sure whether they’ve been down to Polson Bridge which is a unique place, so we need to make sure that Polson is a ground which people don’t want to come to.

“In previous years we’ve often struggled away from home but we’ve always been competitive at home regardless of what level we’ve been at.

“We know they’re established at this level, so they’ll now be looking to push on. But we need to front up. We haven’t put our own stamp on one game yet, so we need to focus on ourselves and putting our game on to them through keeping possession, as opposed to being dictated too.”

Launceston are the only team yet to taste success in the division, and Westren knows that they need to get their performances right.

He said: “Losing becomes a habit, just like winning. Historically every team is a bit stronger at home but the league doesn’t usually start to unravel until November, but sometimes that’s too late. “First of all we need to be competitive in these games and then I’m sure the results will follow.”

Westren knows that keeping the ball and defending better are the two keys to doing so.

He said: “We need to treasure possession when we have it and make sure we don’t defend for long periods.

“However good you are with the ball, if you don’t have it the result is only ever going to go one way.

“We’re very aware that the defensive side needs to improve drastically, but if we keep the ball longer, the less we’ll be defending.

“We need to execute the basics on both sides of the ball. Get them right and we will automatically be in a better place impose to ourselves on the game.”

A number of players had a run-out for the second team during their 48-7 victory at their Bude counterparts on Saturday in the Tribute Duchy League East, which saw a hat-trick from Tom Sandercock as well as efforts from Ben Tharme, Ben Hawke, David Parish (2) and Dom Theobald.

Westren said: “It was good for a few of the players to get over niggles and also give them a bit of confidence.

“Bude were competitive with the side we had, so Goldy and I were pretty pleased with what we saw.

“The most positive thing was that we put into practice what we’ve been doing in training in what generally are quite unstructured games, so for that to visibly transfer into the game was good.”

Westren wasn’t giving too much away as regards to team news.

He said: “We’ve got a few things to check up on before we decide, but we’ll see how things go throughout the week.”