By Dan Pearce
LAUNCESTON’S eminence in Cornish women's rugby was firmly written into the history books on Saturday as they retained the Cornwall Cup, thus completing the league and cup double for the second consecutive year.
At a festival hosted by Penryn RFC, Launceston faced Cornish opposition from across the leagues in a round-robin style tournament and, despite being the team to beat, claimed victory in all four of their 20-minute games to be crowned champions again.
With over 200 players in attendance from almost all women’s teams in the county, participating in both the Cup and Shield competitions, the day was as much an advert for women's rugby, encouraging girls to join their local rugby family.
Even so, less than a week after Launceston’s Women’s NC 1 South West (West) title-clinching battle against Yeovil and with bodies still sore, the Cabettes had their sights firmly set on retaining the silverware.
First up for Launceston were hosts and league rivals Penryn, looking to recreate the upset from earlier in the season.
But a brace from player of the tournament Meg Tucker outscored Penryn’s solitary try to get Launceston off to a fine start.
Next came the Cornish Barbarians, an open invitational team comprising of players from all teams throughout Cornwall, saw a second win with four tries from Tucker, one from debutant Amber Glasper as well as an emotional score from Josie Ninnis.
A minute's applause was held during the tournament in honour of her father Pip Ninnis, a proud rugby dad always on the sidelines cheering on his girls, who sadly passed away earlier in the week. Josie, with her sisters Rosie and Lottie, would later play together for the Cornish Barbarians in his honour.
A combination team of Helston and Camborne, affectionately named ‘Helborne’, were the penultimate game. Scores from Tucker, Kim Upcott, Vicki Doidge and Caitlyn Hancock meant Launceston went into their final game with Truro already champions.
But the Cabettes wanted the undefeated streak in the tournament to continue as tries from Tucker, taking her total to eight on the day, and Upcott ensured there was no doubt who the deserved winners were.
Launceston have one final league this Sunday at Newton Abbot (2.30pm).
“On Saturday we knew there was no time to settle in and we needed to be on it from the first whistle, and we were.
“The growth in the team over the last few years has been brilliant and we’ve gelled superbly well, and the coaching (now led by Jimmy Tucker) has been a massive part of that.
“We’ve got better and better each year and we’ve now got our rewards.”
Launceston will play in Women’s Championship South West 2 next season, which means plenty of long away days, plus derby dates with Ivybridge and Cullompton.
Ruby continued: “We’re going to need to recruit, and it’s important that we try and use the momentum gained from the last couple of years to be as competitive as possible.
“We know it’ll be tough but we just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”