Under 11 Cornwall Cup Festival at Launceston Rugby Club — Sunday, April 15

LAUNCESTON Rugby Club’s under 11s team hosted the Cornwall Cup Festival at Polson on Sunday, April 15.

With some 25 teams in attendance from all over the county plus guest teams, Tavistock, Okehampton and Bath, it made for a very busy day.

Some exciting rugby was on show throughout from the home side in very sticky conditions underfoot, and the team did themselves and all supporters very proud, winning three of their four allocated games due to some high intensity rugby and stout defending when required.

The three victories came against Camborne, Penryn and St Ives and the only loss of the day came from an extremely skilled and well-drilled team from Bath who were visiting Launceston as part of their tour weekend.

A special mention has to go to all the parents and volunteers who helped out over the weekend from pitch marking on Saturday to car-parking, cooking, cleaning and all other duties on Sunday and lots more behind the scenes.

A special thanks were expressed to all of the local companies who kindly donated goods or services for the day while many other teams commented on how well organised it had been, and to coaches, Mark Jones, Rob Fry and Craig Rowland for all that they do for the team.

The under 11s have had a successful season to date and are looking forward to their forthcoming tour where they will they visit Topsham RFC on Saturday, May 6 followed by an overnight trip to Bristol to play at Kingswood RFC on the Sunday.

Under 9 Rugby Festival held at St Austell RFC — Sunday, April 22

THE under 9s made a trip down to St Austell RFC for this annual festival and for some it was their first taste of such an event.

They were drawn in the same pool as Falmouth, Saltash, Liskeard-Looe and Camborne.

Their first encounter was against a big Camborne side and they did well to come out of that game with a very rewarding draw, mostly due to excellent defending and clinical try scoring.

Next up were Saltash, and with Launceston fielding a squad of 10 players, rotating each player allowed them to play fast, attacking rugby — ending in their first win.

Once lunch was taken, they took on a strong Falmouth side but them in all areas of the pitch. Some excellent last-ditch tackling from the team and brilliant link-up play ensured the Polson Bridge club ran out close winners in this extremely exciting game.

Last up was Liskeard-Looe, who were struggling with numbers. Launceston offered them a player for each separate half and after some early scares, Launceston ran out easy winners.

It was a great learning experience for the under 9s as they picked up three wins and a draw but more importantly a great team spirit was on display.

Thanks were expressed to coaches Paul Lovell and Jamie Belsey, who expertly coached and drew the best out of the team with some tactical changes and motivational speeches, and to all the parents who displayed great sportsmanship in the name of rugby by applauding every try from Launceston and the opposition.