National League Three South West

Cornish All Blacks 9

THE Cornish All Blacks returned to action last Saturday with a 30-9 defeat at Devon rivals Newton Abbot in National League Three South West.

Jimmy Tucker’s side had won two out of their last three games, and would have been quietly confident of picking up at least a losing bonus point at Rackerhayes, but put in a poor second-half display to gift the home side an easy five points.

The start to the match was a fairly tense affair but burst into life on 15 minutes when a penalty try was awarded to the All Whites after a driving maul was dragged down.

Rob Avery-Wright converted for a 7-0 lead before fly-half Fraser Honey reduced the arrears with a penalty.

However the lead was increased on the stroke of half-time when Martin Browne broke from a scrum to send in brother Kyle for the easiest of finishes under the posts.

After the break the All Blacks’ inability to control field position or the ball proved a massive source of frustration, although Avery-Wright and Honey both slotted over two penalties apiece to make it 20-9.

However the visitors continued to make life difficult for themselves and were punished late in the game as Luke Kenny and Jarryd Harris both went over before Launceston were finally put out of their misery in a contest which could easily have ended a lot worse.

They will be delighted to be back at Polson Bridge on Saturday, when they will look to make it three home wins on the trot against second-placed Old Redcliffians.

Player/Coach, Ryan Westren, who had a watching brief at Newton Abbot due to a neck injury, was left very frustrated by a number of aspects of the team’s performance and is demanding a massive improvement.

Westren said: “It was a bitterly disappointing performance from us. In the first 40 minutes we competed well and only let them score points through our own errors really.

“After the break it was a different story. We let ourselves down really badly through ill discipline and made lots of stupid errors. We were lucky that the scoreline wasn’t worse as they were camped in our half.

“We need to work on controlling the field position more instead of trying to play rugby in silly positions.

“We also lacked the experience needed which comes with away games, with me and Dave Uglow not playing. Probably our most experienced player was captain Lloyd Duke and he’s only in his mid-twenties, which tells you a lot. We need to grow up quickly.

“As coaches now we can’t beat around the bush. Individuals need to be told if they’re not performing, we need accountability. You don’t mind players making mistakes but if they keep making them over and over again then that’s when there’s a problem.

“We need to become a lot more streetwise and savvy, if we do that then I’m confident that we’ll move away from the drop zone and that needs to start on Saturday. No-one likes coming to Launceston so we need to make sure we compete well and get some points on the board in front of our fans.”