Cornish Dominate Thurrock, the Maul & Out Wide, But Essex Side Make Their Point!

London Cornish repeated the 57 point dose of their last home game, when they ripped apart visitors Thurrock in an utterly compelling opening 40 minutes of rugby in London 1 South at the Richardson Evans on Saturday, and it says much for the visiting side that they showed enough spirit to bounce off the ropes and land a try bonus point of their own in the 2nd period, as this was the most points they had conceded in a league match in over 2 years. The very healthy visiting support may not have enjoyed what they had seen, but nor should they have been surprised if they had been reading these match reports this season as Cornish are running into form.
The match began with the London 2 South-West Champs playing towards the clubhouse on a perfect pitch in perfect conditions. Thurrock, who had come into the match having played 4 games, all of which were settled by less than one score, cleared long with the opening play. Their error was that they cleared it to former Northampton Saint and England 7s International David Smith, and their chase suggested they didn't know what he can do. The full back waltzed past the run chase before spinning the ball to Chris Kolapo-Ajala on his outside, the powerful wing simply having too much pace for the cover diving over by the posts for a try converted by Skipper George Kimmins, barely 1 minute on the clock.3 minutes later, and it was Smith with too much pace, the incision made by returning centre Toby Fletcher, and the full back turning on the afterburners to score wide right, this not converted. The next score was another beauty, Matt Hakes driving up the middle, before Kimmins hit Fletcher to release Dave Funston on an angle, him drawing the last man to send the supporting open side Nick Goss over under the posts (pictured) for a try converted by the Skipper, his side now 19-0 to the good and already no way back for the visitors. The brand of rugby Cornish were playing at this point made it look as though they could score at will, and it only took 7 more minutes for them to wrap up the bonus point, this time barrelling runs by in-form no 8 Claude Springer and lock Harry Somers opening a small door on half-way for fellow 2nd row James La Broy. The rangy forward from Bude demonstrated he can move too, clearing away to dive over under the posts, the conversion a formality. In the previous few seasons, Cornish have been frustrated not to have been awarded more penalty tries for their utterly dominant pack in the tight and with rolling mauls, but not so far this season, a Somers lineout catch just inside the visitors 22 on 33 minutes seeing a maul roll inexorably over the Thurrock line, where though hooker Jake Slade claimed the try, the referee was unsighted by the touch down, but had seen enough to run under the posts, 33-0 now the score and the Essex side losing a man to the bin in the process. A Thurrock back wriggled free for a converted try on 34 minutes, but this was only a brief respite for Kimmins himself (who had a long range penalty hit the cross bar on 36 minutes) showed he too has a turn of foot when he scored and converted his own try on 38 following another Smith incursion, part of the Skippers 22 point haul on the day. The restart was sent straight down wing Andy Hill's throat, and he simply ran through the entire Thurrock side to score under the posts, Kimmins conversion meaning Cornish turned round 47-7 to the good - some of the seasoned Cornish supporters opined that they had just witnessed the best 40 minutes of rugby they had ever seen their team produce, and this against a team who until this day had the 4th best defensive record in the division.
The watch word at the break was for the home side to keep their discipline, as with the 5 points in the bag they would not want to lose players in the 2nd period for unneccesary infringements. In this regard, Cornish erred, though they can count themselves unfortunate as one card was a case of mistaken identity, and the other was an attempted intercept. As these came right at the point when Cornish had made a raft of changes, the effect was to give the exiles a disjointed look in the 2nd half, 15 minutes of which they completed with 13 men. Thurrock scored a second converted try on 50 minutes, before the dominance Cornish enjoy in the tight (once again, kudos to Jamie Robert-Tissot, Slade and tight head Dave Theobald for a great shift at the coal face) forced an error at the base of a retreating visitors scrum just inside the 22, Tom Ievers, on for Matt Hakes, pounced to fly hack on and dive over for another try converted by his Captain, the 50 points now up with 58 gone. With the home side down a man, then two, the Essex side sensed their moment, and when they finally crossed after a period of territorial dominance on 65 minutes, they sniffed a bonus point at 54-21. Disappointingly, Thurrock had to go uncontested with 14 minutes of the match remaining, negating one of the key methods Cornish use to subdue their opponents. Kimmins sensibly calmed his team with a penalty on 69, and Funston very nearly added a try when he linked with the similarly bang in form Rich Stephens, Hill and Kimmins down the left wing, but a chip was agonisingly knocked on with the line begging. Thurrock finally gave their travelling support something to cheer when they landed the bonus point try with 5 left, and added some gloss to their score with another near the final whistle, both tries converted, but they probably did not anticipate this result when they rocked up to the REMPF for the first time ever. Kolapo-Ajala fell awkwardly in the last play, but a check up revealed muscular bruising rather than anything more serious.
Thurrock were unable to get their bus near to the Roehampton CC post match venue, so we were unable to exchange war stories, though a few of their supporters and one or two players were delighted, as it meant extra pasties for them! They have plenty of ammo in their locker, are well supported and seemed to take the defeat well, so good luck to them until we meet on the other side of the New Year.
The 2nd half demonstrated that Cornish still have plenty of room for improvement, and with the plans for an influential player a week to return from injury for the next 5 league weekends (this began with Kiwi Elliot Cave making his debut from the bench here), there will be plenty of competition for places to keep the lads on their toes. However, it would be churlish to pass without a comment on that opening 40 - it was, in short, scintillating and a privilege to witness. That 40 shows what you can achieve training once a week, with players who pay £200 a season for the honour (all of them, no exceptions and none are paid by sponsors either), at a club who were only good enough to make this step up after 2 seasons of near things, and who don't own their ground or a clubhouse!