London Cornish never recovered from a mad 10 minute period in the first half of this London 2 South-West match against Trojans, in which they shipped 3 tries as their defensive patterns fell apart. With a misfiring backline chasing the game from that point on, poor decisions ensured the side never got into the game, their visitors worthy winners by a goal, two tries and two penalties to a try.

Trojans came into this game in a decent run of form, though despite a sequence of wins they had remained resolutely in 5th place in this tight and demanding division. Cornish were able to recall Skipper Dave Theobald in place of the injured George Johnson, but with scrummy Dave Madigan unavailable along with his normal back-up Tom Jacob, the exiles gambled on switching Rich McKeown at 9 and Conor O’Daly to 10, Nick Harlock taking back his 15 shirt. The pitch was in perfect condition but a large number of late arrivals forced Cornish into a hurried and unsatisfactory warm up.

Cornish played away from the clubhouse in the opening period, and for the first few minutes dominated possession and territory, winning a scrum against the head and seeing both McKeown and Keith Thompson make breaks into the Ts 22 before the ball was knocked on. It took fully 9 minutes for Trojans to make it into the exiles half, but they had been careful not to concede kickable penalties and had defended the narrow game played by their hosts well in those opening exchanges. Gradually, the game became more see-saw, Trojans twice turned over by hooker Will Carew-Gibbs as they ventured into the hosts 22. The two tens exchanged kicks a few times in an effort to gain territorial advantage, but neither side could make their possession count until the defining passage in the match began on 22 minutes. Spinning a ball won from a scrum from right to left on halfway, the Ts left wing simply fended off a weak tackle before stepping inside the cover and away to score half way in to the posts, the score completely out of keeping with what had gone before. Though the conversion flew wide, the restart did not go the distance and at the ensuing scrum, the Ts 9 could not believe his luck as he picked up on halfway and ran through untouched to score under the posts as the Cornish defence parted like the sea of Galilee, the conversion a formality. Bolstered by their sudden lead and full of confidence from their winning run, the next 5 minutes saw Ts attack repeatedly but they were hampered by the best scrummaging performance of the exiles season, twice disrupting 5 metre scrums when under pressure as Theobald, Carew-Gibbs and recent signing Mike Bond played only their second match of the season together. However, just when it seemed they had weathered to storm, Trojans scored again. This time it was their 13 who was invited to run into a gap from halfway and again a complete breakdown in the home defence meant he ran in untouched, this conversion also shanked wide but the lead now out to 17-0. Now Cornish were playing serious catch up rugby, and this began to tell as they made a series of errors, passes going forwards or being knocked on. Too often the ball was turned inside to runners not coming from any sort of depth, meat and drink to the waiting Trojans back row. Finally, on 38 minutes, a long kick through was missed by one of the Cornish wings, and when it was recovered by the visitors, the home side were pinged for not rolling away in a kickable position. The Ts kicked split the uprights and his side could probably barely believe how easily they had stretched out to a 20-0 half time lead.
Cornish have a history of turning round big deficits in recent seasons, and they had done this by building their way back into matches, picking off penalties to build their own pressure. Strong words were required for the second week running at the break, and the response was instant, Simon Brading and McEwen driving into the Ts half on 41 minutes and a penalty won smack in front of the posts on the 22. Cornish inexplicably ignored both the chance for the 3 or the scrum at which they had been so dominant, electing instead for a kick to the corner only to watch in horror as the attempt flew way over the dead ball line for the drop out. Within 3 minutes they were made to pay for this profligacy, Ts winning and converting a penalty for a 23-0 lead. Though continually disrupted in the tight, Trojans dominance out wide was such that they made ground almost at will as tackling for some of the exiles seemed to become an option. On 47 minutes Cornish replaced wing Laurie Bridgett with Robin Heymann, the former having suffered a knock in the warm up and having been an injury doubt before hand. Heymann’s impact was instant, twice returning kicks with interest as his quick stepping style contrasted sharply with any other player on the pitch. On 51 minutes Cornish countered from inside their 22, O’Daly spinning the ball to Harlock who beat a man and chipped ahead. The ball was kicked back to Heymann, who countered and linked with Bond, only for the final pass to Harlock to spin agonizingly out of his reach and into touch. A controversial moment followed on 58 minutes, the referee identifying that a visitors forward had used his knee on a prostrate exile at the ruck but only awarding a penalty and not giving the miscreant 10 as he surely deserved? Cornish kicked to the corner, Nimmons won the lineout and the rolling maul was set, but on a day when precision was lacking in most aspects of the exiles game, they were pinged for truck and trailer just as they reached their visitors line. Another change on the hour saw Mark Osei-Tutu on at 6 on for lock Phil Ridsdale, Nimmons into the row. Osei-Tutu also had a very positive impact, smashing his way into rucks and providing much needed dynamism round the fringes. However, though beginning to dominate territory Cornish lacked penetration out wide, far too lateral in their running and not coming from any depth when they played narrow. The frustration boiled over on 66 minutes, an exiles retaliating at a ruck and consigned to 10 in the bin. He was quickly followed by one of Trojans replacements, who flew over the top of a ruck to prevent McKeown from spinning quick ball out to waiting back line. After this penalty was kicked into the 22, Cornish won the lineout for lock Pete Calvert and McEwen to drive toward the line. Quick ball was again provided to McKeown, and he saw the chance to dive over the line for a try, though the conversion was missed. Any hopes the exiles had of adding to their score in the remaining minutes were dashed by poor options being taken, twice good quality off the top lineout ball kicked away. Trojans saw the chance to press for a bonus point try, and repeated penalties were kicked into the home 22 to give Ts opportunity. Restored to full numbers however, Cornish defended their line resolutely, Brading, McEwen and Carew-Gibbs all involved in repelling the invaders. Prop Rich Fisher was also given a run in the remaining minutes, on for Bond. When the final whistle went, the visitors were themselves a little disappointed not to have scored that bonus point try, nearly 50 minutes having expired since their final try.

Trojans march on, the result on the day at last seeing them hoisted up the table a place to 4th. They have all of the main protagonists to play in the closing weeks and may well yet have a say in proceedings at the top. Despite the lengthy trip home, they came back to The Telegraph and were graceful winners – good luck to them. A performance like this will not rest easily with the Cornish coaching team – expect changes in time for next weeks game, and a response from those selected. Cornish will also have extra motivation to win their Cup match in a few weeks time – if they do, they will host Trojans in the next round.

LCRFC – Nick Harlock, Laurie Bridgett (Robin Heymann), Keith Thompson, Iain Short, Tom Burns, Conor O’Daly, Rich McKeown, Andrew McEwen, Simon Brading, Ed Nimmons, Phil Ridsdale (Mark Osei-Tutu), Pete Calvert, Dave Theobald (Capt.), Will Carew-Gibbs, Mike Bond (Rich Fisher).