For the first time since November 2013, London Cornish lost back to back league matches, as they succumbed to a defeat against an organised and efficient Sevenoaks side in London 1 South on Saturday. The visitors thoroughly deserved their win, as the exiles simply could not mask the effect of having 5 players making their first appearance of the season due to a chronic injury situation, and though those lads stepped up physically, there were clear gaps in the structure of all aspects of the hosts game. Cornish remain in 5th place in the division with 36 points, and for a team who historically improve markedly in the second half of seasons, this remains a decent return.
Cornish take a pragmatic approach to injuries, which involves not risking any player who regards himself as a doubt for a match. This tends to work when the coaching team have the ability to plan ahead, but with the 2s and Choughs long since having the week off, once the 2 named flankers failed fitness tests late on Friday, Cornish were dipping in to their last few registered, available forwards and were forced to name 2 backs on the bench. With debuts given to Ken Onwuka at hooker and Alex Gee on the wing, and with Harry Buttery stepping in as an emergency 9 with Rich Stephens, Widge Travers and Sam Williams unavailable, this meant a thoroughly untested and unfamiliar squad would be fielded.
Sevenoaks attacked from the off, and an early incision nearly bore fruit, but Gee demonstrated what an asset he will be with a fine cover tackle out wide to snuff out the danger. Oaks are a side who favour the rolling maul, and with a couple of regular lineout lifters missing in Cornish ranks, they were able to win a significant amount of their own ball, and put pressure on the hosts lineout throughout. It didnt take too long for the visitors to score, a fine interchange between forwards and backs down the narrow side seeing them score close to the posts for a converted score. Cornish responded, and for long periods dominated territory without ever really threatening to break through, attacks either too lateral or too narrow to the breakdown where Oaks defended strongly. Much progress the home side made came from a man of the match performance from no 8 Claude Springer, who frequently made ground in the style of an American football running back, hit but spinning and driving onwards over the gain line. Though this gave his side a focus, too often the follow up saw ball knocked on or runners checked by a poor pass. Having weathered the storm, Oaks then attacked the near right corner at the clubhouse end, and will consider themselves unfortunate not to have added to their score, a series of pick and drives and rolling mauls desperately defended with the tackle count from Harry Somers, Springer and prop Jamie Tissot-Robert in particular well into double figures in the first half alone. Finally, with time nearly up on the half, Oaks broke through again to score by the posts, and they turned around full value for their 14-0 half-time lead.
Early in the 2nd half, Cornish made a couple of changes, wing Tom Jeffery on at blindside in place of the injured debutant Nick Moore, and centre Chris Smart on a scrum half, where he had played in emergency on a couple of occasions last season. That, and the half-time team talk, utterly galvanised the exiles for a period in the third quarter, roared on by a decent attendance buoyed by a VP's lunch. A sustained period of attack with the forwards smashing over the gainline in the left hand corner, Springer and Jamie Saunders both involved before Bude's own James La Broy drove through 2 tacklers to cross the whitewash wide left (pictured), Kimmins landing a fine touchline conversion to bring his side within one score. This was a pivotal period in the game, and on two occasions Dave Funston broke clean through but lacked support when it was needed most, the opportunities gone. The two teams exchanged penalties on 60 and 69 minutes (Kimmins did well to land his effort, as first his tee could not be found, and then when it was found the ball fell off it, giving him a few seconds to drive it into the far post and over), and though Cornish held their lines during this period, they hadn't managed to significantly add to their score during their period of territorial domination. Sevenoaks made them pay in the closing minutes, first landing a penalty on 75 to stretch their lead to 10, and then with exhausted bodies tiring, breaking a tackle on the 22 to hare away for a converted try under the posts. Few could complain that the Kent side did not deserve their win.
Sevenoaks have had a mixed season to date, and will want to back this win up with a few more to close in further on the top 6. Their younger players stepped up to the mark extremely well on this occasion, and as ever Oaks are great company off the pitch too. Battle will be joined again between these well matched clubs in the spring, and hopefully for seasons to come.
One of the great things about being promoted into a new league, is that the lessons you learn come in all sorts of forms. Though Cornish have a deep squad, it's only as deep as those players available, and the club is working hard on providing more 2s fixtures to ensure lads are available more often than they have been asked to be so far this season - the post Xmas picture in that respect looks far more healthy. However, now comes the fixture all LCRFC supporters have been craving for a few years, a match less about the rugby than the day itself. Tottonians v London Cornish has produced some belters down the years, but its more about the off the pitch friendships and humour on these days that sticks in the memory than any of the results. Hang out the bunting Totts and stock the bar, we're on our way!