Finally able to field a near full strength side for the first time this season, London Cornish gave a lie to the relative league positions prior to this match by comfortably accounting for 4th placed Old Reigatians at the REMPF on Saturday. In front of large crowd swelled by ‘ladies day’ invitations, Cornish nailed the bonus point in winning by 2 goals, 3 tries and 3 penalties to a try and 3 penalties. It is instructive to note that all 4 of Cornish sides won by some margins on the day, the 2s including 11 players who had played 1s league rugby this season and the Choughs 2, as the myriad injury issues that affected the clubs early season form have suddenly receded. No mean feat this either, as the 2s were playing the 4th placed side in their league, the Choughs away at the 3rd placed side, and the Dukes were away at the league leaders!

Cornish were able to call on former Moseley, Bedford and England U21 International Simon Brading for only the second time this season, and he took his place at 6. There were starts for Phil Ridsdale at lock, Chris Turner at 7, Iain Short at 12, Stu Bell at 14 and Nick Harlock at 15, plus a return on the bench for Ian Keith, these changes giving a far more balanced and experienced look to the squad. With Surrey lock Pete Calvert on the bench with the Helford Passage lad George Johnson, the depth of experience stretched through all 18 players.

Cornish opened playing with a stiff breeze at their backs towards the clubhouse on a beautiful autumnal afternoon, the pitch in immaculate condition. Reigatians are one of those sides against whom the exiles have a particularly good record, though the visitors also possess arguably the best 10 in the division and would present plenty of threat. With the wind freshening at their backs, Cornish opened well with Harlock and Ed Good both chipping deep to force OR’s to defend. This pressure built until Graeme Smeaton turned over an OR player on the floor on 5 minutes, allowing hooker Will Carew-Gibbs to link with loosehead Mike Bond, the latter felled in the shadow of the posts only for the visitors to transgress at the ruck, fly half Rich McKeown giving his side a lead they would not relinquish again on 6. With both sides forcing the ball to the frustration of the respect coaching teams, Brading was next into the visitors 22, linking with Bond who was awarded a penalty wide left for a high tackle, this attempt flying narrowly left of the posts. Cornish continued to attack, Short, Ridsdale and Brading continually prominent as Tom Jacob and McKeown mixed up their options well, buoyed by another very strong performance by their front 5. On 17 minutes Cornish gained the score their territorial dominance deserved, driving Reigatians off a scrum V, then hammering away for 3 phases before lock Tom Stock smashed over from close range wide left, McKeown learning from his previous kick to add an excellent conversion. Reigatians lost their 6 to injury at this point. The visitors were unable to release their talented backline in the opening quarter, Turner winning a penalty on 20 for holding on halfway. On 25 and with their first real attack of note, the visiting 9 took a quick tap on half way and his side won a penalty inside the home 22, their 10 putting them on the board. Back came Cornish, a bullocking Andrew McEwen run following a superb Harlock counter attack driving play into the OR 22 only for Bond to link with Carew-Gibbs, the latter seeing the ball knocked from his grasp in the act of scoring to the right of the posts. Still Cornish attacked, the OR scrum creaking under intense pressure. On 34, and with Cornish on the Reigatians line, the visitors won a penalty for a ruck offence only to have it reversed for stamping. McKeown lifted a simple kick between the posts to make the score 13-3. Annoyingly for the exiles, the 3 points were given straight back at the restart, ironically for a tackler not rolling away. The final act of the half saw Cornish work an overlap only for the final pass down the left flank to Bell go forward, 13-6 to the home side at the break.

The general consensus was that this was a 10-15 point wind and that Cornish may not have enough on the board from the efforts of their opening half. Despite the exiles using the Jacob box kick well in the opening minutes, a superb arrowing howitzer from the OR left wing drove play deep into the home 22 on 48, and when the lineout missed its intended recipient, the visitors worked a smidgeon of space for one of their backs to squeeze over at the left cornerflag, the conversion pulled left of the posts but the deficit down to 13-11. Cornish made a change now, bringing on Calvert for Ridsdale at lock and his impact was instant. Reigatians missed their man at a lineout on halfway on 51 and were then pinged for going off their feet at a ruck. McKeown drove his penalty into the OR 22 and then Calvert took the lineout to set a maul. However, rather than roll the maul Cornish set a wonderful move in midfield, Bell at an angle off McKeown to punch the initial hole and offloading to Harlock arriving at this shoulder to burst clean through to score under the posts, the conversion a formality for McKeown and lead now out to 20-11. On 54 the OR 10 demonstrated his prodigious boot when he converted a penalty for a trip on halfway, his kick clearing the posts with room to spare. Cornish now upped their game, Brading and McEwen at the centre of much of the good work, with Skipper Dave Theobald also making plenty of hard yards for his side. 56 on the clock and it was a Brading run that saw the visitors pinged down the right flank for hands in the ruck, this kick fading wide of the right upright. Amazingly, at the drop out the OR 9 tried to take a short one but was driven back into his 22 by Short and then penalized for holding, McKeown making no mistake this time to make the score 23-14. Cornish withdrew Bond for Johnson now, the former having played a big part in his sides dominance in the tight. On 58 the home side pieced together a series of phases down the right flank, Jacob linking with Good, Smeaton, Short and finally Harlock who smashed into the 22 only to see his offload knocked on. Unable to shake the shackles of the exiles defence despite the fine work of their Skipper and their South African lock, Reigatians were attacking from deeper and deeper in their half. They did work some territory on 64 but were pinged when inside the Cornish 22 for accidental offside – for the remaining 16 minutes their hosts accelerated through the gears in a manner unseen since the cup run at the end of the previous season. On 68 Good rampaged down the right wing, his awkward, physical style powering him to the 22. Two more phases from McEwen and Carew-Gibbs and the ball was worked to the omnipresent Turner, the open side sitting down the first tackler before crashing over for the score wide right, the conversion missing but Cornish sniffing their first bonus point of the season. Keith came on for the excellent Short now, a chance for the former to continue his rehabilitation from a broken arm suffered against the same opponents last season. 74 gone and Cornish set a rolling maul on the right touchline of the OR 22. Powering forward it drove all in front of it aside, McEwen the beneficiary able to plant the ball down for the score when the pack had taken it over the line, the bonus point secured though the conversion again sliced wide. The home side were not finished yet, delighting their support with a 5th try on 78 minutes, McEwen scooping up a loose ball and bashing into the 22 before offloading to Carew-Gibbs who evaded a despairing tackle to crash across the line. This conversion went the way of the previous two, but that was the final scoring act of the match, Cornish convincing winners by 38-14.

Reigatians began the season well, but are on something of a slide at present having lost their last 3. This was their biggest defeat this year, and they need to bounce back quickly in this unforgiving league. They have the right coach and 10 to ensure this happens quickly. The vast reserves of playing resources at Cornish have been tapped deep in the opening weeks of the season, but the results of all 4 sides on the day confirm that the club is returning to rude health. This was by some margin the best 1s performance of the season against a decent side. The challenge now is to maintain the level reached here to continue the run that has brought 3 wins in the last 4 matches.