The fates certainly conspired against Cornish in this one! Able to train just once in 9 weeks due to constant rain, and so bereft of players they were forced to field an 8, 9, 10 who had never met each other let alone trained, Cornish were also forced to play a home game against Old Reigatians away. When you consider that Reigatians have never won a 1s league or cup match at the Richardson Evans, and that by playing away a couple of the exiles players were now unable to play, you can begin to see why Cornish were aggrieved (the law regarding this and other London RFU postponement instructions will be covered elsewhere on the website this week).

On arrival at the Park Lane HQ of OR’s, the exiles were surprised to find standing water on the 1s pitch and the other pitches resembling ploughed fields. Reigatians were clearly desperate to take every advantage of the situation they could, and with the referee washing his hands of the decision, the match went ahead (you can’t blame Reigatians for this – I would have done the same.)

What followed was an extraordinary, and possibly record breaking match, which simply added to the Cornish angst. To begin with, the exiles fielded 3 players who had much to celebrate, since all 3 managed 80 minutes after long absences – no 8 Andrew McEwen has been in Auz since 18th December 2011 and had not trained once; scrum half Sam Williams was injured following his 1s debut at East Grinstead in the Cup on the 5th November 2011 and has steadily worked his way back to fitness in the 2s this season; however, to top both of those, centre Giles Humphries was injured on 16th January 2010 in an awesome 3-0 win at Trojans (I still rate this as one of my most enjoyable wins as a Coach, though few who aren’t coaches would agree!!). Humphries took around 18 months to play again and spent last season in the all-conquering Choughs side before being promoted to the 2s this season. Indeed, there were so many changes that only 8 players survived from the 18 who took the field the last time these sides met. On top of this, Cornish were particularly aggrieved by a baffling refereeing display. Your correspondent is so careful not to give refs a hard time since they only seek to enjoy their rugby, as do we all. However, if I tell you that the biggest cheer of the day went up when the fellow awarded Cornish their first penalty of the match on 51 minutes, this despite a truly superb performance by the exiles flankers in reaching most breakdowns first, you can begin to understand some of our frustration. With a final penalty county of 4-24 against the exiles, it is clear that some of the messaging wasn’t making it through, and if it was, then why not issue a card (ironically, there was one card and it was given to an OR!)? Now, lets be clear about one thing, Cornish were deservedly well beaten by a slick Reigatians side and the referee had no bearing on the result, but it left an exiles side completely baffled at the final whistle and still none the wiser as to what they had done wrong! I never, ever approach a referee post match unless he/she demands it as I feel as though my emotion may not result in a balanced view, and on this occasion having landed from the US just 2 hours before kick off, I was especially wary, but this is now 3 days later so if the chap reads this (he wasn’t the originally appointed ref and I didn’t write down his name), please do get in touch cos I think it would be useful for you to ref a training session for us (if we ever have the chance to have another one Wandsworth Borough Council?!)

To the match itself, Cornish played away from the car park in the opening half. Early Reigatian pressure was eased by a Tim Oakes steal on the floor and, despite a very sizeable territorial advantage, it took until the 16th minute for ORs to take the lead with a penalty given for the rarely awarded offence of ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’. Cornish responded well, and it was another returnee in hooker Will Carew-Gibbs, back after over 3 months out with a neck injury, who sparked a counter down the left flank, him linking with full back Nick Harlock before a final pass inside went astray for the danger to be cleared. Reigatians then broke from their 22 but great scrambling defence from blind side Phil Jones and stand in wing Iain Short saved the day. Just when it seemed as though the exiles had weathered the storm, they conceded a soft try on the blind side when a tackle was missed out wide, this well converted for a 10-0 deficit, 27 gone. Worse was to follow 5 minutes later when the exiles made a complete horlicks at the base of a scrum, and 3 passes missed their men to simply invite OR’s over under the posts for another converted score. In the remaining minutes of the half, the home side sought to press home their advantage, seemingly fancying rolling Cornish over from lineouts, but it is fair to say they never got close and few do (Brighton aside but they are very decent as Pompey discovered on Saturday.) In the final minute of the half Cornish conceded another kickable pen, which the lad dispatched with aplomb to give his side a 20-0 half time lead.

With frustration beginning to creep into the exiles play, back chat brought a penalty to point blank range at the start of the second period, but amazingly this was pulled left. Within a few minutes ORs bashed away down the right flank and when they were felled just short by a combo of Mike Bond and Dave Hill, both sides were surprised to see a try awarded, which when converted gave a scoreline of 27-0. 3 minutes later and the match was over as a contest, a Cornish attack breaking down in the OR half, and with a scratch backline all over the place defensively, it was no surprise that the home side landed their bonus point try, this too a maximum. The simple fact is that no amount of work can replicate the physical conditioning of rugby, and in heavy conditions the heady mix of unfit players and undrilled units is an invitation most sides in this division can exploit. Jones was injured at this point and replaced by Andrew Dinwiddie at 6, the latter returning from an op following a badly broken nose. With 2 minutes Robin Heymann finally gave best to his dodgy hammos, bringing an ailing player/coach Tom Sincock on in the left wing slot. Then came the exiles first penalty, and like London buses another followed shortly after to finally provide some decent field position. With McEwen a constant threat despite his lack of practice, and Wapshott a thorn in the ORs side wherever he appeared, a chance would surely come soon and so it did, Carew-Gibbs rolling a tackle to send stand in Skip Luke Spells over wide right, the centre demonstrating that his kicking skills remain of the highest calibre to add the extras. ORs bounced back from the slight to break clean away but a great covering tackle by Short ended the attack, and it was shortly afterward that an OR forward was given a rest for an errant boot, though in truth this was never a dirty game. Somewhere in the remaining minutes, ORs slipped in a penalty that lost me to make the score 37-7, and there was still time for fly half Dave Soar to work the ball to Sincock in space inside the 22, but play was called back for a forward pass we think. When the final whistle went there could be no complaints – the better side had won comfortably.

There are so many aspects of LCRFC that would be aided by a spell of dry weather, the lack of training meaning that the side looked like a group of players who had just met, which was accurate in some cases! With only 1 defeat in the 5 home games they have had at the REMPF, Cornish should have the ammo to avoid any nasty end of season battles, and will be all the better for it given the recruitment plans of Head Coach Sincock. Some new players will filter in during the remaining weeks of the season, and one day we may even have an injury list in single figures!

For Reigatians all their Christmases came at once with this win, playing an away game at home against their bogey side at a point in the season when their visitors had to field their most disjointed side of the season. The challenge for the hosts is to capitalize on their fortune in the remaining weeks – their new facility is certainly worthy of higher status, now the team must match it.