Dateline: 1st March 2010

From Kim Conchie.

21st February 2010, St Austell RFC

Cornwall Under 15s 22pts
Somerset Under 15s 0pts

Cornwall's debutants at Under 15s completed a hat-trick of victories over West Country rivals Somerset on Sunday. Earlier in the day the Under 15 B Team had nicked a game in the last minute beating their Somerset counterparts 15 - 14 and Cornwall's Under 17s had beaten the same county 17 - 8. All three games had been scheduled to be played at Newquay but due to waterlogged pitches the venue had to be switched on Saturday afternoon. St Austell RFC did a magnificent job in hosting the matches at such short notice.

From the start of the Under 15 encounter, Cornwall's pack appeared to have the edge. Set scrums looked solid and rucks were formidable. There was a greater physicality about Cornwall in all early exchanges which meant they established dominance in both territory and possession. There were strong performances from Cornwall's loosehead Luke Chapman and the backrow of Matt Bolwell, Toby Armstrong and Neil Stanleick which were rewarded after 20 minutes with a try for Chapman after ball from a short lineout ball to the front had been popped up to him in a move straight off the training ground. Shortly after that, in a rare foray into the Cornwall half, Somerset had a rare chance of points with a kick at goal after a home team scrummaging offence which they missed. Thereafter, the efforts of the Cornish backrow resulted in tries either side of half time for No. 8 Stanleick, the second of them converted by fly half Max Bodilly.

A satisfying performance was rounded off by a sweeping three-quarter move ending in a fourth try scored by full back Ben Hocking. The whole squad can take confidence from this first representative encounter. Both in attack and defence the Cornish boys' natural ability and enterprise, praised in the post match ceremony by the experienced Somerset coach, shone through. From here they can go from strength to strength.

Team: S Rodda (Redruth RFC), S Gregor (Redruth), L Chapman (Liskeard/Looe), J Murphy (Wadebridge Camels), J Mailes (Falmouth), M Bolwell (Wadebridge Camels), T Armstrong (Truro), N Stanleick (Penzance & Newlyn), C Conchie (Falmouth), M Bodilly (Penzance &' Newlyn), J Murdoch (Truro), O Bryant (Redruth), T Hendrickson (Penzance & Newlyn), J Maloy (Redruth), B Hocking (Penzance & Newlyn). Reps: R Thomas (Redruth), S Osborne (Penzance & Newlyn), A Hall (Liskeard/Looe), J Townrow (Truro), J Johnson (Helston), T Gendall (Penzance & Newlyn), C Saundry (Redruth).