FRIENDLY
01/12/07
LONDON CORNISH 3s V BLACK BAA BAAS

London Cornish 3s 7 - Black Baa Baas 45

Mark Regan pronounced on Saturday night that the first half effort by the Barbarians were the nails in the coffin of the Springboks, thus it was earlier in the day when the Black's Baa Baa's took on London Cornish 3's. It was a telling spell in the middle of the first half which saw four conceded to the opposition by Cornish which all but sealed the game. Memories of the 2 point loss to KCS game flowed back, after conceding four tries in similar fashion, before mounting a supreme comeback which fell just short. However these 'almost' glories were not to be relived.

The day started poorly for Cornish as four players rendered themselves unavailable for the match. However the remaining fifteen lads took heart and to the field in various positions that some had only dreamed of playing in. Special mention here to Nick Glover, who put in a starring role at hooker, especially in defence and on a lighter side did not lose one tight head in the uncontested scrums. TJ probably thought he was in for a day lounging it up in the backs, when he showed his versatility moving from the Blindside, however this was short lived and a day of punishing tackling and half breaks was his lot. Mike Lunn has also stamped himself as the new club Number 8 has he dominated in the middle of the park and cut-off more than one break by the boys in Black. Ben Hufton took on plenty around the fringes and in close, reminiscent of an in-form Joe Rokocoko, except not so Fijian. Cornish put in a confident start and mixed in some flashes of brilliance before the Black's scored a good try out wide from a turnover. From there the structure broke down and despite plenty of tackling, we could not cope with support play the Baa Baa's used with great effect. They were clearly a team that had played together for some seasons and had plenty of class across the paddock. This was confirmed over a pint later.

After another stirring speech by DJ, Cornish rallied, made several drives up field and ended giving TJ an overlap for him to canter in under the posts. This gave us the confidence going into the split. The next 30 minutes saw some of the best Cornish rugby with the boys continually battering the Baa Baa's line, with forwards retaining possession and driving hard, while the backs continually took on their opposites. If not for a few (mandatory to mention the ref at some point - highlight being the penalty restart after a try by the opposition, when DJ pointed out a crossing incident a little too much) referring decisions more points might have been put on the board. The end of the half saw some player fatigue and attrition which allowed the Baa Baa's to run in a couple of long range efforts. The score, whatever it was, did not reflect the intensity of the game (cliche). All in all the team fronted up from a shakey start and across the park put in some fantastic work, unfortunately not the result we wanted after the hammering of Guildford the week before.




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