A major shock in Cornish Colts rugby saw the defeat of the champions for the previous three years Redruth in the first of the pool matches at home to Camborne.

A very under par home side fail to take the game to the hard working and organised Camborne side.

Although the Reds had the majority of the possession throughout the match they failed to present much in the way of clearcut chances.

Camborne were fully deserving of the spoils scoring 2 tries to the Reds 1.

The under 18s competition this year is still not beyond the young Reds but a vast improvement on this form will be needed.

Redruth Scorers: Try James Teixiera,Penalty Leigh Isaacs,Penalty Craig Williams

Well done to the Colts, overcoming a dogged Weston Super Mare in the Sunday sunshine 15-13 to progress to the 2nd round of the National Colts Cup.

The Development side went down narrowly to Launceston 19-17 in a friendly, whilst the Colts Under-18s lost 13-11 to Camborne in the first round robin game of this season’s Cornwall Cup.

A TOUCH of class from Rob Thirlby two minutes from the end of normal
time completed Redruth’s superb September with their first ever win at
Wharfedale.

A number of supporters made the long trip North to see this first ever victory in the Dales, and will have made the long journey home in great heart.

Under pressure Wharfedale conceded successive penalties in their 22,
the Redruth pack drove the homeside back with some powerful drives and
Thirlby had the space to pick his spot with a classic outside break to
touchdown in the right hand corner. Fly half Mark Scrivener converted superbly
from the touchline.

Redruth showed great composure to defend their line for an agonising
seven minutes of stoppage time to hold on for their fourth win of the
season.

In truth over the 80 minutes Wharfedale possibly played the better rugby with
half backs James Doherty and Luke Gray along with England Counties
players Mark Bedworth and Chris Malherbe outstanding.

On a sunny Autumn day against the spectacular back drop of the
Yorkshire Dales Redruth opened the scoring with a 35 metre penalty into
a stiff breeze in the opening minute kicked by Scrivener.

In a stop-start first half Bedworth replied with penalties in the 25th
and 33rd minute after missing with two earlier attempts to see the
homeside take a 6-3 advantage into the interval.

A 40 metre penalty by Scrivener leveled the scores in the 49th minute.
Despite losing Andrew Hodgson to a yellow card for a late obstruction
Wharfedale had the better of the next 20 minutes play despite Redruth
having a big edge in the scrums.

The work rate of Owen Hambly, Dave Roberts and Nathan Pedley were big
assets for the Reds.

A Bedworth penalty in the 52nd minute put Wharfedale in front before
Reds hooker Hambly stole a loose ball at the front of the lineout and
beat two men in a 30 metre run to the line to touchdown an unconverted
try in the 57th minute.

Wharfedale via Bedworth regained the lead a couple of minutes later with a massive
penalty from near the half way line.

After Redruth lost the lineout Bedworth dropped a goal from 30 metres
to give the homeside a four point advantage over an under-performing
Redruth side before Thirlby’s late winner maintained Redruth’s unbeaten
record.

Wharfedale: Pens, Bedworth 4; dg, Bedworth.

Redruth: Tries, Hambly, R Thirlby; cons, Scrivener; pen, Scrivener 2.

Wharfedale: A Whaites, D Hart (J Gill 78), A Hodgson, M Bedworth, C
Malherve, L Gray, J Doherty (Captain), B Fear (F Lovatt 55), G Hindle
(P Altham 67), O Renton, A Capstick (D Lister 67), A Allen, T Cockell,
T Ball.

Replacement not used G Jones.

Redruth: R Thirlby, M Georgiou, P Thirlby (C Bonds 68), P J Gidlow
(Captain), N Pedley, M Scrivener, M Richards, D Jacques, O Hambly, A
Morcon (P Joyce 57), D Cook, R Carroll, D Roberts, C Fuca, J Mann (N
Corin 68). Replacements not used: J Tresidder, B Fox.

Referee: Mr. B. Fitzmaurice (RFU)

Photos thanks to Kim Smith

Redruth got back on form this week after an indiferrent display against Liskeard the previous week.Facing much stiffer opposition the Reds raised their game to run in 9 tries to 1.
Tries were scored by Jack Oates 2, Aidan Halford, Daniel Vincent,Ryan Thomas, Ollie Bryant and Kieran Young who scored 3 tries in an excellent display.

Well done to all the squad and to Robin Pellow who gave a solid performance on his debut.

Luke Collins Player Profile Interview

The Player Profile Interviews at Rugby Reds return again, and this time with a new intro sequence with footage from the Blaydon game! This week’s media star is Luke Collins, who took some time out to talk about the win against Blaydon, the upcoming trip to Wharfedale, his own career and his strong links to Redruth RFC. Rob Thirlby’s opening try get a showing too, and its also worth watching until after this credits this time…

For those of you with fast broadband connections, the video can also be viewed at a higher resolution by visiting the YouTube page for the Luke Collins – Redruth Rugby interview and clicking on the ‘watch in high quality’ link just below the video.

The season starts to take on a serious competitive edge from this weekend as the Colts try and pull themselves out of the poor performances of the last month.

On Saturday 1pm kick off Redruth play host to Camborne under18s in the first of the pool games of the Cornwall under 18 cup as the Reds try and make it four in a row in the county

Another productive Saturday with 5 points gained and a great game of rugby for everyone to enjoy. It was one of those games where all 30 players on the field contributed and were there to play rugby. Blaydon are a good side and will trouble a number of teams this season I am sure. It was also great to catch up with Nick Gandy again for a good chat. I was a bit surprised at the crowd numbers, I thought there would have been more but I guess the weather was a bit of a distraction and people took advantage of it. Indeed it was a stunning weekend with the best weather for a very long time.

On Saturday I was very sad to hear about the death of Ron Spires. Ron’s funeral will be at St Euny in Redruth next Friday week, 3rd October, at 2pm. I was in the club last Sunday chatting with him and he was having a great time. Our condolences go to his family and his many friends.

Following last weekend’s game, a serious point to raise here ….. The Club will not tolerate any form of abuse to match officials, players or fellow spectators at any time. If anyone is found guilty of this they will be removed from the ground and banned.

On Sunday I “popped” up to Bristol to watch Cornwall Under 18′s beat Bristol Schools by 31 -30. It was a very entertaining game with some promising talent on show. Reds Colts Adam Lewarne (capt), Elliott Worrall, Aaron Penberthy, Ben Gregor, John Jackson and Dean Bonds all figured and played very well.

On Saturday at Twickenham, the “Help For Heroes” game took place raising money for one of THE most worthwhile causes there could ever be. It was great to see a number of the greats of world rugby back on centre stage. It was also very pleasing to see 2 players in the “Help For Heroes XV” who have played for the Reds.

Former lock forward Scott Hobson packed down in the second row and scrum half Dave Pascoe was replacement scrum half. Also Included in this team were World Cup winning heroes Lawrence Dallaglio, Martin Johnson, Jason Robinson, Will Greenwood and Richard Hill and also Mark Regan who played in the last World Cup.

Making up the line up were a number of servicemen, who included Mal Roberts who is currently playing for the Cornish All Blacks and hails from near Redruth, and some of England’s promising Under 20 side from last year who reached their respective World Cup Final.

I would like to welcome Ricky Pellow back to the club where he featured so prominently as a youngster. Ricky is a most welcomed member of the 1st XV squad and will help to strengthen it.

Ricky has a had an illustrious career since leaving Redruth all those years ago, and has gained international honours at pretty much every level other than the full England side. He has a Heineken Cup Winners medal when with Bath and has had great success whilst coaching Mounts Bay.

For home supporters, the Development side are taking on Launceston at 3pm on Saturday. Updates from Wharfedale will be available throughout ! The Colts are at home at 1pm too, Under 18s v Camborne, so why not get aling – bar open and Sky TV on as always.

This Sunday, the Colts play Weston Super Mare in the 1st Round of the National Colts Knock Out Cup Final. This game is at Redruth 2.30 kick off.

This Saturday we make the long trek to Wharfedale, but hopefully the sun will be shining on the most picturesque ground I have ever been to! The people there are just brilliant and we have had some really good banter over the years. I am looking forward to renewing acquaintances with Rodney and will no doubt have a beer with him afterwards. It’s a ground where we have not had the best of luck over the years with a draw a couple of years back being the best.

Word on Mark Bright, Mark’s team, Tasman Makos, are having their most successful season in the Air New Zealand Cup. The weekend just gone they lost an error ridden game against Southland by 6 points to 3! … sounds entertaining!!! Hopefully, Mark will be returning to us in early October.

Injuries, well it wouldn’t be the same without them would it! …… a couple of weeks into the campaign and we find ourselves without Lewis Vinnicombe and Nathan Pascoe. Lewis picked up a head injury against Mounts Bay and suffered concussion and will be out for the mandatory 3 weeks and Pumba has aggravated a back injury. Hopefully both will progress quickly and be back in action soon.

Back to last Saturday and it was good to see “Shadow” and “Doomer” enjoying themselves!! I think Doomer is currently supporting one of the best moustaches I have seen in a very long time! Hopefully you guys are joining the Hellfire 100 club as well …… good on you!! The entertainment that Chris Allen sorted, prior to him shooting off to the Munich Beer Festival, was very good. They were called “An Dew” – an ideal act to have there after games to get the singing and dancing underway ….. not that you will see me dancing very much!

Many comments about our new dress shirts, ranging from good to not quite so good. I would like to thank Mike Greenslade and Rowe Property Developments for their sponsorship and if its any consolation I think they are very nice ……

Elsewhere in our league, the Cornish All Blacks had a good result at Waterloo and Birmingham and Solihull had a great win at much fancied Cambridge. The Bees built up a huge 1st half advantage but seemed a bit fortunate to hold on for victory .. that’ s if you can believe newspaper reports! Wharfedale succumbed to a 45-30 defeat at Tynedale whilst Blackheath got their show back on the road with a solid win at Cinderford. So, at this stage its us and the All Blacks at the top with waterloo propping up the table. Mounts Bay are just above on 1 point.

That is it for this week, will see some of you at Wharfedale this weekend and loads of you, at Redruth, the following week for the 1st much awaited home “derby of the season against Launceston otherwise known as the Cornish All Blacks.

Cheers for now

David Penberthy

Director of Rugby

REDRUTH overtook Blaydon but remain second at the top of National League Two as for a second successive week they claimed all five points with an injury time try at the Recreation Ground.

Having left it late at Mounts Bay the week previous, Nigel Hambly

Player Profiles hit YouTube!

Not content on bringing top-quality interviews to this season’s new complimentary programme, the Reds Media team have gone one step further! Now you’ll be able to watch full video interviews with Redruth Rugby’s players over the course of the season at YouTube, with a new and freshly filmed offering uploaded every week. So far, Craig Bonds has talked about relinquishing the captaincy, Nick Simmons has revealed his experiences of rising up through the Colts to the first team, and now Darren Jacques talks about the Mounts Bay game, training, the England Counties team and Bruce Lee!

No passwords, no payments – watch the interviews for free at Rugby Reds !

It was good to come away from Mounts Bay with all 5 points on Saturday, but the performance was not up to scratch by any standards. It was always going to be a difficult game, all derby’s are, but we spurned at least half a dozen try scoring opportunities. I thought Josh Matavesi had a very good game. I know he was very nervous leading up to it but I thought, along with the scrum half and winger, were Mounts Bay’s best players.

For once, it was a beautiful day, something that we have not been used to for a long time! The hoards of Red fans that were present was awesome. Driving along the seafront on our way to the ground, and seeing an endless stream of people dropping in and out of the pubs on route was great. In fact we repeated this process when we left….traveling some 400 metres and calling into Peter and Anita George’s pub, the Yacht. Then it was back to he club for another energetic evening!

One of the funniest things happened at the weekend …. a person who I call a Real Redruth man, had a slight lapse of memory. He was so excited at the prospect of the game at Mounts Bay, he got himself ready, walked to the ground, got on the supporters bus and then realised he still had his slippers on!! To be fair Ralph Pascoe did not worry and spent the whole day in them and the evening as well. If you don’t know Ralph he’ll be the guy this weekend that turns up less his trousers!!

This weekend’s game against Blaydon sees Top of the Table versus 2nd place. Blaydon will be a real tough nut to crack and with a massive influx of players this year, they will travel with huge confidence after picking up 2 maximums so far. Last year the spoils were even with both teams winning their home games ….

I went to watch the Exeter Chiefs v Cornish Pirates game yesterday as guests of Samurai. The game was very good, I thought the Pirates had completely blown it in the first half and trailed 22-6 at the break. However they rallied in the 2nd and fought back to lead 23-22 with about 10 minutes to go. Exeter proved their superiority and pulled away near the end to win by 32-23. There was a good crowd as well but that damn weather came in again!

Looking at the latest statistics, Mark Woodrow, Birmingham & Solihull, tops the goal kicking strike rate table with a 90.91% success rate. Scrivs sits in 4th place with 69.23% rate. Peds tops the try scoring table with 4 and Scrivs tops the overall points table with 25.

We are also very pleases to announce that Darren Chapman has come on board and is working with our kickers. Darren is sharing his time with us and Camborne and will undoubtedly prove to be a great asset. In his playing days he was one of the best kickers of a ball in the county and gave Camborne many years of very loyal service both as player and coach.

On Sunday week that is the 28th September, the U19 Colts play Weston Super Mare in the 1st Round of the National Cup. Please make every effort to attend and support the boys as they start their campaign.

A few weeks ago I caught up with James Lancaster at Paul Thirlby’s wedding …. he did say he was coming down to Redruth for the Blaydon game prior to him returning to New Zealand for good. “Chopper” will go down in the club’s history as one of the best 7′s to done the shirt. That is a big statement to make but there were few better than him.

He was instrumental in turning things around at the club back in 2002 and it was a pleasure for both Nigel and I to work alongside him and get the club back on the rugby map. He has been away now for 4 years and has had a successful stint at Civil Service in London.

I hope he does make it this weekend but if not I am sure you will all join me in wishing him and his wife Hayley all the very best for the future and that they will always be welcome back at Redruth at any time. James and Hayley are also expecting their first child in the near future.

New Zealand duly won the Tri Nations with an exciting victory over Australia. The Kiwi’s autumn tour of the UK is eagerly awaited as they embark on what they hope will be a grand slam tour. The good news for England is that Jonny Wilkinson looks to have recovered from his shoulder surgery. With Cipriani sidelined with the leg injury he sustained at the end of last season, Wilkinson will, without doubt and injury permitting, start in the 10 jersey.

Replica kit is arriving and, hopefully, will be in the club shop this weekend. There is a wide and varied range with sizes to accommodate everyone. The quality of the Samurai kit is great and I am sure you will not be disappointed. It does seem that the black playing shirt is the one people like the most. I am unsure if this version has been ordered by the shop but we will be doing so shortly. The kit will not only be available at the club shop, a range will be at the outlet in Fore Street and Whirlwind Sports will also be stocking a range of playing shirts, hoodies and fleeces.

So that’s it for this week, hopefully we will have a good turn out on Saturday for what is a massive game for us ….. be there!

Cheers

David Penberthy

Director of Rugby