Another 5 points in the bag and the race at the top is really hotting up now. With Birmingham, Tynedale and Cambridge all picking up 5 points it now looks a 4 horse race as to who gets the 1 promotion position this season. The game on Saturday was a little stop/start but we did score 8 tries and some of them were as good as there have been at Redruth this season.
Southend were by no means a bad side, they have been seriously hit by injuries over the last few weeks but did cause us some problems. However, a win is a win and we now move on to Cinderford in a couple of weeks time. The player who was injured, Simon Hoult, made a full recovery and returned home with the team. we all wish him a speedy recovery and hope that his injury does not prevent him from playing.
A name to watch for the future is that of Tom Casson, the young Southend centre who is also a member of the Saracens Academy. I thought he had a great game on Saturday and scored 2 very good tries. He has now been selected for the England Under 20′s team that will play their Irish counterparts this Friday in Athlone. Another who played against us on Saturday, James Short, is selected for the same team.
A point to note …. there are conflicting League Tables around at the moment! If you look at the BBC website etc you will see Redruth on 80 points and Birmingham on 69. If you look at the NCA site and Statbunker you will note Redruth have 80 points and Birmingham 70. I have asked for clarification and confirmation from the NCA/RFU.
Well done the dancing girls at half-time on Saturday. I have never seen the stand so packed at half-time.
I went to Launceston last Tuesday night to watch the Development Team play Launceston in a Super Cup game, and what a great game it was. It was a most welcome run out for the boys who have been starved of rugby since Christmas with no one accepting a fixture. Both sides fielded strong teams but the boys ended up winning 32-20.
On Saturday the boys had the luxury of their 2nd game in a week!! They won convincingly at St Austell. Hopefully the RFU’s plan to introduce a Merit Table featuring all National Leagues Development/2nd XV’s will come to fruition next season and bring much needed competitive rugby for fringe players. It is vital, at Redruth, that we maintain a quality squad that boasts the cream of our young and up and coming players and provide them decent rugby so that if they are called into the 1st XV they will have had decent preparation and be match fit!
A proposed rugby match between the Springboks and New Zealand Maori in the South African township of Soweto is likely to be cancelled because of racism laws. The national rugby unions have been working to organise the June match which would have acted as a warm-up for South Africa ahead the British and Irish Lions series.
The match would also have provided competition for the New Zealand Maori team which has no international program this year because of New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) budget cuts. The sticking point around the match was a ruling of the South African government’s President’s Council prohibiting the Springboks from playing against racially selected teams. The Maori team, comprising players of indigenous heritage and which has been used as New Zealand’s international second-string or ‘A’ team at times in recent seasons, would technically fall into that category.
Stade Fran