Cambridge came home empty handed from a near 800-mile round trip to Penzance, ending the first block of this season’s Champ Rugby fixtures with a resounding defeat.
Pirates – whose win was built on big defensive sets – plundered four tries in each half, the first against the run of play five minutes in as Cambridge started brightly. Solid in the scrum, winning seven, and once again near-perfect in the line out, Will Britton’s charges promised much. All their good work, though, was undone by a catalogue of errors, forced and unforced, as Pirates gradually wrestled control of the contest.
Meeting a side as accomplished in attack as the hosts is always a challenge – but Pirates defensive ferocity opened up gaps and all eight of their tries came from the backs.
Skipper Dan Hiscocks was first over the line, pouncing on a loose ball as Cambridge failed to deal with a chip in behind 8 minutes in. Matty Ward got the first of his hat-trick as he won an aerial battle with Otu Mausia to break free and dot down with a quarter of the match gone. Further errors with the boot from Mausia and scrum half Jimmy Thompson led to the try bonus point for the hosts by half time.
Matty Ward added his second – and Ben Cambriani struck out wide. And fly half Louis Sinclair was three from four off the tee.
Britton rang changes at half time – Charlie Bemand came on for Thompson, Jack Boal for Jake Ellwood, and the injured made way for Jack Lawrence. The narrative, though, remained pretty much unchanged. Pirates added three more, through Harry Yates, Iwan Price-Thomas and Zack Wimbish. Then Ward added his third, and Pirates’ eighth, at the death.
So – a poor return on the scoreboard, but Cambridge had their moments in both halves, just failing to get the final touchdown on at least four occasions as Pirates’ defence prevailed. The brightest moment came as Bemand dashed from half way, the break taking everyone by surprise, including any potential support. No lack of courage, no lack of effort, but poor execution against a side on top of their game going for four BP wins in a row.
Will Britton was disappointed not to get anything from his return to the Mennaye. “Pirates gave us the physical game we expected. In that first 50 mins our errors really cost us, they managed to turn that into points, and we just couldn’t come back from there. It was a tough day – the lads left everything out there. The effort was fantastic. Our game isn’t where we want it to be at the moment, but when it is, the win will come. But not getting on the scoreboard hurts.”
Cornish Pirates 52-0 Cambridge
Stats
Penalties Conceded 11/5
Line Outs Won 14/15
Line Outs Lost 1/1
Scrums Won 3/7
Scrums Lost 1/0
Referee Matt Sharpe
Attendance 1,582
Teams
Cornish Pirates: 15 Iwan Price-Thomas 14 Matty Ward 13 Harry Yates 12 Joe Elderkin 11 Ben Cambriani 10 Louie Sinclair 9 Dan Hiscocks (captain); 1 Billy Young 2 Morgan Nelson 3 James French 4 Charlie Rice 5 Alfie Bell 6 Josh King 7 Luke Ratcliff 8 Tomi Agbongbon.
Replacements (all used): 16 Matt Pritchard 17 Alessandro Heaney 18 Ollie Andrews 19 Milo Hallam 20 Barnaby Elderkin 21 Orson James 22 Angus Mawson 23 Zack Wimbush.
Cambridge: 15 Otumaka Mausia 14 Will Glister 13 Levi Reweti 12 Jasper Sorrell 11 Ethan Thorne 10 Jamie Annand 9 Jimmy Thompson; 1 Jake Ellwood 2 Jack Doorey-Palmer 3 Billy Walker 4 Rhys Fulford 5 Gareth Baxter 6 Chris Mills 7 Dan Eckersley 8 Ben Adams (captain).
Replacements (all used): 16 Dylan Irvine 17 Jack Boal 18 Paul Masoe
19 Jack Lawrence 20 Arthur Thomas 21 Charlie Friend 22 Charlie Bemand 23 Eparama Rokodrava.
Scorers
Cornish Pirates
Tries – Ward (3), Hiscocks, Cambriani, Yates, Price-Thomas, Wimbush
Conversions – Sinclair (6)