Whilst Cornish Pirates went away with five points and the spoils from Grantchester Road, they were made to do it the hard way by a peerless performance in the line out from Cambridge’s double centurion, Gareth Baxter. The veteran lock was imperious in the line out on his 200th cap, with the visitors losing seven of theirs, such was Baxter’s dominance in the air.
Pirates Head Coach Gavin Cattle was delighted with his side’s victory, and fulsome in his praise for Cambridge’s second row, saying, “Coming here, we know it’s difficult, and we really respect Cambridge who are improving as a team with a lot of fight in their squad and a lot of spirit. Their collision and contact stats are tremendous. We knew the ‘Long Dog’ was going to be a bit of an issue – we selected to try and mitigate against him – but he’s a difficult man to get over! That’s why he’s on the pitch”.
Cambridge had gone ahead early doors from a winning line out from their own throw, Dan Eckersley bursting through to touch down with Ruaridh Dawson adding the extras. Pirates were on terms immediately as back row Pete Everett loped into open prairie to score with Louis Sinclair converting, then took a lead they would never relinquish with a penalty try from a deliberate knock on by Otu Mausia, who saw yellow for his trouble.
Arthur Relton raced in for another for the visitors, again converted. Then it was Pirates’ turn to concede a 7-pointer, with Angus Mawson yellow carded after being adjudged to have illegally prevented Eli Caven from scoring. It looked to be ‘game on’ but Pirates, again by return, restored their buffer with Chester Ribbons’ converted score.
Pirates got the decisive score after the break, Mawson making amends for his sin-binning with a delightful run and finish. Cambridge made it interesting with a stunning score in the corner as Jack Doorey-Palmer back-doored to Jasper Sorrell in the tightest of spaces. Jimmy Thompson landed from way out wide.
True to form on the day, Tomiwa Agbongbon instantly cantered in from 40 metres. And hooker Morgan Nelson eliminated any doubt as to the eventual victors with fully 15 minutes left.
Cambridge Head Coach Craig Newby felt it was a strange afternoon. “We did ok – scored three good tries but could’ve had six – but it could have got away from us. Pirates were more street smart and defended fantastically well. As for Gareth Baxter, he owns the air. He was tremendous and it was a proud day for him and his family as well as us. We’ll lick our wounds and regroup ahead of Worcester in a couple of weeks’ time. Rugby doesn’t care what you deserve but we might have had a bit more today”.
Teams
Cambridge
Currie 7, Green 6, Reweti 7, Sorrell 7, Caven 6 (Izu 50 6), Mausia 6 (Annand 41 6), Dawson 7 (Thompson 37 7); Ellwood 7 (Barry 74), Doorey-Palmer 7 (Irvine 66 6), Walker 7 (Masoe 74), McCay 7 (Lawrence 62 7), Baxter 10, Fulford 7, Eckersley 8, Thomas 6 (Mills 41 7)
Cornish Pirates
Mawson 7, Relton 7 Ribbons 8, Yates 7, Cambriani 7 (Ward 61 6), Sinclair 8 (Robson 60 7), Hiscocks 7 (Rigelsford 61 6); French 7 (Andrew 53 6), Moody7 Petch 7 (Stevens-Woodmansey 53 6) Cannon 6 (Hallam 54 6), King 6, Everett (C) 7, Ratcliffe 7 (Suttor 60 6), Agbongbon 8
Scorers
Cambridge
Tries – Eckersley 5, penalty try 36, Sorrell 58
Conversions – Dawson 6, Thompson 59
Cornish Pirates
Tries – Everett 7, penalty try 12, Relton 22, Ribbons 38, Mawson 52, Agbongbon 60, Nelson 65
Conversions – Sinclair 8, 23, 39, 53, 61 Robson 66
Scrums Won 6/3
Scrums Lost 1/2
Line Outs Won 14/11
Line Outs Lost 3/7
Penalties Against 10/7
YC – 1/1
Attendance – 1297
Referee – Ben Simpson
Star Player – Gareth Baxter (Cambridge)