Video highlights of the Redruth v Cinderford match are now available, courtesy of our RugbyReds Youtube channel!

So for those of you who were part of the four-figure Cornish crowd that witnessed the latest Redruth victory then this video will let you re-live the game. For those who weren’t at the match: here’s some of what you missed… and see you at the Rec next time!

Also, don’t forget that highlights of St Pirans Day and the Redruth v Stourbridge game are also available to watch too, if you haven’t done so yet.

PS: An apology to Cinderford fans – your first try was unfortunately not recorded from the camera position. Perhaps next time you can ask your players to not score tries behind the post pads…

There is only one place to start this week and that is with our Mini/Junior section. Unfortunately last weeks news of another success came too late for me to include in my notes, but by leaving it I now have even more good news to report! The last few weeks has seen unprecedented success for the group with huge success in the county competitions. The Under 13’s became county champions on Sunday with a great win over neighbours Camborne, The Under 12’s drew their final and became joint County Champions, The Under 11’s drew their final and became joint County Champions and also yesterday the Under 10’s won their final to become County Champions! This is a huge credit to all the players and the coaches of the respective teams. The section is a huge part of the club, and, if we can capture the talent of these boys, develop them and, most importantly, keep them, then the future of the club looks rosy!!

On to Saturday’s game now and we are still in there fighting! I must say I was immensely pleased with the fantastic turn out and support we received. What other club in this league would have had that support? A crowd of 1006 was recorded but I am sure there were more than that! The players were so pleased that people took the time to come and support them and I think they did everyone proud with their performance. Cinderford came to us as one of the form sides in the league and proved that they are a dogged outfit with a very organised defence. They have some very abrasive players and I think everyone witnessed a good hard rugby battle! We lost Nick Jackson on Thursday to an injury but the 20 players involved were excellent and their attitude and desire to do well was exemplary.

We are not out of the fire yet by a long way and our game at Cambridge this weekend will be a huge test of character. They have been in scintillating form all season and are the leagues top try scorers, scoring 99 tries to date!! In Bob Crooks they have one of the best coaches in the league and they also have a desire to play young players and give them the chance. With all that said, we need to go there with an aim of getting something out the game and that is what we will do!

It would be remiss of me not to mention Aaron, many congratulation to him on passing the 200 point mark for the season. It has been a tough baptism for him for definite but he is learning all the time and will benefit from the experience.

Yesterday I was privileged, and I really mean privileged, to have been at Twickenham to witness one of the best games of rugby I have ever seen! Now that is a big statement to make but the game between The Crusaders and the Sharks was simply outstanding! It was a game that was arranged at fairly short notice, but with a crowd of some 35,000, it must of pleased the organisers. Obviously the Crusaders Stadium in New Zealand has been affected by the recent earthquake and the Super Rugby organisers decided that they would try taking a game from the competition and moving it overseas. It was the first time a game has actually been played outside of the competing countries but it gave rugby followers and ex pats the opportunity to witness a game full of everything you could of ever wanted from a game! We were saying after the game that we could not recall a maul in the game! The ball was moved at pace on every occasion, the ball carriers were immense, the tackling ferocious and the skills sets were nothing short of brilliant! Sonny Bill Williams gave a master class of the off load in the tackle, made some massive hits and broke the line at will. Dan Carter gave an exhibition of superb goal kicking, the Crusaders forward pack worked like Trojans and the back 3 of Guilford, Dagg and Maitland were brilliant. The Sharks contributed as well with Kankowski having a great game in the carrying department, Bismark Du Plessis also put his mark on the game and Ndungane looked dangerous when he had the ball …..if only we had the opportunity to watch this type of rugby more often!! …. It really did put Premiership Rugby in the shade!!

On Friday night and on Saturday the club honoured the new “Inductees” into the Redruth Rugby “Hall of Fame”. I had the honour of being asked to host the event and I felt very humbled in being able to present Certificates to those players who were welcomed into this elite group. Shaking hands with great players such as Bonzo Johns, Ken Abrahams, Harold Stevens, Paddy McGovern, Richard Sharp and more recent players such as Andy Hawken, Rob Thirlby, Richard Keast, Alan Buzz, Graham Still and Colin Laity plus Tony Cook, Terry Pryor and Darren Jacques from the current squad and Management Team made me very proud. There were also family members from Roy Jennings family, Les Semmens family and Bill Bishops present. It was another great event in the history of Redruth Rugby and when you sit and think of the great achievements these players have achieved can any other club in Cornwall even scratch the surface?? … I don’t think so!

I would also like to mention the speech that Richard Sharp gave at the lunch on Saturday, it was simply outstanding and what a way to round off the celebration. He spoke of his desire of playing for Redruth as a youngster, his delight and memories of playing for Redruth and what the club means to him! I stood beside him as he spoke and I have never felt quite like that before, it was very emotional but also inspiring and the man is simply a gentleman.

One person deserves special thanks for this concept, and that is Jeff Knuckey! Jeff worked tirelessly to ensure that the “Hall of Fame” turned out as it did …. Very successful!

Another event that will happen very shortly is the Redruth Colts 73/74/75/76 Reunion. This will take place at the club on Friday April 8th starting at 7:30pm. Dave Tresidder and Graham Still have worked very hard to try and contact people to advise them. If you are one of the people they have contacted it will be great to see you on the evening, if you are a Colt from this era and haven’t been contacted as yet please get in contact and it would be great to see you on the 8th. People I know who are coming are Graham and Dave obviously, John Kitto, Steve Wetherelt, myself, Brett Pedley, Phil Tiddy, Robert Hart, Phil Angove, Farley Down, Brian Hull and then there is Brian Brokenshire, Spider Watts, Neil Craze, Terry Pryor and hopefully John Symons … it will be a great night and I am really looking forward to it!!!!!!

So that is it for this week, if you are going on Saturday I look forward to seeing you at Cambridge …. Until then ..

Cheers for now

David Penberthy

Director of Rugby

On a glorious Spring Sunday, joint defending County Champions Redruth U10′s arrived at Truro RFC in determined mood to not only defend their title, but to try and win it outright for the first time.

The Festival was well attended, with 16 teams from across the county, the format would mean there would be 4 groups of 4 teams who would each played each other. The winners of each group would contest the semi-finals with the winners contesting the final.

The draw was made, our group contained St.Austell, Bude and our old rivals Hayle.

Results: Redruth 35 – 0 St.Austell

                  Redruth 25 – 0 Bude

                 Redruth 15 – 0 Hayle

As winners of the group we would play Lankelly in the semi final of the cup.

                Redruth 10 – 5 Lankelly

With Launceston beating PZ in the other semi it would be a rematch of last years U9′s final.

Cup Final result; Redruth 10 – 0 Launceston.

A fantastic day for all associated with this tremendous group of boys whom we are all extremely proud of. Excellent rugby was played throughout the day with the ball being moved wide again and again. Hard to single anyone out for praise as it was a real squad effort and every player gave his all to bring the trophy home, but I must comment on what an excellent tournament Jordan Opie had, his speed and running was tireless from start to finish.

Thank you to Truro for hosting the Festival and thanks to the all the parents and especially Ryan, Toby and James for coming along to support your team mates.

Finally thanks to the Steve and the Launceston team for being such great competitors!!

Chris

The reliable boot of Aaron Penberthy kept Redruth’s hopes of survival alive in an exciting encounter in front of a large partisan crowd. The Reds were led out by Darren Jacques making his 200th appearance in the red shirt.

In perfect conditions both sides showed a willingness to play open, attractive rugby but despite dominating the opening thirty minutes the home side were unable to find an opening in a steadfast Cinderford defence. The Redruth back row was much in evidence with Chris Fuca putting in some great tackles. Good runs by wingers Tom Notman and Sean Hawkey excited the home supporters but it was Penberthy who kept the score board ticking over with two first half penalties and a drop goal.

In the fifth minute Penberthy hit the upright with a long range shot. Cinderford strayed offside at the ensuing breakdown giving him a much easier kick to take his tally for the season over the 200 point mark. Just six minutes later a patient Redruth attack failed to make progress so the ball was laid back to give Penberthy a straightforward drop goal. A thirty-first minute Penberthy penalty gave The Reds a nine point cushion.

A fine break by Owen Hambly who chipped the ball ahead, gathered it and chipped again was ended by the well organised Cinderford defence.

The visitors finished the half strongly but were thwarted by a much improved Redruth defence which has all too often this season leaked points just before the break.

Cinderford started the second period with another onslaught on the home line but a thirty metre Redruth forward drive out of defence was rewarded with a penalty which Penberthy converted.

Moving the ball wide in attack a Redruth pass was intercepted by Cinderford’s Robbie Winchie who looked certain to score but was chased down just short of the line by full back Brett Rule with another of his familiar try-saving tackles. However Cinderford recycled for Luke Allen to touch down, Danny Trigg adding the extras.

The Reds’ forwards kept the visitors pinned down in their own twenty-two and won a series of penalties, all of which were kicked to the corner. A clever lineout move saw Mark Bright touch down in Hellfire Corner. The successful touch line conversion completed Penberthy’s nap hand of kicks.

A Nevarno Codlin try set up a nail biting last five minutes with The Reds holding on to take the spoils and Cinderford taking a losing bonus point back to The Forest of Dean.

Reds’ Coach Craig Bonds was particularly pleased with the way his young half backs had interchanged and kicked into the right areas whilst Director of Rugby, David Penberthy was satisfied that the game plan had been well executed. “What a difference from last week,” Penberthy quipped. “We made a round trip of 1,000 miles to play in front of 148 at Blaydon, whereas today we had 1,000 supporters cheering us on and we came out on top in a great game.”

The Reds still have a lot to do in the last five games if they are to avoid relegation starting with a tough trip to Cambridge next weekend.

The winners of last month’s prize super draw were:

£50 Mrs C Prisk

£25 Mrs N Watson

£25 Mr & Mrs R Eddy

Click here to win with the 200 Club.

I have to start this week with our game at Blaydon this past weekend. After a wonderful journey that was enjoyed by all in some great MPV’s kindly supplied by Enterprise (at a cost of course) we enjoyed a very hospitable evening in the Village Hotel at Newcastle. It was only 480 miles so nothing to complain about there! Waking up on Saturday to brilliant sunshine, it gave you the feeling that all the ingredients were there for a good game of rugby watched by the scores of supporters that Blaydon attract. Alas that was not to be, 148 in total turned out to watch a game that was exciting, by the score line, but exasperating and mentally tiring if you were associated with the Reds.

Giving a 21 point lead to a team on 2 occasions does not help your cause BUT the boys certainly pulled themselves together in the 2nd half and if we can turn in performances like that second 40 minutes for the rest of the season I will be pleased. Not beating around the bush, but I think the remainder of our season now, and the case of us staying in National 1, is very much in the hands of others. We had our opportunity to control our own destiny but that has not gone according to our plans, the last 2 games required at least 6 points and we managed only 2. We have 6 games left, 3 at home and 3 away and we need at least 18 points from those, that will be tough! The teams around us have similar tasks but its all about everyone beating everyone else (if that makes sense)! My message to the players after the game was about performance in the remaining games. If that is good enough to keep us up …. Great …. If not then we will consolidate, rebuild and become stronger for the experience. Sometimes you must hold your hand up and admit that teams in the league are better than you. That statement is in no way detrimental to our team nor our players but we have continually punched above our weight and time has been catching up. On our day we are match for any side in this league, we are the only team to date to take points of Barking, we held London Scottish within 7 points, we have won at Cinderford, Blackheath and Macclesfield on the road and in 2 visits to the North East we have scored 60 points, scored 8 tries and taken away 3 points! Yes we have conceded many points over the past few weeks but we have been scoring as well so it is encouraging. All I ask of our supporters is to stick with the boys, they do deserve it and most importantly we all realise what great people you are! There were 148 people watching our game on Saturday and the guys at Blaydon could not believe we still average around the 800 mark. We had Roger and Nikki Watson there, and they are at everyone of our away games, Tim & Petroc James and Steve Apps and, of course, Smithy & Abs …. Incredible dedication fro great people!

On Saturday night I was dropped off at Bristol, along with Aaron and Tom Notman. The 2 boys were playing for Cornwall Under 20’s against Gloucestershire Under 20’s at Lydney on Sunday…..now that is a task at the best of times but doing of the back of such a game at Blaydon you can only admire them! Cornwall were soundly beaten but the team did not drop their heads and fought till the end so all credit to them. Redruth were represented by Ben Drew, Tom, Aaron, Lewis Moyle and Ben Gregor. That game was the last game of the season and Cornwall finished 3rd after 1 victory and 2 defeats. Again I think the structure of these competitions needs to be addressed, boys playing 2 games in 2 days is not healthy no matter what level. Anyway all that is left for some is the Regional Trial when the South West will play London & South East at Clifton on Sunday April 3rd. This Trial is the pre-requisite before the England Counties Under 20’s squad is announced. Gloucestershire were very good, very well organised and had some very good players. I have seen a couple of them around before and no doubt they will be seen again.

Lydney Rugby Club is full of some great characters and I managed to catch up with Nick Nelmes the former Lydney and Gloucestershire hooker who is now forwards coach there, they had beaten Taunton the day before with the last kick of the game so spirits were high ….. Also had some great banter with a couple of others and really enjoyed the afternoon …. Oh yes and the Guinness!!

Whilst in the Lydney clubhouse I watched the Pirates beat Bedford with a very good performance and then later on saw bits of the Gloucester game against Newcastle Falcons in the LV Cup Final. The final Gloucester try was scored by Darren Dawiduik. Many will remember “Davvy” on loan at Redruth for 2 spells during the 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 season when he was the Pirates. Whilst he is not 1st choice at present I am sure he will push Olivier Azam and Scott Lawson all the way and good luck to him!

A very debatable article in Rugby Times last week about regionalisation of National 1 and National 2 North and South. Most know my views and I would hate to see National 1 disappear as I do honestly believe that it is a good stage for young players to develop their skills and attract the interest of Premiership and Championship clubs. It also provides Premiership clubs the opportunity to loan out Academy players and know they are getting good rugby every week. I am not saying that won’t continue but with regionalisation the standards will inevitably drop. The way around this is simple ….. to keep National 1 the RFU need to review their allocation of funding …. Have common sense and cover clubs fully to compete nationally. However, I know many have championed the cause over the past few weeks and have presented very good articles on the matter but the RFU have made their minds up and I can now see only one conclusion. If it has to regionalisation then it needs to be done properly and with thought. Firstly the number of teams in each league, secondly a Cup Competition and thirdly a structured season that maybe builds County Championship into it. I know many feel the County Championship a hindrance but if there is going to be one it needs to be between the months of September and April and not in May. Players need a break and this present time they hardly get one!

Going back to the suggestions in Rugby Times, I think there is mileage in what has been suggested. I am not sure about 4 regions I would say possibly 3 but I like the idea of a Conference type arrangement. There obviously needs a lot of thought to go into the formation and how this would work and if there were to be play offs for the top teams what would the teams in the lower half do whilst these were taking place? Maybe there is some mileage in looking at a similar formula to the Championship? What I do agree with is that competition is vital, it keeps players and crowds interested and keeps people coming through the gate! No doubt these discussions will go on for some time but a working party is needed to put together a structure that meets the needs of all. If we are to be part of the Community game lets get the Community behind us!

Well England blew it again! I heard the game on the Radio and haven’t even bothered to watch it, mind you I haven’t had much time to do this anyway as yet!! It seems England had not prepared for the Green onslaught that they were to encounter! Ireland are at their most dangerous when they have a challenge like knocking England off their perch especially when they are highly fancied to take the Grand Slam! I suppose there is one consolation, England at least won the 6 Nations trophy which is scant consolation after emphatic victories over Wales, France and Italy and a somewhat stumbling victory over Scotland! I don’t think England can discount too many members of the team although Simon Shaw at 38 must be coming close to pulling the curtain down on a wonderful rugby career. I hope he makes the World Cup party but with Courtney Lawes fit again it maybe a struggle. I read Martin Johnson’s comments with interest when he stated that having young and inexperienced players in his team was their ultimate downfall against a very experienced Irish team … he had hoped to do better but has to take this on the chin! I think England will do well in New Zealand and you never know what surprise there could be in store!

This Friday it’s the Hall of Fame induction at the club. There are still some tickets left for Friday nights induction so if you want to go contact the club.

Finally, on Saturday we entertain the vastly improved, and one of the current form teams in the league, Cinderford. The game will be tough there is no doubting that and will test us to the hilt ….. looking forward to it!!!

That is it for this week, hope to be back next week so until then ….

Cheers for now …

David Penberthy

Director of Rugby

The  U17s reach the south west final again after a 36-8 win at Redruth against Clevedon

Match Report by Ed Bawden

21 points down early in the second half, Redruth staged a thrilling comeback with Owen Hambly touching down with 3 minutes to go to reduce the deficit to a point.

Aaron Penberthy made a good attempt at a difficult conversion from wide out on the right but the ball drifted across the posts as Blaydon held on for their first win in 10 games.

In the final analysis Redruth will be kicking themselves for giving away 4 soft tries in the first half including 3 in a disastrous 10 minute spell.

There were some heroic performances from the Reds in particular Chris Fuca who grafted non stop, Brett Rule who made three try saving tackles and Ashley Morcom who returned to the front row after 4 months out with injury and put in a solid 80 minutes.

On a bright, dry day in the north east Redruth put in a good start with good work from Mark Bright and Luke Collins almost bringing tries.

Andy Baggett hit an upright with a penalty attempt for Blaydon in the 7th minute but Redruth did not clear their lines and giant lock Chris Wearmouth strolled over in the corner for Baggett to convert.

Penberthy was off target with a penalty from the 10 metre line for the Reds but two tries in quick succession stunned the Reds as Blaydon took advantage of turnovers for Matt Clark and Ed Yarnton to touchdown, Baggett converted both to open up a 21 point lead after 18 minutes.

The Cornish side struck back with a good break by Rule on half way, carried on by Bright who gave Tom Notman a scoring pass in the 20th minute, with Penberthy converting.

Redruth had the better of the second quarter as the home side gave away a string of penalties for coming in at the side of rucks. Eventually Referee Richard Kelly lost patience and sent Blaydon lock Wearmouth to the sin bin after 37 minutes.

Redruth took immediate advantage with a strong drive from the pack, pushing Blaydon over the line from a 5 metre scrum for Bright to claim a try that Penberthy converted.

With the half time whistle looming Redruth tried to play from inside their own half instead of kicking down field and when they were turned over quick passing from Blaydon saw Simon Barber race over for a try that Baggett converted to give his side a 28-14 lead at the interval.

The first score in the second half was going to be crucial and Baggett touched down near the posts 5 minutes after the restart and converted to open up a 21 point lead for the second time.

To their credit Redruth kept plugging away and a long pass from Bright gave Notman the chance to race over for his second try that Penberthy converted after 51 minutes.

The momentum was with the Cornishmen and from a scrum Bright broke down the blind side and Nick Simmons showed good skills to run in for a try following a 35 metre run.

As the game entered the final quarter Penberthy put over a penalty from in front of the posts to pull the Reds back to within 6 points.

Both sides had further chances. Rule put in an important tackle to stop Tom Rock from scoring. Collins was winning line outs for the Reds and Hambly spotted his chance well at the back of a ruck to dummy and run in from 20 metres.

Despite running from their own 22 in the closing stags with Nick Jackson prominent, Redruth were unable to get the score that would have brought a first ever win in the north east in 7 visits.

With 2 league points their consolation, Redruth will next entertain a buoyant Cinderford side at the Rec on Saturday in their quest to avoid the drop from National League One.

Referee: Richard Kelly (RFU)

I am getting quite used to saying this, and no doubt people are getting sick and fed up listening to my words, rants etc …. Whatever you want to call it …..once again we lost and it was a game we could of won ….but the “coulds” now have to become “musts” and there is little time left to put things right …

It’s very difficult after a game to control your emotions and put across a balanced view of the game to both players and spectators alike. I always remember Clive Woodward saying that no matter how poor a performance was always find a positive to put across, little can be done about what has happened but as a group you have to move forward. I have just read my comments post match on Saturday and whilst there is an element of truth in them I may of made more of the errors than I should of. There were some good moments, we started brightly, dominated the scrum and kicked well. Sedgley Park are a very big and aggressive side and play to those strengths. We need to look at the way they play to their strengths and put that into practice. Next weeks game at Blaydon is important and if we can sustain a performance for 80 minutes we will come out on top I am absolutely certain of that …. For those who travelled to Sedgley … thank you very much … for those thinking of travelling to Blaydon … please do so, your support will be invaluable!

Next a word of apology … a few weeks ago I referred to a Barking player as “being outstanding in a game” .. Unfortunately I got the name wrong so to put the record straight, Ben Thomas is the name of the player I should of identified ….my sincere apologies ….

Whilst talking about Barking, they have had an incredible season and are still poised to take the title. Whilst London Scottish are top by a point Barking have one game in hand. I suppose the betting man would put money on Scottish making it, especially as they have such a big squad but they still have to play each other at Barking and a victory there will leave Alex Codling’s men are very much in the hunt!

Onto the 6 Nations and what an incredible win for the Italians against the French in Rome. You could feel the incredible atmosphere sat in the lounge at home merely watching it … Sergio Parrisse is an outstanding rugby player and he was Man of the Match by far …. The Welsh victory will be marred by an awful decision by the Scottish Touch Judge and the ignorance of Jonathan Caplan to go to the TMO for confirmation that the same ball, in other words the ball that was in play prior to it being kicked out, was used for the quick throw in. To be fair Caplan did ask the Touchie was he sure … and he replied that he was! I suppose the whole incident throws up a host of questions. It was clear that Welsh skipper Matthew Rees was aware it was a different ball, Caplan should have listened to O’Driscoll who was the Irish skipper and the TMO should have been consulted! What was clear though was Declan Kidney’s view on the incident and how it stacks up against the disaster the people of Japan are having to cope … its only a game of rugby, but the good thing is that the people associated with it are still human and the only thing lost was a game and nothing else …what a top bloke!

From a top bloke to a not quite normal bloke … Mark Lievremont the French Coach.

Following Italy’s historic win in Rome Lievremont launched a furious attack on his players ….

“They are not even capable of admitting to their own mistakes. Perhaps it is a trend among the new generation, what is for sure is that certain players have worn the French shirt for the last time.”added Lievremont, who was a top class back row forward and played in the 1999 World Cup final defeat by Australia.

Lievremont received the backing of the French Federation but is that the “Kiss of death”????? … that, I suppose, remains to be seen!!!!

Many congratulations to the Under12’s who retained their County Title but have had to settle for joint winners this time around. They drew with Launceston at Launceston on Sunday. Well done boys and its good to know that the conveyor belt is still rolling for the future Redruth teams.

A while ago I sat down and took a look at the players who have left Redruth or have retired over the past couple seasons for differing reasons. In fact you can make one hell of a team out them …. Here goes:-

15: Adryan Winnan 14: Rob Thirlby 13: Craig Bonds 12: PJ Gidlow 11: Emyr Lewis 10: Mark Scrivener 9: Greg Goodfellow 8: James Mann 7: Lewis Calder 6: Herbie Stupple 5: Richard Carroll 4: Nathan Pascoe 3: Sam Heard 2: Gareth Evans 1: Tom Cowan Dickie

Replacements: 16: Wihan Neethling 17: Steve Evans 18: Jamie Semmens 19: Mike Georgiou 20: Ben Priddey 21: Malcolm Hearn 21: Fraser Clilverd 22: Brett Stroud

It’s a pretty mean looking team and it gives some idea of the change and restructuring we have had to do BUT it’s something that I am comfortable with, it is a necessity as far as the club is concerned and it will benefit us all in the end.

Well that is it for this week, a week when hopes were dashed, England took the penultimate step towards a Grand Slam and France lost in Italy and gained a tongue lashing from their boss! The Under 12’s flew the flag for the Reds and me …well certainly not a happy chappy but beginning to get philosophical about what is unfolding in front of me …. Remember to keep the faith and its not over until it’s over!!

Cheers for now

David Penberthy

Director of Rugby