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IN FINAL WHISTLE

 

 

LAUNCHED this season, the British & Irish Cup, which pits 24 teams – England’s 12 Championship clubs, the top club sides in Scotland and Wales, development sides from three Irish provinces and the Scottish Rugby Union’s Gael Force development side The Thistles – into four six-team qualifying pools with knockout semi-finals and the final next spring, has been billed as “the Heineken Cup’s little brother” in some quarters.

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FINAL

CORNISH PIRATES 23-14 MUNSTER
CAMBORNE RECREATION GROUND – Sunday 16th May 2010

THE Cornish Pirates grabbed some consolation for missing out on promotion from the RFU Championship to the Guinness Premiership at the play-off stages by beating Munster’s young guns at the Camborne Rec to become the first winners of the British & Irish Cup competition.

Tries from centre Steve Winn and wing Rhodri McAtee saw off the visitors who had conceded just three tries in six games on their way to the final.

Danny Barnes scored a late try for Munster but fly-half Declan Cusack missed two early penalties to leave his side with too much to do to turn the game around.

Opposite number Johnny Bentley was off-target with one penalty of his own but added the extras to Winn's 17th-minute try after the centre took Gavin Cattle's pass and slipped his tackler to score behind the posts.

Pirates then scored the try of the match five minutes before the break, when Blair Cowan drove away from the base of a scrum, Cattle moved the ball wide and Wes Davies’ offload to McAtee gave the wing a clear run into the corner.

Bentley converted and then added a penalty to give the Pirates a 14-point half-time cushion and it stayed that way with Cusack and Bentley trading penalties in a second which saw Munster try to mount a fight-back which was thwarted by the home side’s superbly-marshalled defence.

Cornish Pirates
T:- Winn, McAtee
C: Bentley 2
P: Bentley 3

Munster
T: Barnes
P: Cusack 3

 

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SEMI FINALS

CORNISH Pirates and Munster will contest the final of the British and Irish Cup on Sunday 16th May after the Pirates handed Doncaster Knights a 43-5 semi-final hiding in Camborne and Munster eased to a comfortable 27-3 win over Ulster Ravens in their all-Irish semi at Tree View.

The Pirates ran in six tries to set up what should be a mouth-watering showdown in the competition's inaugural season, scoring two tries in four first-half minutes through Wes Davies and Johnny Bentley to take the game buy the scruff of the neck in the opening half-hour.

Doncaster struck back when centre Bevon Armitage forced his way over in the corner to cut the home side’s lead top 15-5 at the break, but they conceded a third try straight after the break when
flanker Chris Morgan crossed and Bentley converted.

With 64 minutes gone, the Pirates had the tie in the bank thanks to a try from skipper Gavin Cattle and replacement winger Nick Jackson and lock Laurie McGlone then put the gloss on a great performance with injury-time touchdowns, with Bentley converting all three scores.

Meanwhile, in Limerick, Munster were in the box seat after 11 minutes when centre Jeremy Manning grabbed the opening try with Ulster putting their only points on the board with a James McKinley penalty shortly afterwards.

But Duncan Williams went over next to the posts late in the first half and fly-half Declan Cusack’s penalty gave the home side a 13-3 half-time cushion.

After the break, Munster cruised to victory with Manning notching his second try of the contest, converted by Cusack who also added the extras when hooker Mike Sherry crashed over for their fourth try to kill Ulster off.

RESULTS
Saturday 24th April 2010
Munster 27-3 Ulster Ravens

Sunday 25th April 2010
Cornish Pirates 43-5 Doncaster Knights

 

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ROUND 5

The Cornish Pirates are through to the semi-finals of the British & Irish Cup as Pool A winners after a battling 26-20 win over Newport at Camborne saw the home side kick the precious qualification place out of the reach of Leinster, who despite beating bottom-of-the-table Gael Force in a midweek game to complete their pool fixtures, had a deficit of six points which they brought down to one.

Elsewhere in Pool A, Exeter Chiefs won only their second match in the competition when they beat Devon rivals Plymouth Albion 26-5 at the Brickfields.

Nic Sestaret and Chad Slade scored converted first-half tries for the Chiefs and Geoff Griffiths pulled one back for Plymouth early in the second half before two further scores from Haydn Thomas sealed the Chiefs’ victory.

Bristol momentarily kept their outside chance of qualifying from Pool B alive with a hard-fought 21-16 win at Nottingham, but Munster, who were odds-on favourites to progress with a convincing win over Heriot’s in their final pool match was enough to see the Irish province leapfrog Bristol into top spot.

Tom Youngs opened the scoring for Nottingham with a ninth-minute try converted by Dave Jackson but after a Mark Davies penalty for the visitors, Alex Crockett scored his first try for Bristol with Davies converted.

Two further penalties from Davies and one from Jackson had Bristol 16-10 in front at half-time and they then romped clear with Jackson kicking two more penalties before a second try from Luke Arscott wrapped it up for Bristol.

In the other Pool B match, Neath and Coventry shared nine tries in an entertaining contest at The Gnoll which the Midlanders eventually lost 29-24 thanks to a 78th minute try from the Welsh side’s wing Richard Smith.

London Welsh, top of Pool C after a 21-10 home win over Llanelli at Old Deer Park, miss out on the knockout stages with Ulster Ravens beating Aberavon 62-0 at Ravenhill in their final outing after the Exiles failed to notch a try-scoring bonus-point which might have made all the difference.

Tries from Erie Claasens, Dave Lewis and Simon Whatling were enough to give Welsh their win over Aberavon, who ran in a first-half try from Dale Ford, converted by Steve Shingler who also notched a penalty.

Bedford Blues, meanwhile comfortably disposed of Moseley by a 23-0 margin in Pool C’s dead rubber, thanks to second-half tries from James Pritchard and Luke Fielden.

Doncaster Knights were already home and hosed from Pool D thanks to a midweek win at Pontypridd and they cemented their passage into the semis with a 100% record courtesy of a 32-22 win over Rotherham Titans at Clifton Lane.

The Knights were ahead after just two minutes with a converted try from Chris Hallam and after Jonny West replied with a penalty, Ali Warnock extended Doncaster’s lead with a penalty.

A penalty try converted by Warnock and a third try right on half-time from Anthony Carter then had Doncaster 22-3 ahead but Rotherham fought back strongly after the break with tries from Watkins and Kleeberger to cut Doncaster’s lead to just seven points.

But a Warnock penalty and conversion from a Chris Briers try snuffed out the home revival in the last ten minutes before Whitehead scored a consolation late try for the Titans.

In Pool D’s fifth-round dead rubbers, Pontypridd came from behind to win 27-24 at Birmingham & Solihull and Cardiff sealed their victory over Scottish side Ayr at the Arms Park with a 78th minute penalty from Gareth Davies

RESULTS

Friday 5th March 2010
Moseley 0-23 Bedford Blues

Saturday 6th March 2010
Plymouth Albion 5-26 Exeter Chiefs
Neath 29-24 Coventry
London Welsh 20-10 Llanelli
Rotherham Titans 22-32 Doncaster Knights
Birmingham & Solihull 24-27 Pontypridd

Sunday 7th March 2010
Cornish Pirates 26-20 Newport
Nottingham 16-21 Bristol

Wednesday 10th March 2010
Gael Force 22-33 Leinster

Friday 12th March 2010
Munster A 34-7 Heriot’s
Ulster Ravens 62-0 Aberavon

 

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ROUND 4

The Cornish Pirates and Newport are set to battle it out in Camborne for the British & Irish Cup quarter-final berth from Pool A after the Welsh side upset Leinster in Dublin and the Pirates turned over Championship rivals Exeter Chiefs to go top of the table.

A dramatic weekend began at Donnybrook where Chris Wannell`s penalty for Newport was the only score until Fergus McFadden finally found his range and levelled it up at 3-3 just after the break.

Newport roared back with Leinster lock Devin Toner in the sin-bin and Matt Pewtner grabbed a try converted by Wannell to give the Welsh side a 10-3 lead, which McFadden cut to a four-point winning margin for Newport late on.

The shock outcome in Dublin spurred the Pirates on when they clashed with the Chiefs in a blood-and-thunder battle which burst into life in the second half after the first 40 minutes ended all-square at 6-6.

By the end,  the Pirates had run in tries from Devlin, Cattle, Ireland and Ward to claim a bonus-point victory with Cook kicking four conversions and three penalties for a 17-point haul.
In the other Pool A fixture, Plymouth Albion pulled off a successful cross-border raid to beat Gael Force 25-0.

Tries from Sean-Michael Stephen, Ben Mercer and Steve Johns were enough to see Albion home before Referee Paul Haycock abandoned the game on 66 minutes due to freezing temperatures north of the border.

Munster are the favourites to qualify from Pool B after they hit back from 12-0 down at half-time to beat Neath 21-12 at the Gnoll.

The Irish side maintained their 100% record in the competition with 15 points in six minutes midway through the second half to silence the home crowd after four Arwel Thomas penalties had punished the visitors before the break.

Bristol`s run in the cup is all but over despite a comfortable 34-17 win by their second string over Heriot’s at the Memorial Stadium, where the Championship leaders’ second-string side ran in six tries to run away with the contest in the second half.

The weekend’s other Pool B fixture saw Nottingham thump hapless Coventry 43-17 at Meadow Lane, scoring seven tries in a one-sided affair.

The Pool C qualification race is heading all the way to the wire after Ulster beat London Welsh 21-17 in a Ravenhill mudbath to go joint top of the pool with the Exiles going into the final round of fixtures.

The Exiles cut an early 16-0 deficit to 16-11 at half-time, but a blistering try from Timoci Nagusa early in the second half swung the tie back in the Irish side’s favour.

The two other ties in the group were already dead rubbers, but Bedford Blues needed a last-minute converted try from Duncan Taylor to edge past gutsy Aberavon by 17-15 margin at Goldington Road.

Llanelli beat Moseley 35-21 at the Parc y Scarlets in the other Pool C tie to set up a potential banana-skin clash with London Welsh at Old Deer Park in the Exiles’ final pool fixture.

Doncaster Knights, meanwhile, can seal qualification from Pool D with a win over Pontypridd at Sardis Road which would take them out of the reach of Cardiff and Rotherham Titans after the Knights chalked up a 41-8 rout of Birmingham & Solihull at Castle Park.

The Knights ran in tries from Matt D`Arcy (2) and Andy Wright (2) with one apiece coming from Matt Williams and Nicky Griffiths, while Ali Warnock weighed in with four conversions and a penalty.

Even if Doncaster slip up at Pontypridd, they can still seal the group when they travel to Clifton Lane to face rivals Rotherham Titans, who went down 34-24 to Cardiff at the Arms Park.

That setback all but ended the Titans’ challenge in the competition despite taking the lead through two Adam Kleeberger tries in the first 10 minutes.

Cardiff host Ayr in their final fixture after the Scottish side lost 22-21 to Pontypridd, who snatched a late win north of the border courtesy of at last-gasp try and conversion from Kristian Baller.

RESULTS

POOL A
Friday 26th February 2010
Cornish Pirates 37-14 Exeter Chiefs

Saturday 27th February 2010
Gael Force 0-25 Plymouth Albion
Leinster 6-10 Newport

POOL B
Saturday 27th February 2010
Neath 12-21 Munster

Sunday 28th February 2010
Bristol Rugby 34-17 Heriots
Nottingham 43-17

POOL C
Tuesday 23rd February 2010
Aberavon 10-0 Moseley

Friday 26th February 2010
Ulster 21-17 London Welsh

Saturday 27th February 2010
Bedford Blues 17-15 Aberavon
Llanelli 35-21 Moseley

POOL D
Saturday 27th February 2010
Ayr 21-22 Pontypridd
Cardiff 34-27 Rotherham Titans
Doncaster Knights 41-8 Birmingham & Solihull

 

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ROUND 3

LEINSTER are a point at the top of the British & Irish Cup’s pool A qualification race after they crossed the Irish Sea and beat Championship promotion challengers Exeter Chiefs 22-10 at Sandy Park, where the home side was restricted to an unconverted try apiece from hooker Sam Blythe and wing Sean Marsden.

The Irish side ran in two tries by David Kearney and one from Paul O’Donohue with fly-half Shaun Berne kicking two conversions and a drop-goal.

Elsewhere in Pool A, second-placed Newport handed bottom-of-the-table Thistles a four-try 27-5 defeat at Rodney Parade and the third-placed Cornish Pirates saw off Championship rivals Plymouth Albion by a 13-9 score-line at the Brickfields.

Munster opened up a four-point gap at the top of Pool B after six Declan Cusack penalties earned them a comfortable 18-3 win over third-placed Nottingham in Waterford but Championship leaders Bristol  stayed in the qualification hunt with a 40-15 win over Coventry at the Memorial Stadium, where the home side ran in six tries.

Neath, meanwhile, crossed the Border and ran in a 38-21 win over Heriot’s in the clash of the bottom two in Pool B.

Troubled London Welsh, who are facing an uncertain future in administration, lead the way in Pool C after they beat Bedford Blues at Old Deer Park, where Paul Sampson scored two of the Exiles’ five tries against their Championship promotion rivals.

But Ulster are still in the hunt for a place in the knockout stages from Pool C, despite a 21-21 draw with hosts Llanelli.

Pool D remains wide open with four teams covered by just one point and all of them still in with a chance of grabbing a semi-final place with two rounds of qualifying ties to go.

Doncaster Knights top the table with 10 points after their 34-10 home win over Cardiff relegated the Welsh side to fourth place on nine behind Scottish club side Ayr, who beat Championship visitors Birmingham & Solihull 49-14.

Rotherham Titans lie second in Pool D, level on points with Doncaster after their 33-23 home victory over Pontypridd.      

RESULTS

Friday 12th February 2010
Llanelli 21-21 Ulster A
Newport 27-5 Thistles

Saturday 13th February 2010
Ayr 49-14 Birmingham & Solihull
Bristol 40-15 Coventry
Exeter 10-22 Leinster A
London Welsh 26-13 Bedford Blues
Munster A 18-3 Nottingham
Plymouth Albion 9-13 Cornish Pirates
Rotherham Titans 33-23 Pontypridd

Sunday 14th February 2010
Doncaster 34-10 Cardiff
Heriot’s 21-38 Neath

 

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ROUND 2

US EAGLES scrum-half Tim Usasz grabbed a try to help Nottingham chalk up their second successive British & Irish Cup with a 14-3 home win over Neath to keep the Meadow Lane side in the Pool B qualifying hunt.

Usasz's touchdown for the Championship strugglers wiped out a first half penalty from Neath's former Wales fly-half Arwel Thomas and set his side on the way to a comfortable win, keeping them hot on the heels of pool leaders Munster A.

Munster, who have a one-point cushion at the top of the pool,  were more than strong enough to see off ex-Guinness Premiership side Bristol, who look likely to struggle for a quarter-final berth, after losing 18-6 in the west of Ireland.

Coventry broke their duck in the competition with a 57-12 home rout of Pool B whipping boys Heriot’s FP.

Another Irish side, Leinster A, lead the way in Pool A after they got the better of the stubborn Cornish Pirates,  who made a good fist of the contest, in Dublin.

The Cornishmen went down to a narrow 12-10 defeat, earning them a valuable losing bonus-point which kept them in second place in the pool.

But Championship leaders Exeter Chiefs improved their chances of qualifying when bounced back from their opening weekend defeat at Newport to beat bottom side The Thistles 15-0 in horrendous conditions at Sandy Park.

The Pool C qualifying race is shaping into a two-way battle royal as the top two both have ten points on the board after back-to-back bonus-point wins with in-form London Welsh leading the way from Ulster A.

The Exiles ran riot in the Principality, romping to a 36-7 win over bottom side Aberavon while the Irish side won 32-21 at Moseley, who have mustered just a lone losing bonus-point from their two outings to date.

Bedford Blues kept their last-eight hopes alive by twice coming from behind to beat Llanelli 36-24 in a nine-try contest at Goldington Road, where full-back Luke Fielden scored the home side’s first and final tries with wing Andy Fenby scoring a length-of-the-field touchdown for the visitors.

Wing James Loxton, a member of Wales’ Under 20 IRB Junior World Cup squad, scored five of Cardiff’s eight tries, notching a first-half hat-trick in a 51-20 Pool D rout of Championship strugglers Birmingham & Solihull, who are bottom of the pool and still winless, at Sharmans Cross Road.

That earned Cardiff a four-point cushion at the top of the table over second-placed Rotherham Titans, who crashed to an unexpected 28-13 defeat at Ayr, who moved up to fourth place after chalking up the first win in the competition for a Scottish side.

Doncaster Knight’s away game at Pontypridd was washed out, leaving the Yorkshire side in third place with the postponed game in Wales to be re-scheduled before the third round of matches is played in mid-February.

 RESULTS

Friday 27th November
Leinster A 12-10 Cornish Pirates
Aberavon 7-36 London Welsh
Moseley 21-32 Ulster A
Munster A 18-6 Bristol
Newport 3-3 Plymouth Albion
Pontypridd P-P Doncaster Knights
Coventry 57-12 Heriot’s FP
Ayr 28-13 Rotherham Titans

Saturday 28th November
Birmingham & Solihuill 20-51 Cardiff Rugby
Bedford Blues 7-5 Llanelli
Exeter Chiefs 15-0 The Thistles

Sunday, 29th November
Nottingham 14-3 Neath

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ROUND 1

The first weekend of British & Irish Cup action saw the newly-formed Thistles side from Scotland slide to a 29-8 Pool A defeat by the Cornish Pirates  – a poor return for their long haul over the Border to Camborne.

Ex-Bath, Sale and Northampton hooker Dave Ward sealed the Pirates’ bonus-point win with Glasgow winger Chris Kinloch scoring a consolation try for Gael Force on a an opening weekend which saw all three Scottish sides beaten.

Nottingham, meanwhile, edged out Scottish Cup holders Heriot's 5-0 at Goldenacre, thanks to a second-half try from full-back Andy Savage.

But there was one happy Scot playing in the competition as Ali Warnock, who previously played at fly-half for Edinburgh clubs Boroughmuir and Currie, scored an interception try and 17 points in Doncaster’s 32-7 win for Scottish Premier 1 champions Ayr at Castle Park.

Rotherham, who had already beaten Birmingham & Solihull in an earlier Championship clash, completed a quick-fire league and cup double with a seven-try 52-10 win over the struggling Midlanders at Clifton Lane.

Former Bath centre Shaun Berne sealed a tight 16-13 win for visitors Leinster over Plymouth Albion at the Brickfields with a late penalty.

Berne notched 11 points to help Leinster play their part in a clean sweep of three wins for the Irish sides with Munster A winning 20-13 at Coventry to top Pool B while Bedford Blues found their Pool C trip to Belfast a tough prospect, losing 29-3 against Ulster A in Pool C.

Elsewhere, the Championship sides enjoyed mixed fortunes with relegated Bristol Rugby opening up with a hard-fought 18-11 over Neath at The Gnoll and powerful London Welsh handing hosts Moseley a 38-27 defeat in Pool C.

Exeter Chiefs, though, went down to a 21-14 Pool A defeat by Newport at Rodney Parade.

In the two all-Welsh ties on the opening weekend, Aberavon beat Pool C hosts Llanelli 19-16 and Cardiff Rugby saw off Pontypridd 22-16 in Pool D at the Arms Park.

RESULTS

Friday 20th November
Llanelli 16-19 Aberavon
Pontypridd 16-22 Cardiff Rugby
Moseley 27-London Welsh 38
Neath 11-18 Bristol Rugby 18
Newport 21-14 Exeter Chiefs
Ulster A 29-3 Bedford Blues

Saturday 21st November
Coventry 13-Munster A 20
Heriot’s FP 0-5 Nottingham
Rotherham Titans 52-10 Birmingham & Solihull
Plymouth Albion 13-16 Leinster A

Sunday 22nd November
Cornish Pirates 29-8 The Thistles
Doncaster 32-7 Ayr