Twickenham delivers on all levels

by The TRU Team & Chris Heal  Thursday 4 June 2015

Talking Rugby Union where invited to Twickenham last weekend and witnessed some superb County Championship Finals Rugby, aswell as England thrashing of the Barbarians.

Some of the best players in the National Divisions were in action and in between the finals, we got to see England ease to a record win over the Barbarians. Here is a round-up of all the action.

Surrey 17 - 3 Eastern Counties

Surrey made it four wins in their last five visits to Twickenham as they produced a clinical performance against Eastern Counties to clinch the County Championship Division 2 Plate.

Surrey led 14-3 at half-time thanks to a score from Mike Terelek and sensational individual try from Dorking scrum-half Will Crow with Eastern Counties’ points coming from the boot of James Stokes.

In the second half, there was no retaliation from Eastern Counties as Surrey continued to exert pressure on their opposition and were dominant at the breakdown.

Any glimmers of hope which Eastern Counties may have had were dashed when Matt Noble slotted over a penalty four minutes from time to round off another superb display by Surrey at Twickenham.

Leicestershire 34 -17 Cumbria

Leicestershire ended a four match losing streak in County Championship finals with victory over Cumbria.

Having been losing finalists in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014, Leicestershire led 19-10 at the break this time around at Twickenham.

Cumbria opened the scoring with a penalty, but tries from Hinckley’s Mark Lord and South Leicester’s Kris McFedries gave Leicestershire a comfortable lead. Cumbria hit back with a try of their own, but McFedries crossed the whitewash again just before half-time.

Fly-half Rick Aley added three more points to the Leicestershire total before an unstoppable rolling maul led to a penalty try which Aley converted for 29-10.

Alex Salt then delivered the knockout blow to Cumbria as the touched down for Leicestershire after great build-up play.

A Cumbria score was merely as consolation Leicestershire ended seven years of hurt.

Reaction: Leicestershire Captain Luke Coltman: "This was one of the proudest days of my life as a rugby player.

"I thought we played really well, if a little sloppy in defence at times, but to come out as winners here is just brilliant."

Leicestershire head coach Paul Walsh: "We're really proud of the boys. We've lost in three finals here before now and seven of (Sunday's) side were here for all those losses, so it means so much to get over the line."

Cornwall 18 - 13 Lancashire

Delight and emotion was on show as Cornwall won the County Championship against Lancashire for the first time in 16 years.

The Duchy played the conditions excellently, triumphing by just five points at Twickenham.

They scored the only try of the first half as scrum-half Matt Shepherd ghosted past two tackles and ran in the score from 20 meters which he converted.

Lancashire responded through Sedgley Tigers fly-half Steve Collins who nudged over a penalty.

The Red Roses looked to be in the ascendency on 27 minutes as Cornwall lock Ben Hilton was sin-binned for not releasing in the tackle and replacement fly-half Chris Johnson reduced the gap to just a point.

However, Lancashire shot themselves in the foot as the numbers were leveled up when Chris Bries was shown a yellow card.

After missing two earlier penalties, Shepherd was third time lucky to give his side a 10-6 lead at the break.

Lancashire had started the second half well, but Sheppard increased his and Cornwall’s points total to 15 as he crossed over from a five-metre line-out to leave Cornwall firmly in control of this game.

Cornwall went close to adding try number three to the scoreboard but had to settle for three points.

Shepherd passed kicking duties to full-back Billy Searle who duly delivered to make the score 18-6.

But, Searle allowed Lancashire to set up a grandstand finish after kicking the ball away after a penalty had been awarded.

From there, Lancashire captain Evan Stewart smashed his way over in the corner to score and with Johnson converting; there was now just a try between the sides.

However, Cornwall hung on to end their baron spell in the County Championship.

Reaction: Lancashire coach Mark Nelson: “We have got to give credit to Cornwall, they played a game that suited the conditions, and delivered it well.

“We tried to play from deep and spilled the ball on too many occasions. We didn’t get into a position on the pitch where we could get some real attacks, but the crucial element was we conceded two soft tries.

“We were five down with three or four minutes to go. If we had a chance at a set-piece in their 22, we might just have sneaked it for the draw, or a shot to win it.

“I don’t think that we particularly put them under enough pressure in the first half. I think we put ourselves under more pressure.

“Everybody is disappointed. We know we could probably have performed at a higher level. When we look back in days to come, we’ve been to another final.”

Lancashire Captain Evan Stewart: “It’s always a massive thing to get to Twickenham, but all credit to Cornwall. There’s no other way of saying it, they fully deserved to lift the cup this year.

“They had a game plan, and stuck to it. After the first try, the key message was not to panic, and we didn’t do.

“Full credit to Cornwall, they were putting pressure on us to make mistakes, they were getting in our faces, not giving us time to breathe.”

England 73 - 12 Barbarians

Christian Wade scored a hat-trick as England’s World Cup hopefuls lit up Twickenham with a commanding display in a record win over the Barbarians.

England ran in ten tries showcasing their attacking threat for this autumn’s World Cup with fly-half Danny Cipriani putting in a dazzling performance.

He had a 100 per cent record with the boot as he slotted 11 kicks from 11 as well as scoring two tries - which was a great response to Owen Farrell’s excellent display in the Premiership final on Saturday.

With Farrell and his victorious Saracens teammates out of contention for the match (along with their opponents Bath), this was an opportunity for some players to step up to the mark.

It wasn’t only Wade and Cipriani that shone for England. The midfield depth in the squad is clear for all to see and Henry Slade and Elliot Daly struck up an excellent dynamic partnership as they created chances for England out wide.

In terms of the forwards, Luke Cowen-Dickie showed off his potential with a storming performance in the front row.

England’s first half scores came from Marland Yarde, Ed Slater, Jack Clifford, Cipriani and Wade, twice, with the now retiring Brad Thorn responding for the Baa Baas.

Slade, Josh Beaumont, Wade and Cipriani added more after the break, while Exeter’s Thomas Waldrom dotted down for the Barbarians and now Stuart Lancaster may have some real selection headaches after this rampant performance.

 
 
 
 
 
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