Doncaster Knights 26 Cornish All Blacks 8
Doncaster made seven changes to the previous week’s starting line up, to give Coach Lynn Howells the opportunity to see more of his charges, and this week’s line up never reproduced the form of the away win at Coventry. In the end the bonus point win was secured but for long periods the Cornish team held possession and forced the home side to concede penalties and possession.
The opening minutes gave no hint of the struggle to come. Wes Davies made an early break to set up Donovan Van Vuuren in a one on one situation that he couldn’t finish off; but advantage was playing, the penalty was drilled into the corner, and from the ensuing line out, a strong maul drove Ben Phillips over for a third minute try that Mark Woodrow converted from wide out. The fans thoughts were of a try fest. The big men from Launceston thought otherwise. And it was no surprise when they forced a penalty which Stuart Alred blasted over from over 40 metres to reduce the deficit. On 20 minutes Justin Bishop was up sharply to charge down a Blacks’ clearance: the line out was stolen, but this time the maul was defended illegally. Penalty to touch, line out catch and drive and this time it was a debut try for Sean Tomes. Again Woodrow added the extras with ease. The Cornish challenge was apparent for all to see, as they put phases together well; but poor tackling allowed Mark Sweeney to make the line break, and further tackle misses effectively gifted Matt Jess a try that the Knights won’t like watching on video review. Alred then missed a penalty shot that would have further reduced the gap but just as the half was ending, and the Knights put together a coherent series of attacks, they got reward when the hungry and alert Bishop [popped up to squirm his way through the last line of defence to make it 19-8 at the break.
The knights were disrupted by a Phillips broken hand, and Glen Kenworthy’s calf strain, which meant both being replaced well before the break.
The second half was a comedy of errors by the Knights. Poor handling, poor kicking from hand and none of the forcefulness of a week ago. They did get close to a fourth try of a number of occasions but a stubborn and physical defence kept all efforts at bay. Indeed, the Cornishman had more than 50% of possession and territory but whilst the Knights attack struggled, the defence was sound and there was never any threat to their goal line. Rather against the odds just after the hour, the Knights did nail that bonus point try. Woodrow made the break to set Van Vuuren away. The winger didn’t have the pace to make the line and was brought down tantalizingly close, recycled the ball quickly and the arriving Anthony Carter just had to catch the flat pass and dive over for the try. Woodrow converted and that was that. The All Blacks were on top for most of the last ten minutes but again the Knights broke out, Davies was close to the left corner, several attempts to make line failed and the afternoon was then summed up as a bemused Woodrow opted for a drop goal attempt in front of the posts. It was somehow inevitable that the kick would drift wide. It was that kind of day.
Knights: Davies W, Bishop, Young (Carter 47), Davey, Van Vuuren, Woodrow, Nicoud, Tau (Bunting 51), Phillips (Boden 23), Rawson, Tomes, Kenworthy (Griffiths 24), Gray (Soden 72), Grainger, Wilson.
CABs: Birkett (Dibble 64), Jess, Sweeney (Westren 60), Perry, Fabien, Alred, Alford (Turner 61), Liddington (Bolt 50), Brooking (Hurdwell 40), Reed (Hocking 68), Pape, Parker, Lord, Roques (Rawlings 64), Kimberley (Hocking 57).
Referee: C Sharp (RFU)
Photo of Justin Bishop's try by Stef Gascoigne |
