Check out the February NCA Awards winners in National Three South.
COACH of the MONTH
James Lancaster – Redruth
Double winner this season but different award Player Coach James Lancaster picked up the Player of the Month award earlier in the season but this time round he picks up the Coach of the Month as Redruth win three out of three in February,
They started the month in style defeating the then leaders Blackheath at home 28-13 to go with the scalps of North Walsham and Barking, beware Launceston!
Since then they have won at Weston super Mare and at home to Tabard and sit comfortable in fifth place in the table level on points with Barking and two points behind 3rd placed North Walsham on the back of five consecutive wins.
PLAYER of the MONTH
Simon Porter – Launceston
Simon Porter joined after the season started and has made a terrific impact since making his debut at Old Colfeians on November 1st.
and is an all round fly half who can get his back line going as well as scoring tries himself, he has seven so far, and has a good kicking came in hand and off the ground.
Simon Porter was a player Barry Trevaskis, our coach had targeted pre-season in his bid to build a new Launceston side around a strong backbone at 8, 9 and 10. Previously he had played all his rugby in New Zealand. In the 2002-2003 season he played for North Otago in NPC 3 and broke the record in this league for most points scored in a season as his team got promoted. Another NPC 2 team, Counties Manukau then signed Simon paying a considerable signing on fee in the process. They eventually lost in the semi-finals of NPC 2 competition in October 2003. This was why Simon wasn't able to start the league season for Launceston. Simon has considerable experience playing against international opposition having played against Italy for Counties Manukau in a 26-18 loss on their tour of NZ in June 2003. In that match Simon scored 13 points including a try. Simon has also played against Tonga for a New Zealand Divisional XV in a 10:10 draw in June 2003. Simon is a trained legal professional who has settled into a local job and has been joined by his girlfriend Hannah a physiotherapist in the UK. Simon came to Launceston under the expectation that we would be aiming at promotion for the season and with the promise that he would be near the top of the points scoring table by the end of the season. Hopefully, we will achieve both aims. National Three South may well have been a step down in terms of the level of rugby that Simon had previously been playing, but it was a unique opportunity to sample English rugby at a special club at a time when English rugby is attracting unheralded interest. Everyone seems to have benefitted in the process.
KICKER of the MONTH
Simon Porter – Launceston
Double winner this month as Launceston fly half Simon Porter picks up the Kicker of the month to go with his Player of the Month title for February for top of the table Launceston.
He started the month slotting over 10 out of 12 conversions as Launceston thrashed Old Colfeians 80-25 and by the end of the month had an impressive 83.33% strike rate with 25 of his 30 kicks finding the target. |
