May 6th, 2008
DEVON will be looking for an improved performance in the Bill Beaumont Cup on Saturday against Middlesex at Staines RFC, kick off 3pm, after suffering a scare in the opening weekend of action.
The reigning cup champions edged a 19-13 victory against Somerset on Saturday and by their own admission they were fortunate to get the win against the newly promoted South West side.
Team Manager Roy Henderson said: "The game was even closer than the score line suggests and to be fair to Somerset they were the better side on the day. The difference was we finished off our chances better and that is why we scored three tries. Certainly we have got to go to Middlesex with a much better performance on Saturday."
Devon certainly will as Middlesex pushed Gloucestershire to a narrow 18-22 victory at the weekend and Devon coaches Graham Dawe and John Roberts will be fully aware of the challenge they pose.
Henderson added: "The result of the opening weekend of cup games shows that any team is capable of winning the Bill Beaumont Cup this year and that’s why we know we have got to play better.
"We have got two more training sessions this week and there is work to do. Our experienced front row got a hard time against Somerset while they also got a lot of loose ball from us so we need to be a lot tighter. We will be making some changes this week, though they will not be announced until Friday."
SOMERSET meanwhile will be looking to earn their first win of the Bill Beaumont Cup on Saturday when they take on local rivals Gloucestershire at Lydney RFC, kick-off 4pm.
Somerset will go into the South West clash full of confidence after their near win against reigning champions Devon last weekend, which saw them narrowly lose 19-13.
Coach Clive Book said: "We were very disappointed after losing to Devon when we knew on the day we were the better team. They scored three tries, two of which were very soft and unfortunately we let them get away with it. It was a harsh lesson to learn as a near win doesn’t give us any points, but now we have got to look forward to the next game."
For Gloucestershire they’ll be looking to keep a clean sheet after an 18-22 victory against Middlesex in the curtain raiser game. Home advantage at Lydney RFC will of course be a massive advantage for the Gloucestershire men as Book acknowledges.
He added: "This is going to be another very tough fixture. There is not a lot to choose between Gloucestershire and Devon, so we are expecting more of the same. We will go into the game reasonably confident but we know it is going to be a very close game in a very tough environment.
"The draw hasn’t been favourable to us this year, but we have to get on with it and hopefully this time around we can come away with the right result."
In the County Championship Shield CORNWALL will be looking to maintain their clean sheet after an impressive 66-8 win over Oxfordshire at the weekend.
Cornwall Head Coach Dave ‘Benji’ Thomas said: "We made a good start against Oxfordshire and we are pleased. It wasn’t a perfect performance and we will be looking for an improvement throughout the rest of the campaign.
"To be honest, we weren’t expecting that kind of result. Last year we drew against them so we thought Oxfordshire would be strong again, especially as they are drawing most of their players from Chinnor RFC, who won South West 1 league this season. But they didn’t provide as many problems as we thought and we gelled together well.
Cornwall, who were relegated into the Shield last season, are looking to bounce back from a disappointing term in 2007 which saw the former County Championship greats win only one game. They have a new coaching team in place this season with Thomas, Richard Lamb, Ian Morgan and Alan Paver leading the side. Thomas famously led Cornwall to County Championship glory in 1991.
Thomas added: "I think the biggest thing that we have changed from the last couple of seasons is that I have been able to bring in some high quality coaches to do specific work with the players and this has had a huge impact. The players have also recognised this and that in turn has meant that the players really want to play for their county again. In fact, we are going to have some more players available to us this weekend so I am looking forward to having a selection head ache."
This Saturday the former Cup champions face Hertfordshire at Hertford RFC, kick-off 3pm, a side that lost 33-23 in their championship opening game against Eastern Counties.
Thomas added: "I’m surprised that Hertfordshire lost. We played them a couple of years ago and lost even though we had a very strong Cornish team. We know they have got some very dangerous players from London 1 who I think could make an impact on Saturday. We are also away from home so won’t have the vocal Cornish support behind us so much, so we know we are in for a tough game."
OXFORDSHIRE are also in County Championship Shield action this Saturday against Eastern Counties, kick-off 3pm at Chinnor RFC.
John Brodley’s side will be keen to put behind them their 66-8 defeat to Cornwall with a win at home this weekend.
The Oxfordshire outfit are largely selected from Chinnor RFC, including skipper Matt Hutchings who led Chinnor to the South West 1 title this season so Brodley will be hoping home advantage matters.
He said: "We have got some tough games this season but we are especially looking forward to playing at home. Playing at Chinnor will make a difference, especially with the home crowd behind us."
In the County Championship Plate BUCKINGHAMSHIRE will be awarded a walk over against DORSET & WILTS this weekend after the Twin Counties cancelled their two remaining fixtures in the competition, citing a lack of available players and therefore they are unable to raise a team.
Note: The County Championship
The County Championship is a three-tier competition entered by 27 of the RFU's Constituent Bodies (CBs).
Eight teams are split into two pools in the Bill Beaumont Cup and County Championship Shield, while two pools of four and one of three produce the semi-finalists in the County Championship Plate.
Devon beat Lancashire 27-6 in last year’s Bill Beaumont Cup final, Warwickshire defeated Somerset 22-8 in the Shield final, and Durham beat Sussex 30-20 in the Plate.
Each year the Shield and Plate finalists are promoted to the next tier of the competition and the two sides with the worst records relegated from Cup and Shield respectively.
The competition continues to develop stars of the future, too. England's Shaun Perry (North Midlands) and David Strettle (Cheshire), have both appeared in the championship and for the England Counties side in the last five years.
County Championship fixtures & Results
April 26
County Championship Plate Pool 2:
Buckinghamshire v Sussex 24-39,
Dorset & Wilts v Hampshire 0-55
Pool 3: Berkshire v East Midlands 0-66
May 3
Bill Beaumont Cup,
South: Devon 19 Somerset 13, Middlesex 18 Gloucestershire 22
County Championship Shield. South: Cornwall 66 Oxfordshire 8
(Redruth)
County Championship Plate. pool 2: Hampshire 54 Buckinghamshire 0 (Basingstoke), Sussex WO Dorset & Wilts . Pool 3: Kent 45 Berkshire 14 (Westcombe Park).
May 10
Bill Beaumont Cup, North: Cheshire v Lancashire (New Brighton),
Warwickshire v Yorkshire (Coventry). South: Gloucestershire v Somerset
(Lydney), Middlesex v Devon (Staines).
County Championship Shield, North: North Midlands v Cumbria
(Stourbridge), Northumberland v Durham (Alnwick). South: Hertfordshire v
Cornwall (Hertford), Oxfordshire v Eastern Counties (Chinnor).
County Championship Plate, Pool 1: Staffordshire v Notts, Lincs & Derbys
(Stafford), Leicestershire v Essex (Syston). Pool 2: Buckinghamshire v
Dorset & Wilts (Buckingham), Sussex v Hampshire (Horsham). Pool 3: East
Midlands v Kent (Bedford Athletic).
May 17
Bill Beaumont Cup, North: Warwickshire v Cheshire (Coventry), Yorkshire
v Lancashire (Harrogate). South: Devon v Gloucestershire (Plymouth
Albion), Somerset v Middlesex (Taunton).
County Championship Shield, North: Durham v Cumbria (Darlington),
Northumberland v North Midlands (Tynedale). South: Cornwall v Eastern
Counties (Camborne), Hertfordshire v Oxfordshire (Old Albanian).
County Championship Plate: Semi-finals.
May 24
County Championship Plate final (venue TBC).
June 1
Bill Beaumont Cup final and County Championship Shield final
(Twickenham).
ends
