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| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | Cornwall |
| Abbreviation | CRFU |
| Founded | 1884; 141 years ago (1884) |
| Affiliation | RFU |
| Headquarters | Cornwall |
| President | John Sumnall[1] |
| Chairman | David Saunter[1] |
| Coach | Graham Dawe[1] |
| Sponsor | O'Neills |
| Official website | |
| www | |
 | |
Rugby union in Cornwall isCornwall's most popular spectator sport with a large following[citation needed]. The followers of the national side are dubbed Trelawny's Army. In 1991 and 1999 Cornwall won theCounty Championship final played atTwickenham Stadium, beatingYorkshire andGloucestershire respectively to win the Cup. They had another strong spell in the 2010s, reaching seven of the eight finals contested between 2013 and 2022 (meeting eitherCheshire orLancashire on every occasion), winning four of them.
Cornish rugby has produced many fine players who have played at the international level, includingPhil Vickery,Trevor Woodman andGraham Dawe (England),Stack Stevens (England andBritish and Irish Lions), Andy Reed (Scotland and the Lions), and many others.
The Cornish rugby team can also boast anOlympic silver medal: in 1908, they won the County Championship for the first time and the prize was to represent Great Britain atrugby in the1908 Olympic Games. They lost toAustralia 32–3 in the final, and remain the only county side to represent Great Britain atrugby in the Olympics.
TheCornwall Rugby Football Union (CRFU) was formed on 15 October 1884 at a meeting held at the Royal Hotel in Truro.[2] The meeting was attended by representatives from clubs at Redruth, Falmouth, Penzance, Truro, Hayle & Tregony. It is a union of 37 rugby union clubs which includes most rugby union clubs inCornwall[3] (St Columba and Torpoint RFC is a member of theDevon Rugby Football Union), the open-age Cornwall representative side and representative teams at various age groups. The CRFU are members of theRugby Football Union (RFU), the governing body for rugby union in England. The CRFU organises three annual knockout cup competitions – theCornwall Super Cup,Cornwall Cup andCornwall Clubs Cup, with the Cornwall Cup stretching back to 1967. The Cornwall Super Cup is played between theLaunceston andRedruth (doubling up asNational League 2 South league games between the sides), the Cornwall Cup is for teams based between tiers 6 and 12 in theEnglish league system and finally the Cornwall Clubs Cup is for teams in the regional Cornish leagues. The Cornwall Cup used to be the premier competition with the top sides such as theCornish Pirates, Launceston,Mounts Bay and Redruth taking part but has been superseded in recent years by the Super Cup, itself downsized to just the two teams due to the demands of the modern game both in terms of fixture congestion and the increased physical toll on players. All cups are currently sponsored byTribute Ales.
The Cornish rugby tradition has deep roots, stretching back before the game was even codified. A form of folk football, known asCornish hurling was highly popular there, and is still played in two towns in Cornwall. It is possible that the former popularity of this game paved the way for the rugby code. Cornwall's original colours were yellow and red hoops on black jerseys. these were soon changed to yellow and black squares. During the 1894-5 seasons the side played in white jerseys, finally adopting the current black and gold hoops in the 1895-6 season.[4]
Cornish Rugby has had the honour to have played host to many international touring rugby teams over the years includingNew Zealand,Australia,South Africa,New Zealand Māori,France,Romania, theUSA,Canada,Japan and the Soviet Union.
One of the most important times of the year in a Cornish rugby fan's calendar is the County Championship. Like the 1900 games, three teams entered:Australasia (representingAustralia andNew Zealand),France, andGreat Britain (which included the whole of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). France pulled themselves from the event prior to the commencement of the tournament, being unable to field a representative team. Cornwall won the championship for the first time in 1908, when they played in front of 17,000 fans atRedruth. The game was against Durham, also known for its mining, this time coal not tin. Cornwall won the game 17–3, scoring 5 tries. The added incentive for the winner was the chance to representGreat Britain at the1908 Summer Olympics. The choice of Cornwall was controversial, as only three of their players had ever representedEngland, as well as the fact that Australia, who had been on a tour of the United Kingdom, had defeated them 18 points to five.[5]
Two other countries entered the1908 Summer Olympics,France andAustralasia, the name of a combined team from Australia and New Zealand. France withdrew before the tournament which left Great Britain (Cornwall) playing Australasia. The final score was 32–3 to Australasia withBert Solomon managing to score a try for Great Britain.
Australasia's team, theWallabies, was already on tour in Britain, while the best Anglo-Welsh players were on tour in New Zealand at the time.[6] Great Britain was therefore represented by the Cornwall county team, who were chosen by the RFU as an appropriate side after they defeatedDurham in the 1907 English county championship.
As expected, Australasia defeated Great Britain, claiming the gold medal, the score being 32 points to three. The match at the White City Stadium was played under poor conditions, infog and with a slippery field.[7][8]
Cornwall reached the Championship final again in 1909, 1928, 1958, 1969 and 1989 but had to wait until 1991 before re-claiming the trophy. In a final that most Cornish fans will remember forever, Cornwall playedYorkshire at Twickenham in front of 54,000 fans, the majority of which were supporting Cornwall. In a game that had everything, Cornwall found themselves trailing at 16-3 down after 54 minutes, having been tricked when Yorkshire ran a penalty that the Cornish believed they had indicated to kick. Cornwall fought back to draw level at 16-16 after 80 minutes, and even missed the conversion that would have given them victory in normal time. The game then went into extra time when Cornwall managed to continue their scoring. The final score was 29–20 to Cornwall which sent the fans into a state of total elation.Richard Nanckivell's two tries were the inspiration that they could win and Tommy Bassett and Billy Peters put the icing on the cake in extra-time for Cornwall's first title since 1908.[9] Cornwall managed to reach the final again in both 1992 and 1998, losing both, and it was not until 1999 when they met Gloucester in the final that Cornwall managed to win the Championship again.
Cornwall play most of their home games atRedruth R.F.C. andCamborne RFC but matches have also been played atPenzance & Newlyn andLaunceston.
The premier club side in Cornwall are theCornish Pirates (recently renamed from Penzance & Newlyn RFC) who play in theRFU Championship. They are hoping to increase their fanbase by appealing toCornish nationalist sentiment to help them gain promotion to theAviva Premiership.Launceston Rugby Club ("The Cornish All Blacks") have recently (2007 season) been promoted to the National Division One.Redruth R.F.C. ("The Reds") play in National Division Two and also get good support.Mount's Bay have this season 2007–08 began their campaign in National Division Three, South, leading the league for the entire season they are at season end promoted to National Division Two for the 2008/09 season. The other major Cornish club sides who play in the South West 1, 2 West, Western Counties West and Cornwall & Devon leagues areBude,Camborne,Falmouth, Hayle, Newquay HornetsPenryn,St Austell,St. Ives, Saltash,Truro andWadebridge Camels.
Fethy Po Fyllel An Gwarry Ha Tra Nahen! (Cornish for "Win or Lose, The Game and Nothing Else" !)
As part of the centenary celebrations, theBritish Olympic Association arranged a match betweenAustralia and theBarbarians which was held atWembley Stadium on 3 December 2008. The Barbarian players, who normally wear their club socks, all wore black and gold socks to represent Cornwall, in a game which Australia won 11–8.[10]
(Cornwall players have also represented Cornwall & Devon and South-West Division teams)
As of 2022 Cornwall have won theBill Beaumont Cup (County Championship) seven times: 1908, 1991, 1999,2015,2016,2019, 2022.
| Year | Winner | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | Cornwall | Cornwall | 17–3 | Durham County | Recreation Ground,Redruth | |
| 1909 | Durham County | Durham County | 12–0 | Cornwall | West Hartlepool | |
| 1928 | Yorkshire | Yorkshire | 12–8 | Cornwall | Bradford | |
| 1958 | Warwickshire | Warwickshire | 16–8 | Cornwall | Coundon Road,Coventry | [11] |
| 1969 | Lancashire | Cornwall | 9–11 | Lancashire | Recreation Ground,Redruth |
Since 1984 the finals have been played atTwickenham:
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Durham County | 13–9 | Cornwall | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 1991 | Cornwall | 29–20 | Yorkshire | Twickenham Stadium | AET, 20–20 after 80 minutes.[12] |
| 1992 | Lancashire | 9–6 | Cornwall | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 1998 | Cheshire | 21–14 | Cornwall | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 1999 | Cornwall | 25–15 | Gloucestershire | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 2001 | Yorkshire | 47–19 | Cornwall | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 2013 | Lancashire | 35–26 | Cornwall | Twickenham Stadium | [13] |
| 2014 | Lancashire | 35–26 | Cornwall | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 2015 | Cornwall | 18–13 | Lancashire | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 2016 | Cornwall | 35–13 | Cheshire | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 2017 | Lancashire | 19–8 | Cornwall | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 2019 | Cornwall | 14–12 | Cheshire | Twickenham Stadium | |
| 2022 | Cornwall | 37-24 | Cheshire | Twickenham Stadium |
There are currently 37 clubs affiliated with the union, most of which have teams at both senior and junior level.[3]
The Cornwall RFU currently runs the following competitions for clubs inCornwall:
Cornish:Gonisogeth Kernow | |||||
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