National Two South

Canterbury 49

Cornish All Blacks 10

The Marine Travel Ground, Canterbury

CORNISH All Blacks head coach Mike Lewis was philosophical after his side plunged to a secind heavy National Two South defeat at Canterbury.

“We always knew it was going to be a tough start to the season” he said after the All Blacks had shipped eight tries.

“But we are a young side and we have to learn the hard way.

“Although we were beaten we improved in several areas, both in attack and defence, and we will work on that week by week.”

He had a point as the Cornishmen created spells of real pressure, never let their heads drop, crucially, failed to turn hard-won territory into points.

They took an early lead through a Fraser Honey penalty but suffered an immediate blow when the fly-off was stretchered off with a knee injury after only ten minutes.

From that point Canterbury got a grip of the game which they never relaxed.

Two tries in three minutes, by winger Courtney Horey and scrum-half Dan Smart, both converted by Tom Best, hoisted the danger signals for the All Blacks, and full-back Martyn Beaumont inflicted more damage as he grabbed a third with a fine solo run.

A yellow card for Canterbury lock Royce Cadman then gave the visitors their chance and a great break by scrum-half Ollie Mulberry produced a try converted by Rhys Brownfield.

The Cornishmen then undid that good work by handing Best a penalty chance, which left them 12 points adrift at halfway but still in the contest.

Their hopes were shattered when Canterbury struck in the first minute of the second half with a bonus point try for centre Will Farris, and the Kent side lost little time in turning the screw.

The action may have been stop-start, with the replacements’ benches on both sides being emptied and sin-binnings for the All Blacks duo Neil Stanleik and Ian Gardiner and Canterbury’s Mason Rosvall, but it was the home side who put away their chances clinically.

Tries for Sam Rogers, Dan Winchester and flanker Sean Nixon (2), plus a Best conversion, emphasised how much Mike Lewis’s side have to do in the coming weeks.