Having narrowly lost their ‘Champ’ rugby opener at home to Hartpury the previous weekend, the Cornish Pirates were looking for improvements away to Ampthill on Saturday.
Well, there were improvements, but ultimately not enough to overcome a determined Ampthill side coached by Dave Ward, a former Pirates and Harlequins player.
Changes in the Pirates’ starting XV for their visit to the home team’s Dillingham Park ground saw Ben Cambriani selected on the wing, with Harry Yates moving to centre in place of Joe Elderkin, who was shown a 20-minute red card against Hartpury.
For this match, Matt Cannon partnered Josh King in the second row, with his ‘6’ shirt worn by Rory Suttor, who was making his first league start.
On the bench, Milo Hallam, who started at lock against Hartpury, filled a gap left by Suttor, and prop James French took the place of Ollie Andrews.
In perfect conditions, the Pirates were quick to show an example of their scrum dominance witnessed seven days earlier and, when awarded a penalty, skipper Alex Everett opted to call up fly-half Arwel Robson to kick to the corner.
Hooker Morgan Nelson was quick to find the hands of lock Josh King, and the first try of the game was quickly scored by scrum half Dan Hiscocks.
Robson struck his conversion well from out wide to add the extra two points.
Ampthill did not take long to respond, with gifted full-back Josh Barton gathering the ball and setting off on a counter that was supported by try-scorer Noah Caluori, a teenage sensation who only recently opened his account on league debut for Saracens against Newcastle Red Bulls.
Fly-half Lewis Grimoldby stepped forward and landed the conversion to level matters.
The Cornish Pirates, however, would soon regain the lead when alertness and a predator’s instinct shown by wing Arthur Relton saw him intercept and run 45 metres for the team’s second converted try.
Approaching the half-hour mark, a generally young Ampthill side would though level the scores again, when prop Harrison Courtney forced his way over the line for a converted try following Samoan lock Toto Auvaa’s run.
In the build-up to halftime, the Pirates dominated territory and possession and were unlucky not to score from a series of pick-and-gos.
Unlucky?
Yes, to a degree, but there was also credit due to their hosts, who defended extremely well.
So, it was 14-all at the break, and there was everything to play for.
Hiscocks kicked well out of hand for the Pirates, whilst for ‘The Mob’, to give Ampthill their nickname, Caluori remained a constant threat.
Aussie lock Aidan King proved a strong ball carrier for Ampthill, and when an overlap was created, their third converted try was scored by centre Oscar Wilson.
For the Pirates, Josh King was his usual industrious self, and gathering the ball three metres out, he proceeded to power over the line to enable Robson’s conversion to make it 21-all.
This was still a contest too close to call, but perhaps of no surprise, it was a second try from Caluori that proved a match-winner, as when the ball bounced, he turned, twisted and secured it to score an unconverted try.
With the scoreline reading 26-21, there was still ample time for the Pirates to sneak a victory, especially after Ampthill lost flanker Charles Rylands to the sin bin.
Unfortunately, even though the penalty count also suddenly mounted against the home side, it was not to be.
‘The Mob’ made it two wins from two following their 45-24 win away to Cambridge in their opener, whilst for the Pirates it was a frustrating second league loss.
Commenting at the end of the match, Cornish Pirates’ joint head coach Gavin Cattle said: “Firstly, I think we responded, especially in a physical sense from last week, but you could certainly see the influence on Saracens in Ampthill’s performance, and especially by their young winger Caluori who was outstanding and who I think we’ll hear a lot more of.
“One thing we’ll be regretting is the number of visits we made to their ‘22’ and not converting pressure into points.
“There were some clear opportunities that we just didn’t take, and that’s not taking anything away from Ampthill, who defended very well and were dogged to the very end in what was a big physical game.
“We will look at whether we can show more composure and patience when we have the ball, and it is a game we could have won, but the league can be very unforgiving sometimes, and ultimately, you have to convert your pressure into points, and we simply didn’t do that sufficiently well.”
Ampthill: 15 Josh Barton 14 Noah Caluori 13 Oscar Wilson 12 Fraser Strachan (captain) 11 Seva Kava 10 Louis Grimoldby 9 Efan Jones; 1 Harrison Courtney 2 Seb Smith 3 Callum Norrie 4 Totoa Auvaa 5 Aidan King 6 Barney Merrett 7 Charles Rylands 8 Tino Mapapalangi.
Replacements (all used): 16 Harrison Dakin, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Kennedy Sylvester, 20 Ollie Mullarkey, 21 Lekima Ravuvu, 22 Rory Morgan, 23 Matthew Salisbury.
Yellow card: 7 Charles Rylands.
Cornish Pirates: 15 Iwan Price-Thomas 14 Ben Cambriani 13 Chester Ribbons 12 Harry Yates 11 Arthur Relton 10 Arwel Robson 9 Dan Hiscocks; 1 Billy Young 2 Morgan Nelson 3 Alfie Petch 4 Matt Cannon 5 Josh King 6 Rory Suttor 7 Jack Forsythe 8 Alex Everett (captain).
Replacements (all used): 16 Sol Moody, 17 Alessandro Heaney, 18 James French, 19 Milo Hallam, 20 Tomiwa Agbongbon, 21 Will Rigelsford, 22 Louie Sinclair, 23 Matty Ward.
Scorers:
Ampthill – tries: 14 Noah Caluori (2), 1 Harrison Courtney, 13 Oscar Wilson; cons: 10 Lewis Grimoldby (3).
Cornish Pirates – tries: 9 Dan Hiscocks, 11 Arthur Relton, 5 Josh King; cons: 10 Arwel Robson (3).
Referee: Richard Gordon.