West Country Wills Match Preview Round 24 Redruth vs Taunton Titans

There are just three games to go in the National League Two West season and Titans head South to Cornwall for their final away fixture of the campaign. In their last fixture the men from Somerset’s county town survived a scare to hold off the challenge of relegation-threatened Macclesfield. Seemingly safely ahead for most of the game courtesy of tries from Connor Banks, Reece Malone, Charlie Wright and a sensational solo effort from Louie Sinclair, Titans allowed a flurry of late scores to bring the Cheshire side back within breathing distance. A Henry Webb try seemed to make the game safe but, even then, Macclesfield scored a late try themselves to leave with a losing bonus point as well as a four-try bonus.

Despite the close final score, 38-33, five points from the encounter solidifies third spot on the table for Taunton, five points ahead of fourth-placed Cinderford and twenty behind Clifton in second. Wins for leaders Camborne and chasers Clifton removed any mathematical chance of Titans gaining promotion, leaving it to a two-horse race for the final trio of games with just the one league point separating the Cornishmen from the Bristolians. They face one another at Clifton this Saturday in a potential winner-takes-all clash. Meanwhile Titans head in the opposite direction, down to the Duchy to play Redruth who sit in seventh place.

Established, like Taunton RFC in 1875, Redruth climbed to National One level with promotion in 2009 but their stay in the third tier of English rugby lasted just two seasons and since then they have been resident in National Two. Playing in all red, they are legendary for being one of the best supported clubs and they regularly top the attendance tables for this division at their home, the Recreation Ground. There aren’t too many clubs who can claim to have produced a Rugby World Cup winner but Redruth was where 2003 England tighthead prop Phil Vickery learned his craft.

The Director of Rugby at Redruth is Nigel Hambly and their Head Coach is Richard Kevern. Amongst their first team squad are some familiar names; hooker Tom Cowan-Dickie has Premiership experience with Leicester Tigers and Exeter Chiefs and is the brother of British and Irish Lions forward Luke. Fellow hooker, Matthew Pritchard, leads their try-scoring statistics with nine so far this season and fly-half Dean Wills is their leading points scorer on 133, a long way adrift of Louie Sinclair whose 198 is second in the division only behind Camborne’s Kyle Moyle.

Redruth’s visit to Hyde Park in December coincided with Storm Darragh and, much to the surprise of many, the game went ahead when plenty of fixtures around the region were postponed. Titans could only manage a 10-10 all draw, with Oscar Kolowski and Will Vaughan scoring the tries for Taunton. Tony Yapp and his coaches might rue that result as the moment where the momentum to stay on Camborne’s heels in the promotion hunt fell away.

Taunton Warriors have their final match of the season, a home game against Old Bristolians at Veritas Park.

Entrance at Redruth to The Recreation Ground on Lower Cardrew Lane in Redruth (TR15 1SY) is £12 for visiting fans with a further £3 to upgrade to a grandstand seat. Those who book a pre-match two-course meal are entitled to entry to the ground on a combined food-and-footy £25 ticket. Parking is an additional £2. Contact Theresa on 07919 141950 for information about pre-match lunch options. Kick-off is at 3.00pm.

Taunton resident and rugby lover, Richard Kitzinger writes content for Taunton RFC’s club website and match-day programmes. His day job is writing Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney - he can be found at www.westcountrywills.co.uk or reached on 07504 991893.

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