Sat 14 Feb 2026
Well, this was going to be a tough day for the senior men, due to the number of players out with injury or not available due to work and other commitments... perhaps including the fact it was Saint Valentine's Day...?! In addition, both our team were on the road, and both travelling to the Club the furthest from home. A double-whammy...
But the coaching staff did their best to form two squads and so it was that an intrepid band of brothers set off from the Clubhouse for a near 5-hour journey, swapping Saint Valentine for Saint Austell RFC. Whilst as many Nomads as could be mustered self-drove to Sherborne RFC, where the hosts had kindly agreed to play the fixture as a friendly - many thanks to them.
The St Austell club and its membership were mourning the loss of one of their stalwarts, Stuart Widger, who had passed away in the week. An appropriate minute's silence was held before kick-off. But then it was down to business...
The Saints must have harnessed the raw emotions swirling around their smart red-and-white ground, and they put us under pressure from the off, scoring after just four minutes albeit pushed right into the corner. Their kicker was accurate even from the touchline, his kick making it 7-0 inside five minutes... and that smarts!
Simply put, the men of Marlborough were out-muscled up front and, although they put in a determined performance and remained steadfast throughout, the bulk and power of the St Austell pack gave them a significant advantage over our more junior and lighter-weight group of forwards. It meant that they could exploit opportunities, and go through phases better than we could, since we seemed always to be on the back foot and scrambling back in defence... Our defence could do little against the Saints' forwards when they mauled or attacked from close range. Two more scores in the first quarter saw us looking at a 21-0 deficit after twenty minutes. Not great...
But then we had a sustained period of much better play, in which we attacked and defended more coherently. We communicated better and we definitely dug deep. In fact, we held the Saints right up until half-time, when they set up another powerful driving maul from a lineout inside our 22-metre line. Their power was too much and so we went to the (much-needed!) break at 28-0...
The coaches and the team captain, Chris Diamond, did their best to steady the nerves and keep morale high in the short break. There had been moments of really good rugby in the first half - we just needed to stay focussed, make those first-up tackles, and keep the ball alive.
Saints scored early - rubbing salt into the wounds! 35-0
And they scored again about five minutes after that. 42-0 and their kicker was super-accurate...
And then we found a way through! Our hard work paid off and we managed to string some phases together, resulting in our young hooker, Jacob Te Rangi, dashing the final ten metres or so to touch down for his first try for the Club! It was a well-worked and neatly delivered bit of action... such a shame we hadn't had more of the same! Fly-half and kicker, George Shakespeare, couldn't add the extras - unusual for him. But it had shown what we are capable of.
The Saints seemed to be re-ignited by our audacity... and in the last quarter (with our bench empty) scored a further three converted tries so that the scoreboard at Tregorrick Park showed an eye-watering 63-5 final tally... A bad loss, but not a St Valentine's Day massacre by any stretch. We had travelled far and with a squad that is youthfull and relatively inexperienced. Some of the boys are firm Nomads players and had to step up to this level at short notice - great kudos to them for doing so. In a kind gesture - and one full of genuine respect - the home crowd clapped our boys off and back into the changing rooms in a sort of ovation that was well-received. Nice touch from a great club.
A gallery of photos from the St Austell RFC FaceBook page is here.
In terms of a quick analysis, the Chairman observes:
"Our front row of Bradley Whatley, Jacob Te Rangi, and Nic Boynton (the latter two are 19 years old) held up much better than could have been excpected - credit to these young players. Our second rows, Ryan Nabuni and Mesake Tavoka, did their level best to provide decent platforms and until both had to go off injured, our flankers, James Harden and Diamond, were effective at the breakdown and working well together. Their injury replacements included the venerable Adam Whatley - what a career he's had! But it was our Number 8, Kevini Tuaimei’api, who was the stand-out player on our side. He is a hard-working, powerful, and determined young man who has great spatial awareness and good handling skills. But his efforts were not delivering any decisive advantage for us and even our prodigiously fast backs, including Akariva Servatu and Max Khawaja, were unable to break through and show their pace. Fly-half and kicker, George Shakespeare came off injured; winger and full-back swapped position, with Vili Vunipola going in at scrum-half (vice Rustee Kalouniviti, who would have to come back on again!) and with Shane Van Wyk dropping back into the full-back position - a challenging thing to have to do in the face of the Saints power... The coaches identified young Ali Edington (who came off the bench to play a first significant period for the 1st XV) as their player of the match - quite the accolade, but merited for his commitment and determination in the face of adversity.
"Well done to all - nobody gave up and nobody gave in. I can't ask for much more than that."
Below: the minute's silence before kick-off
Bottom: the 1st XV team manager, Steve Robins, and a new Cornish friend!
