Launceston RUFC

For the Australian club, see Launceston Rugby Union Football Club.
Cornish All Blacks
Full name Launceston Rugby Club
Union RFU
Nickname(s) Cornish All Blacks
Founded 1948 (1948)
Region Cornwall Rugby Football Union
Ground(s) Polson Bridge, Launceston (Capacity: 6,000)
Coach(es) Jimmy Tucker
League(s) National League 2 South
2014–15 10th
Polson Bridge, home of Launceston Rugby Club

Launceston Rugby Club (also known as the Cornish All Blacks) are a Cornish rugby club who play in National League 2 South, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system.

History

The club was founded in 1948 after an inaugural meeting chaired by the then Headmaster of Launceston College, Mr Spencer Toy with Gordon Reeve, Eric Smith and Arthur Venning (who is still a member). By Spring 1949, the club had its own ground, rented from the council (now a factory site of its main sponsor DS Smith Plc), with scaffolding poles for goal posts and ex-army huts for changing rooms and a clubhouse. The club moved to another site when the Town Council sold the land, but again moved on in 1969 when the club had the vision to refuse becoming part of the proposed Sports Centre. The ground at Polson Bridge was purchased in 1969, with developments such as floodlights, enlarged clubhouse, present changing rooms and finally the grandstand being added over the years.

In 1981 they then went on to win the Cornwall County Cup for the first of many since wins and started their remarkable climb to be one of the top 40 sides in England (from a town with a population of just over 7,000). LRFC gained promotion to National League Division 3 South (level 4) in 2000 and were runners up in their first season, losing in the play-off away to National 3 North side Sedgley Park. The following season, 2001–02, LRFC were 2nd again, but this time won the play-off against Dudley Kingswinford, and were promoted to Division Two (level 3). They were unfortunate to be relegated after a most unusual series of results on the last day of the season. However, in 2003–04 Launceston bounced right back by again finishing runners up but winning the play-off away to Halifax. LRFC finished in 5th position in National League Division 2 (level 3) in 2004–05 but by the end of the 2006–07 season they had been promoted to English National Division 1 (level 2). On 26 April 2008, the Cornish All Blacks suffered a final day relegation to Division 2 (level 3) as an unexpected sequence of final day results saw relegation threatened Birmingham & Solihull and Sedgley Park pull off dramatic wins against Bedford and Rotherham respectively. The Cornish All Blacks were relegated when they had actually won more games than either of their two rivals. In truth the damage had been done earlier in the season when losses against Newbury (away), Nottingham (away), Sedgley Park (away), Birmingham & Solihull (away), Esher (home) came back to haunt the coaching staff and players.

Club honours

Current standings

2015–16 National League 2 South Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference Try Bonus Losing Bonus Points
1 Cambridge 21 18 1 2 664 368 296 18 0 92
2 Old Albanian 21 16 1 4 646 344 302 16 3 85
3 Bishop's Stortford 22 15 1 6 607 348 259 14 5 81
4 Taunton Titans 20 16 0 4 625 384 241 13 2 79
5 Redruth 20 14 0 6 463 373 90 9 4 69
6 Old Elthamians 22 12 2 8 493 496 -3 5 3 60
7 Barnes 22 9 3 10 509 542 -33 11 3 56
8 Clifton 21 9 1 11 556 509 47 9 4 51
9 Worthing Raiders 22 9 1 12 476 494 -18 6 4 48
10 Redingensians Rams 22 8 0 14 479 550 -71 7 5 44
11 Bury St Edmunds 22 8 0 14 457 554 -97 6 6 44
12 Dorking 21 8 0 13 402 535 -133 5 6 43
12 Canterbury 21 8 0 13 446 600 -154 6 4 42
14 Chinnor 22 7 0 15 496 599 -103 7 7 42
15 Southend Saxons 21 6 3 12 411 572 -161 5 2 37
16 Launceston 20 0 1 19 230 692 -462 2 5 9
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background is the promotion place. Blue background is the play-off place. Pink background are relegation places.
Updated: 13 February 2016
Source: "National League 2 South". NCA Rugby. 

    See also

    References

    External links

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