Cornwall run in 11 tries to beat Kent

Will Hennessey was among Cornwall's try-scorers against Kent [Shutterstock] Cornwall ran in 11 tries as they thrashed Kent 73-14 in the first leg of their County Championship semi-final. Almost 3,500 fans at Camborne saw a comprehensive win, which makes the Black and Gold huge favourites to return to the Bill Beaumont Cup final at Twickenham for the first time since 2022. Cornwall will travel to Kent next week for the second leg knowing they have a 59-point buffer with the winners on aggregate facing Lancashire in next month's final.

"I'm very pleased with the performance as a whole," head coach Graham Dawe told BBC Radio Cornwall. "It was a great scoreline to finish up with and it's more than we ever asked for. "The scrum and the maul and the ruthlessness of our midfield created scores for the back three.

"They just conjured up clear-cut chances time and time again and we finished. "We didn't finish probably four or five, which is frustrating, but that's rugby for you, it doesn't always go your way and, sometimes you hold it and show and it gets tackled, sometimes you make the pass and it goes on the floor, so that's life. " Cornwall captain Matavesi comes 'full circle' Bodilly fulfilling ambition to play for Cornwall Dawe saddened as Cornwall's Twickenham hopes end CJ Boyce, Matt Shepherd and Alex Ducker each scored two tries for Cornwall, while Josh Matavesi, Sam Matavesi, Kai Beasley, Tom Cowan-Dickie and Will Hennessey also scored tries as Kyle Moyle landed nine conversions.

But Dawe says it is important that his side do not take their big lead for granted when they travel for the second leg next week. "You've got to focus on 0-0 and win the first scrum, win the first contact, win the first tackle and see what happens," he said. "I don't think any of those players want to sit back and defend 59 points.