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| Cornwall's role in the Olympics |
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Page 3 of 5 The vastly experienced Durham team included five internationals, but the Duchy didn’t seem fazed and quickly imposed themselves, although not before a potentially disastrous occurrence. Swept along by an avalanche of noise, Bert Solomon set off on a run down the touchline. The crowd surged forward to get a better look, railings in front gave way and a mass of people tumbled on top of the press corps sitting in front of them. After a short delay to sort out the melee, Solomon once again broke through, evaded the Durham backs and touched down. Using all their experience, Durham laid siege to the Cornish line but the Duchy held their nerve and their slender lead, then delivered the killer blow. With the visitors in full flow, Solomon intercepted a three quarter line move, drew the full back and slipped a perfectly timed pass inside to Bennetts who streaked away to score under the posts. Jackson converted and Cornwall were on their way. Cornwall’s forwards, as they had so many times before, started to wear their opponents down, allowing the three quarters freedom they took full advantage of. Solomon scored another of his wonder tries, Wedge made one for Davey then put Tregurtha over for a fifth. When the final whistle went at 17-3, Cornwall were the champions and the celebrations started. Cornwall’s team was: EJ Jackett, B Bennetts, B Solomon, F Dean, J Jose, TG Wedge, J Davey, JG Milton, AJ Wilson, F Jackson, R Jackett, AJ Thomas, R Davey, T Lawry and N Tregurtha.  The 1908 Olympic rugny medal obverse side. Picture courtesy of The Rugby World Museum, Twickenham. Three weeks before the Olympics, Australia, touring under the auspices of the New South Wales Rugby Union, arrived in Cornwall, as part of their inaugural tour of Britain. The Duchy, without Jacket, Davey and the powerhouse Jackson, who were all in Australasia with an Anglo-Welsh team, put up a lacklustre display to say the least. On a warm, sunny afternoon Cornwall kicked off against the wind and sun in front of 12,000 spectators. Disaster struck within two minutes when Bennetts turned his ankle so badly that he was a passenger for the rest of the match. After 20 minutes Australia got their first try and, by half time, were comfortably in control at 13-0. Contemporary reports say that the Australian forwards played splendidly in the first half while their backs were pretty poor but, after the break, the whole team settled down. Cornwall, especially the forwards, far from being down at half time, seemed rejuvenated but, for all their enthusiasm, couldn’t get enough superiority in the scrummages to give their backs decent possession. At 18-0 the Australians seemed content to keep the ball tight. Just before the end, Lawry broke through to score a consolation try that Solomon converted and, at 18-5, the scoreline was something of an indication of what was to come. |
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