Cornish Pirates

Bedford Blues 19 Cornish Pirates 16

Website match report …

Bedfordshire on Sunday report and pics
www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk

Exeter Chiefs 42 Nottingham 12

The Chiefs ran in another five tries as they demolished a below-strength Nottingham side at Sandy Park on Saturday.

Three first half tries set the Chiefs on their way to a 28-0 interval lead, for the second successive game, before a brace of second-half touchdowns from Matt Jess secured the bonus point.

A Danny Gray penalty followed by the opening try from Foster had the Chiefs eight points clear with just five minutes on the clock. Clive Stuart-Smith and Andy Miller also crossed the Nottingham line inside the first half hour with Gray converting both scores and adding two penalties for good measure.

Jess scored his first in the 48th minute before Greig Tonks finally got the Green and Whites on the scoreboard with a try six minutes later. A second Jess try, again converted by Gray, took the Chiefs to a 37-point lead before Tim Streather grabbed a late consolation which Tonks converted.

Rob Baxter’s reaction www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk

London Welsh 51 Coventry 13

As the Exiles board told the media that they still need half a million pounds by the end of February to ensure their survival, the team put themselves firmly in the shop window with a seven-try battering of sorry Coventry.

The Midlanders took a surprise lead with an early try from wing Simon Frewin and extended their advantage to eight points when Apikotoa was on target with a penalty minutes later.

But the Welsh machine finally shook itself awake and a couple of tries from wing Dominic Shabbo and a penalty try left the home side comfortably ahead by 19-8 at the interval.

An interception score from centre Charlie Gower two minutes in to the second half kept the Welsh firmly on the front foot with further tries from Corker, Sampson and Claasens following at regular intervals.

Romain Plantey grabbed a late second score for Coventry.

Report www.coventrytelegraph.net

Dave Addleton blasts Cov`s display www.coventrytelegraph.net

Rotherham Titans 7 Moseley 19

Moseley took a massive stride towards securing their place in the top eight as Rotherham’s relegation woes intensified with a poor display at Clifton Lane.

Poor defending resulted in two soft tries for the visitors from wings Nathan Bressington and Justin Mensah-Coker before half-time. A converted try from Jon Feeley gave the home crowd a glimmer of hope but the momentum was lost as Jonny West missed a brace of kickable penalties.

To make matters even worse for the Titans, Tristan Roberts finally found his kicking range in the second half slotting three penalties for Moseley and thus denying the Titans even a losing bonus point.

Sheffield Star report www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyunion

Bristol 24 Plymouth Albion 14

Bristol stay top of the Championship after a lacklustre performance against a dogged Plymouth Albion outfit at the Memorial Ground yesterday.

The Devon side were ahead inside a minute as Luke Arscott was penalised for holding on in the tackle and Kieran Hallett fired Albion ahead.

But Bristol’s pack roared back and swiftly claimed the lead for themselves. A solid platform allowed Tom Arscott to feed Sam Giddens for the opening try and Adrian Jarvis added the conversion.

The home pack were held up over the Albion line on three occasions before, with frustrations mounting, Hallett set up Ben Mercer for a fine breakaway try for Albion just before the break.

The lead however was again to prove short-lived as Lee Robinson raced down the right wing in stoppage time to dot down in the corner for a 12-8 lead.

Hallett`s early second half penalty cut the deficit to a single point before Luke Eves added Bristol’s third try after 47 minutes. Hallett then struck again with another penalty before Junior Fatialofa snatched the bonus point with a fourth touchdown three minutes from time.

Albion had chances to claim a losing bonus point after that but both Hallett and Lee were wide of the target with penalties.

Match report and reaction www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk

Bristol verdict www.thisisbristol.co.uk/bristolrugby

Birmingham & Solihull v Doncaster Knights

Match postponed – frozen pitch.

Knights propose double-header with Bees to ease fixture congestion www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyunion