Hartpury RFC vs Coventry (H) - Match Report - 36-31

Hartpury hold on to deny Coventry in ten-try thriller

By Olly Darcy and Luke Jarmyn, at the 4ED Hartpury Stadium

FOUR first-half tries to wrap up the try bonus-point by the half-hour mark helped Hartpury survive a nail bitingly fierce late Coventry comeback and earn a fourth win of the season.

It was a classic “game-of-two-halves”, with lock Dale Lemon, fullback Alex Morgan and scrum-half Oscar Lennon all crossing the whitewash to give the university’s side a 29-5 half-time lead before Coventry turned the Champ fixture on its head in the second half.

Winger Oliver Holliday grabbed Hartpury’s only try of the second half, and that vital score alongside fly-half Harry Bazalgette grabbing 11 points from the tee steered the red-kitted side towards all five points to move them up to seventh in the hotly contested tier two table.

With the 4ED Hartpury Stadium gleaming in the Autumn sun and just one point separating the two sides coming into round six of the 2025/26 Champ Rugby season, the packed crowd witnessed a tentative start from Hartpury, with the home-side giving away a couple of needless early penalties, allowin Coventry plenty of possession in the first ten minutes.

The all-black kitted away-side profited to score the opening try of the game when back-rower Senitiki Nayalo dotted down on the ten-minute mark after an impressive driving maul from five metres out.

Hartpury wrestled back control during the next phase of play, but multiple handling errors in the visitors 22-metre area squandered those opportunities and let the West Midlanders off the hook.

However, a botched lineout by Coventry on their own five-metre line fell into the hands of second-rower Dale Lemon, and the bolshy forward bounced off tackles to crash over the whitewash and give Hartpury their first points on the 18th minute.

Mark Cornwell’s men then broke the dam and the tries begun to flow for the Gloucestershire side.

Two minutes later Fullback Alex Morgan started it off by dotting down after some lovely handling between several backs and in particular the young Welsh wizard Oscar Lennon in the No.9 shirt.

Lennon then made the most of a charged-down kick from Holliday out on the flank to scamper through and giving his side a third try, before Morgan earned his second try after capitalising with a fine interception from his own 22-metre line to race away and give Hartpury the four-try bonus point on the half-hour mark.

Hartpury brought the first half to a close with a trademark Bazalgette penalty kick, the playmaker slotting three of four conversions to help give his side a 29-5 lead at the interval.

Coventry came out of the changing rooms with some renewed physicality and turned the game on its head after a disappointing first 40 minutes, with fly-half Thomas Mathews scoring the first try of the second-half after a fine line-break.

However, some more fantastic hands from the Hartpury backs saw them respond through Holliday on the left-hand touchline after 51 minutes, once again instigated by Lennon at the back of the breakdown, to make it 36-12.

Coventry had their own spree of tries to totally change the game and make the home fans very nervous. The fightback was started by Nayalo who added his second try and Coventry’s third just three minutes later with some huge carries from halfway and again to muscle over from five metres out.

The 57th minute saw Coventry earn their own try bonus point, with another impressive line break this time coming from replacement Allan Ferrie, the lock charged through from 30 metres out.

Hartpury back-rower Josh Gray was sin-binned for foul play on the hour-mark and Coventry capitalised with Irish winger Peter Sullivan scoring their fifth try just two minutes later. The ex-Jersey Reds flyer broke several tackles in the build-up as the away-side picked gaps in Hartpury’s 14-man defence and brought the score to 36-31 as Mathews scored his third from five conversions.

The final 15 minutes were a tense affair as both sides had possession inside each other’s 22-metre area, while Coventry suffered two yellow cards, firstly to captain Jordan Poole for bringing a Hartpury driving maul down to the ground illegally on the 67^th minute, and then replacement tighthead prop Matt Johnson was sin-binned for illegal work at another Hartpury driving maul.

Some stoic defence mixed with handling errors and infringements meant there was no more scores, and Hartpury held on to ensure they remain unbeaten at home this season.

Despite collecting two bonus points, Coventry’s defeat sees them slip to tenth in the 14-team table.

Hartpury’s next game sees them travel to the Richmond Athletic Ground in South West London for a Friday night clash against reigning National One champions Richmond (kick off 19:45).

Stats:

Teams:

Hartpury RFC: Alex Morgan, Bradley Denty, Robert Smith, Oliver Allsopp, Oliver Holliday, Harry Bazalgette, Oscar Lennon (Rhys Price 66’); Harrison Bellamy (Thomas Hill 66’), Will Crane (cc) (Ethan Hunt 53’), Jonathan Benz-Salomon (Oliver Minnis 60’), Dale Lemon, Jack Davies (cc), Josh Gray, Ellis Hart (Freddie Stevens 66’), Tom Worts (Jarrard Hayler 59’)

Replacements not used: George Dufty, Lewis Haydn

Sin-bin: Josh Gray 60’

Coventry RFC: Tomas Bacon, David Opoku-Fordjour (Morgan Adderly-Jones 55’), Dafydd-Rhys Tiueti (Ewan Baker 55’), Apisai Bavadra, Peter Sullivan, Thomas Mathews, Sam Maunder; Aristot Benz-Salomon (Toby Trinder 48’), Jordan Poole © (Mackenzie Graham 77’), Eliot Salt (Matt Johnson 48’), Jack Shine (Allan Ferrie 48’), Senitiki Nayalo, Mackenzie Graham (Murray Davidson 67’), Tom Ball (Eliot Salt 78’), Morgan Strong

Replacements not used: Onisivoro Nayagi, Josh Barton

Sin-bin: Jordan Poole 67’, Matt Johnson 78’

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (RFU)

Attendance: 1,020

Half-time: 29 – 05 (to Hartpury RFC)

Star player: Oscar Lennon (Hartpury RFC)

Reaction:

Cornwell relieved as Hartpury “scrape over the line” vs Coventry in ten-try thriller

By Olly Darcy, at the 4ED Hartpury Stadium

HARTPURY RFC’s director of rugby Mark Cornwell admitted his side “hung on” and “scraped over the line” to beat Coventry 36-31 in their sixth Champ Rugby league fixture of the season.

Hartpury weathered an early ten-minute storm to take a commanding 29-5 lead at the end of the first half and earn a try bonus point before Coventry fought back with some mammoth hits and physical play to earn their own try bonus point.

But the Gloucestershire side scored a fifth try in the second-half and did just enough to hold onto the win and add five points to their 2025/26 season tally. Despite that, a reproachful Cornwell knows his side is capable of better performances

“Well, if the game finished at 40 minutes, I'd be happy,” said the former Gloucester lock.

“We were in complete control first half, I think we went in 29-5, and, of course, any coach would be happy with that.

“Then, I don't know what I said at halftime, but it didn't seem to work because Coventry came out, knew they had to throw the ball around to try and get something out of the game, and it went against us early on.

“We just lost a little bit of control there in the middle of the game, but managed to get it back towards the end and scraped over the line in the end.”

It was by no means a vintage performance from the red-kitted side, especially in the second 40, and there were certain aspects of the game that Cornwell will hope his side can clean up.

However, some clever kicking from scrum-half and Player of the Match Lennon allowed Hartpury to take control of the first half, which gave the Gloucestershire side just enough of a lead to hold onto when the full-time whistle went.

“We were rusty to start, we made a few errors, invited them into the game, obviously conceded the try, and then we found our structure and our system, and we controlled everything probably for the next 35 minutes,” continued the DoR.

“We worked on box-kicking this week because we've seen they were quite vulnerable to the high ball last week. I thought Oscar kicked really, really well, and that's how we controlled the first half.

“But then we started off kicking through 10 at the beginning of the second half. I don't know where that comes from, but it did cost us a little bit because it allowed them to counter.

There was some confidence taken from Cornwell and all connected with Hartpury after that win, after sealing five points when perhaps they were not at their best.

“We've got a proud home record, and it was a game, looking at form and performance, that we thought we could get over the line and win,” stated Cornwell.

“As I say, at the end of the first half, we were in total control; it just seemed to slip away, and things go wrong, and confidence grows in the opposition.

“Then, you end up hanging on, and my blood pressure's not good for that!”

Hartpury will travel down to London to face Richmond for a Friday night clash in the nation’s capital, and a six-day turnaround for his team will see Cornwell give his players a rest before another intense Champ Rugby match.

“I looked at the boys at the end of that game, and some of them were tired. We’ve played seven weeks in a row, continuously banging it out, and the championship level is tough,” Cornwell explained.

“I thought the boys, some are heavy on their feet, so we've decided that we'll give them a Monday off this week so they can rest up.

“We'll have a hard session on Tuesday and a hard session on Thursday, into a six-day turnaround for Richmond away next week. Again, if you don't get it right at Richmond, it can be a difficult game.”

Centurion Smith admits Hartpury were “lucky” to beat Coventry

Outside centre Robbie Smith admitted Hartpury were “lucky to win” but paid tribute to the “tight” nature of the squad as they held on to beat Coventry 36-31.

After a dominant first half saw them take a 29-5 lead at half-time, the game’s script flipped in the second 40 minutes, with Coventry finding their groove to bring themselves right back into the game through some impressive midfield channel play.

“We obviously got a good lead towards half-time, and then they started playing their expansive, off-field rugby through the middle,” said Smith, who celebrated passing the 100-cap milestone for Hartpury at the 4ED Hartpury Stadium this afternoon.

“We were on the back foot for most of the second half. In some ways, lucky to win, but it was some good grafting from the boys, and we got it in the end, luckily.

“I think before the game, we spoke about it not going to be a fancy game. It was just about kick-chasing, getting on the ball, getting through tackles, just more about hard work than all the fancy stuff. That's what we stuck to, and that's kind of what got us through the game, to be honest.”

Coventry came back into the game with some impressive offloading and line-breaks through the midfield channels, pulling back the scoreline from 29-5 to 36-31.

But thanks to the work done by Smith and his centre partner, Oliver Allsopp, especially with handling some loose balls, it guided Hartpury through a tricky second 40 and saw them survive the late scare.

“We call it crumbs at Hartpury, actually. It's all about getting on the loose ball, and that's kind of what we went after, a bit of dog. We obviously had two big blokes in the centre to try and lock down.

“That was our focus, to be honest, throughout the whole week, just stopping that offload game, getting two men in the tackle, targeting the ball and trying to stop that.

“Obviously, they got a bit of luck in the second half, most of the way through the second half, but that's exactly what we went after, to be honest. A tough day, but a good day.”

After the game, Smith celebrated his fantastic milestone with a victory, and Director of Rugby Mark Cornwell took over the stadium’s PA to celebrate Smith making his 101st appearance for the red-kitted side.

“It's been a long time coming, to be fair. I've been here, maybe, ten years, with a few little gaps, and I’m absolutely loving it,” the centre explained after reaching the milestone.

“I think it’s been a struggle for Mark [Cornwell] to get me to turn up in the mornings, mainly! But you can't really beat it, and to have my son and my girlfriend there, it's great, really.”

“We've got a few players now, a lot of boys playing a lot of games now. So by the end of this year, we should have about five or six now on 100 games. It's just a good sign, really, that boys are staying in here and sticking with it. That's why we're so tight, really.”