Cornwall book Twickenham final by crushing Kent

Cornwall secured their first County Championship final at Twickenham in four years after crushing Kent 56-19 in the second leg of their semi-final.

Having beaten the three-time defending champions 73-14 at Camborne last week, the Black and Gold ensured an emphatic 129-33 aggregate win.

They will face Lancashire in the final next weekend as they aim for a first victory in the Championship since their most recent visit to Twickenham in 2022.

"We said the beginning of the week before it was going to be a two-legged affair and nothing less than high standards all the way through will get us there," head coach Graham Dawe told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"If we had got to the final today by losing, nobody wants to go to the final on the back of a loss, so I think they inspired themselves."

Having run in 11 tries last week, Cornwall this time scored eight against their hosts at Charlton Park in south east London as they triumphed by 96 points over the two legs.

Herbie Stupple led the way with a hat-trick while Dean Wills and Ben Priddey both scored twice.

Winger Alex Ducker completed the try scoring for Cornwall, who will look to claim their eighth county title when they meet Lancashire for the Bill Beaumont Cup.

"Kent were mightily impressive in their inventiveness and in their skills, but Cornwall is built on a team effort and whoever has been before and comes after this, all these guys love pulling on that shirt," added Dawe.

"They only have it for a few matches or a few years and then they've got to pass it on to somebody else.

"There's some really good rugby players over the last few decades that have worn that shirt and I can think of many that are no longer here, but these guys wear it with pride and they respect it and that's the most important thing.

"Although Kent have done really well over the last few years, Cornwall are the biggest-backed by supporters and Lancashire just love playing for their shirt as well."