Rugby union in Cornwall

Cornwall Rugby Football Union
SportRugby union
JurisdictionCornwall
AbbreviationCRFU
Founded1884; 140 years ago (1884)
AffiliationRFU
HeadquartersCornwall
PresidentJohn Sumnall[1]
ChairmanDavid Saunter[1]
CoachGraham Dawe[1]
SponsorO'Neills
Official website
www.crfu.co.uk
Cornwall

Rugby union in Cornwall (Cornish: unyans rugbi) is Cornwall's most popular spectator sport with a large following. The followers of the national side are dubbed Trelawny's Army. In 1991 and 1999 Cornwall won the County Championship final played at Twickenham Stadium, beating Yorkshire and Gloucestershire respectively to win the Cup. They had another strong spell in the 2010s, reaching seven of the eight finals contested between 2013 and 2022 (meeting either Cheshire or Lancashire on every occasion), winning four of them.

Cornish rugby has produced many fine players who have played at the international level, including Phil Vickery, Trevor Woodman and Graham Dawe (England), Stack Stevens (England and British and Irish Lions), Andy Reed (Scotland and the Lions), and many others.

The Cornish rugby team can also boast an Olympic silver medal: in 1908, they won the County Championship for the first time and the prize was to represent Great Britain at rugby in the 1908 Olympic Games. They lost to Australia 32–3 in the final, and remain the only county side to represent Great Britain at rugby in the Olympics.

  1. ^ a b c Staff on CRFU website, 29 Sep 2019