Four months ago this was a game that Cov would probably have lost, facing a side fighting for its future in the division and in front of a passionate Cornish crowd.

But this is a different group to the one that lost six games in a row across November and into December, and it is a tribute to the spirit and talent within the camp that the green shoots of a top-table side are really beginning to show through.

Saturday's five-point win from Cov's first visit to Polson Bridge followed a similar result over Plymouth Albion - not a bad return for acting coach Dave Addleton who, in his two games in charge, has got the side playing to a well-constructed pattern which really does show that, in essence, rugby is a simple game.

True to the old school who believe that everything stems from the front five and securing good possession, former hooker Addleton is moulding a generally young pack into a formidable unit which, when they perform to plan, gives confidence to the rest and allows the backs and loose forwards to flourish.

At the forefront are hooker Chris Whitehead and scrum-half Nathan Jones, who both celebrated their maiden league tries and had outstanding games as Cov, electing to start into a strong wind, overcame a testing first quarter to lead 19-5 at half-time and scored four clinical tries.

"We played well, and to come down here and get five points is very pleasing," said Addleton, who clearly has the respect of his play-ers and is strengthening belief.

"I don't think Launceston's league position had any bearing on how they played and it was as difficult as we knew it would be.

"But we did what we said we had to do in the first half against the wind, we kept the ball well through a number of phases without rushing and scored some good tries, and our set piece went really well.

"If there was something we need to look at it is our first-up tackling, we missed a few today, but our defence at the end to keep them out was outstanding.

"I think we probably slackened off a bit after we got our fourth try, I wanted to get our other replacements on for some game time and couldn't because we were stuck in our 22, but all in all it was a good day."

Jon Fabian missed a kickable third-minute penalty for Launceston and after two promising moves of their own, Cov put themselves under pressure when the ball went loose at a line-out in the home half and the cover had to scramble back to halt Josh Lord's 50-metre run in the left corner.

Cov survived a testing few minutes as Launceston's pack, boosted by the sizeable addition of Worcester loan par Gavin Quinnell and Tim Collier, showed its muscle, and they went ahead early in the second quarter when Jones - later named man of the match by Launceston - broke from a ruck and, brought down in the 22, got his pass away to Darren Clayton who, in turn, found Whitehead in support to score.

Lanceston were level inside three minutes, kicking a penalty into the left corner and putting Lord over from planned line-out move.

Cov quickly replied in kind, Myles Dorrian firing a penalty into the corner and the pack driving over from the line-out with Carl Rimmer in control of the ball, midway in from touch, and Ronnie McLean adding a good conversion into the wind.

Fabian missed a long-range penalty chance, and as Cov stole four successive line-outs against the throw, they struck again right on the half-time whistle when Clayton won a turnover on his own 22 and, after a passage of play lasting a full three minutes, skipper Laurie McGlone charged through between the posts, McLean converting.

Cov banked their four-try bonus point just three minutes after the restart, from another penalty line-out, when Jones received the ball at scrum-half, feinted to pass, and darted through the obliging gap that opened up in front of him - something Addleton spotted in the first half and pointed out to his No.9 during the break - to leave McLean a simple conversion.

Whitehead killed the ball once too often on the floor for referee Dean Richards and picked up a yellow card, but although the ensuing penalty ended in a try wide out for Quinnell, Cov quickly clawed back three points when McLean put over a huge penalty from two metres inside his own half, the ball bobbling over off the angle of the bar and post.

After that Cov scarcely laid a hand on the ball as Launceston threw everything into desperate attack, but some determined defence limited the damage to a Neil Clark try and Fabian conversion as the game moved into stoppage time.

Mr Richards added on ten minutes, half for a delay while home fly-half Scott Ireland was stretchered off with a suspected broken leg, but Cov were in no mood to give away anything else and Launceston, chasing the score that could have given them two precious points in their fight to avoid relegation, were left with nothing.

Laauunncceessttoonn:: tries Lord (25), Quinnell (47), Clark (80); conversion Fabian (80). CCoovveennttrryy:: tries Whitehead (22), Rimmer (28), McGlone (40), Jones (43); conversions McLean 3 (28, 40, 43); penalty McLean (50).

Launceston: Fabian; Jess, Fisher, Perry (Westren 53), Smales; Ireland (Hocking 79), Alford (Dibble 73); Ovens (Bolt 64), Clark, Reed, Collier (Pape 64), Myerscough, Lord, Roques (Rawlings 64), Quinnell.

Coventry: Walls (Russell 77); Johnson, Cobden, Sanders, McLean; Dorrian, Jones (Slater 64); Rimmer, Whitehead, Brits, O Hodge (Gilanders 53), Nimmo, Venter (Miller 56), Clayton, McGlone.

Referee: D Richards (RFU).

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• Tom Little’s Terrace Verdict: Launceston v Cov
• It won't be easy, warns coach

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes