Mounts Bay RFC was a
Cornish rugby club formed in December 1999 and based in
Penzance
Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...
, England, which folded in July 2009. Initially formed as an offshoot from
Penzance & Newlyn RFC, the club operated as an independent club. Mounts Bay were promoted at the end of the 2007–08 season and competed in
National Division Two in the 2008–09 season. However, the club folded in the summer of 2009 due to financial problems and withdrew from the league structure.
2006–07 season
Mounts Bay had a successful year as they were promoted to the National Leagues as champions of Southwest 1 with three games to play. They also reached two cup finals; on 11 April 2007 they lost 43–7 to
Redruth
Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...
in the final the
CRFU Cornwall Cup and on 15 April 2007, Bay made their only visit to
Twickenham
Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...
for the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup Final against former winners
Dunstablians. They won the match 46–36.
2007–08 season
In their first season in the National Leagues, Mounts Bay finished first in
National Division Three South and were again promoted, their eighth promotion in nine seasons, to play in
National Division Two during the 2008–09 season.
Fly-half Lee Jarvis was the league's top point scorer with 266 points. In addition to the league championship Mounts Bay also won the
Cornwall Super Cup by defeating
Launceston 45–17 on 24 March 2008.
2008–09 season
Mounts Bay's quick rise ended with their only relegation. It was soon followed by an AGM in July 2009 that confirmed they were to fold after the possibility of a
groundshare
A groundshare, also known as a shared stadium or shared arena, is the principle of sharing a stadium between two local sports teams. This is usually done for the purpose of reducing the costs of either construction of two separate facilities and ...
with
Redruth RFC
Redruth RFC (established 1875) is a rugby union club from the town of Redruth, Cornwall, currently playing in the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, English league system, National League 2 West. The club runs a number of men's teams ...
broke down and they were left with large debts and little assets.
Season summary
Honours
*
Cornwall League 2
Counties 3 Cornwall (formerly known as Tribute Cornwall League 2) is an English level nine rugby union league for clubs based in Cornwall. The champions and runner-up are promoted to Counties 2 Cornwall (formerly Cornwall League 1); there is n ...
champions: 2000–01
*
Cornwall 1 v Devon 1 promotion play-off winners: 2002–03
*
Tribute Cornwall/Devon champions: 2003–04
*Powergen Junior Vase semi-finalists: 2003–04
*
Western Counties West champions: 2004–05
*
South West Division 2 West champions: 2005–06
*
South West Division 1 champions: 2006–07
*
EDF Energy Intermediate Cup winners: 2006–07
*
National League Division 3 South champions:
2007–08
*
Cornwall Super Cup winners: 2007–08
Notable former players
*
Lee Jarvis –
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
international.
*
Josh Matavesi –
Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
international.
See also
*
Rugby union in Cornwall
Rugby union in Cornwall 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 (rugby union), County Championship f ...
Notes
References
{{Rugby union in England
1999 establishments in England
2009 disestablishments in England
Cornish Pirates
Defunct rugby union teams in England
Rugby clubs established in 1999
Rugby union teams in Cornwall
Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 2009
Sport in Penzance