Yorkshire RFU

Denham takes pride in Yorkshire showing at Twickenham

Lee Denham was proud of his players after defeat in the Bill Beaumont Men's County Championship Division One final

It might not have been the fairytale final Lee Denham would have hoped for but there was still plenty of pride for the Yorkshire coach at the Bill Beaumont Men’s County Championship Division One final after a challenging year.

Denham took over the head coach job at Yorkshire this year, having left his position at York RFC to care for his wife Sarah who had been diagnosed with cancer.

She is now cancer-free and was in the crowd fittingly – with her name up in the changing rooms at the Allianz Stadium as a former Red Rose.

And while it was Kent who came out on top 39-32 to make it a hat-trick of titles, Denham was able to reflect on how much it meant to be at Twickenham after such a tough time.

He said: “It’s amazing for me. This time last year my wife had been diagnosed with cancer, it’s been a horrible year.

“I left my club (York) to help support my wife. She has battled through the cancer, got past it. I’m moving back to the club I left because of that. So a lot has happened in the last couple of years.

“My wife is here now. She was a Red Rose before, so her name is on the wall in the changing rooms.”

After a 6am start to head down to south-west London, Yorkshire flew out of the blocks against Kent with No.8 George Mewburn crossing after just two minutes.

Kent replied through Luke Boon before Mewburn got over for his second to make it 14-7.

Replacement Mac Duaibe levelled things up with a fine try for Kent and then four penalties in the 10 minutes before half-time for Sam Evans meant Kent led 26-17, Lewis Minikin knocking over a penalty of his own for Yorkshire.

Another Minkin penalty cut the deficit but Kent's third try through Mikel Davies on 50 minutes restored their breathing space.

Two more penalties from Evans made it 39-20 to all but wrap up the win.

Yorkshire did have the final say with two late tries from Kristian Dobson and Will Smith but did not have time for a final restart.

And after seeing his side edged out on the day, Denham believes that the team will be able to learn some lessons after an overhaul to the squad this season.

He added: “It’s a big change for us, we set off at six o’clock this morning, a long trip down. We had lessons learned about what not to do. Doing the trip down on the same day when we knew it was going to be 32 degrees possibly wasn’t the smartest thing we’ve ever done but needs most with regards to finances etc. If we get to this position again, we’ll know what to do.

“It’s a great squad, I basically spent from Christmas through to the end of the season going around watching all the games, finding the players that were in form, not necessarily with a name behind them. Most of them will have a name behind them now. They have represented Yorkshire now.”

To see all the results from the County Championship Finals visit EnglandRugby.com or follow @RFU on X to see all the in-play highlights.

Source: Examiner Live https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/denham-takes-pride-yorkshire-showing-31925322