Cup defeat frustrates hooker Cowan-Dickie

TOM COWAN-DICKIE was disappointed his first Plymouth Albion start did not result in a win for the team.

The dual-registered Exeter Chiefs hooker was handed the chance to impress against British & Irish Cup holders Munster on Saturday.

After the match Albion coach Nat Saumi said he had been pleased with Cowan-Dickie's performance, but the player, who claimed the sponsor's man of the match award was gutted the team lost 26-22 to the Irish side.

"We were very disappointed," he said.

"There was a point there where we thought we were going to come back.

"I think everyone was trying really hard, but silly little errors just cost us at the end."

Cowan-Dickie felt Albion let Munster off the hook early on in the game by not converting all their pressure into points.

"There were a few driving line-outs we should have been more accurate with," he said. "With a bit more determination I think we could have probably put them to bed early on.

"We let them back into the game and they took all the momentum from it."

On his own display, Cowan-Dickie said: "I thought it was okay. I think I could have done a bit better. As a team we all could have done slightly better. "Everyone tried hard. There was a lot of energy, but probably going into the wrong places, I think."

Cowan-Dickie, though, was delighted to finally get a start after a number of games on the replacements' bench.

He said: "It was nice to get a run out and test myself out to see how I'm going.

"Vicks (Jon Vickers) is doing an awesome job in the league, but they gave him a bit of a rest and me a try (on Saturday)."

He added: "You just have to work hard and try and show what you can do.

"If you do that, hopefully you might get to play a bit more."

Cowan-Dickie is in his first season as a dual-registered player with Albion.

Last year he had a similar spell with the Cornish Pirates.

Cowan-Dickie feels he has settled in well at Brickfields.

He said: "Everyone is really welcoming.

"And all the guys are really nice and relaxed, but come game day and training they all switch on."

The Cornishman hopes his spell at Brickfields will be successful.

"I want to do as well as I can – play as much as I can and play well," he said.

"And, hopefully, help Plymouth do better than they did last year."

Cowan-Dickie says playing in the Championship is a lot tougher than play in the Premiership A League.

"I think the A League is not as physical," he said.

"The Championship is a lot more physical.

"The A League is also a lot more loose. The ball gets passed around a lot and boys tend to get pulled together who have not played a lot with each other and you just play what is in front of you.

"But here (in the Championship) it is more structured. There is a game plan and everyone sticks to it."

Cowan-Dickie's younger brother, Luke, is also dual-registered at Albion from Exeter Chiefs.

"He takes a bit of the limelight," he laughed. "But he is doing really well. He is proving himself in the league."

Cowan-Dickie is now hoping Albion can get back to winning ways after two defeats when they travel to Rotherham this coming Saturday in their second British & Irish Cup fixture.

"We are coming off the back of two loses and so it would be nice to get back to winning ways," said the forward. "It would be nice to get another away win.

"All the boys are ready. They know what they have to do.

"We just have to learn from our mistakes and get on with it."

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