CORNISH
Pirates coach Jim McKay hailed his side’s attitude after they returned to winning
ways with victory over fellow high-flyers Bedford Blues at Kenwyn.
After back-to-back defeats to Rotherham and then the Exeter Chiefs, the
Australian was keen to see a marked improvement from his side, who had somewhat
slipped off the pace following a promising opening first half to the season.
McKay’s men did not disappoint their leader, roaring back in style against
the Blues, who had won their previous encounter back in October 31-12 at Goldington
Road.
Tries from Kevin James, Heino Senekal and Rhodri McAtee, plus
the boot of Welshman Lee Jarvis paved the way to victory for the Pirates, who
this weekend travel to Nottingham.
“I’m very proud of the boys, I
know they are a good team,” said McKay afterwards. “All this week we talked about
attitude and performance. We’ve worked hard these last two weeks because we wanted
to put things right. There was quite a lot of pressure on us going into the game,
for different reasons, but we set our own standards and we were well aware we
had not reached them in the last couple of games.
“We can play some
good rugby and we showed today that we can absorb a lot of pressure. Bedford had
the ball for long periods of the game, but we dug in for each other. Bedford are
a very good side. They really tested us, kept the ball very well and they came
back at us at the end. But we competed with them and in the end we came on top
which was pretty good.”
McKay admitted the two weeks that had passed
since their narrow defeat to the Chiefs – their first-ever at Kenwyn – had been
extremely tough not only on him, but the players as well.
The Australian
added: “At the end of the day it’s not life or death for the boys, but it was
very important that they responded. They are rugby players and in this job you
have to perform.
“The game of rugby is very character building and
the last two weeks have certainly been that for us. Like I said, there was a fair
bit of pressure on us going into the game, but I’m very proud of the boys.
“Looking ahead now, I know it’s a bit of cliché, but that’s the benchmark
that we can do. We are a good side and some of these boys are very good players,
but we have to show that we can be consistent. We’ve come a long way in a period
of time, but we have to show that consistency.
“For us the train
journey goes on, it doesn’t stop. It shows what you have to bring to the game.
Gee it’s a top competition, but we have to crack on again this week at Nottingham.”
