THE
Pirates may be spending this week in the picturesque surroundings of the Sherwood
Forest Centre Parcs, but prop Alan Paver insists it will be anything but a "holiday
camp"  |
Instead
of returning home to the Duchy following Sunday's 24-20 league win over Nottingham,
the Pirates have instead checked themselves into their East Midlands base to prepare
fully for this Saturday's top-of-the-table clash with the Earth Titans.
In
a bid to cut out excessive travelling demands on Jim McKay's side, the Pirates
will instead gear up for the Titans clash by carrying out their normal match-day
preparations 'Up North'. "I know there are some
people who may think this week is going to be a bug jolly for us players, I can
guarantee it won't be," said Paver. "It's
going to be a really tough week for us up here, it's not going to be one big holiday
camp. We're here to work and prepare ourselves as best we can for Saturday's game." | | Alan
Paver | |
As
part of that preparation, the Pirates will undergo a number of training sessions
at Mansfield Rugby Club, where they no doubt will be looking to iron out a few
of the handling problems they encountered at Meadow Lane on Sunday. That
victory lifted the Pirates back into second spot in the table, but had they secured
the all-important bonus point, they would have headed into this weekend's clash
as the division's front-runners.  |
Although
happy with Sunday's success, No.8 Matt Evans summed up the club's disappointment
at failing to make the most of their 21-10 half-time advantage.
"It
was a hard-fought win for us, but we know we probably could have done a lot better,"
said the South African back-row foward. "Considering how well we played in
the first half, we're disappointed not to have built on that. "We
had the ball for long periods in the second half, but couldn't make the crucial
breakthroughs. We'll look at the video this week and hopefully we can address
some of those individual errors." Evans admits
Saturday's showdown with the Titans is a "massive" encounter,
but one he and the Pirates are relishing. | | Matt
Evans | |
"It's
a big week for us," he added. "They are obviously top of the league,
so it will be tough up there. However, if we can minimise our errors and come
out fighting, then we're more than capable of getting the win."
|
