Cornish Pirates

Waterloo v Cornish Pirates - Saturday 09/09/06

HAVING been sunk by Plymouth Albion last Saturday, Waterloo are bracing themselves up for a second successive Westcountry invasion when the Cornish Pirates sail into Blundellsands tomorrow.

A 45-9 home reverse to Albion was hardly the kind of start the newly-promoted outfit would have envisaged on their return to National One rugby – and tomorrow’s visit of the Pirates promises to be just as tough for the Merseysiders.

The Pirates themselves kicked-off their own campaign in fine fettle, collecting maximum points from their 39-0 success over Otley at Camborne on Sunday.

New signings Henry Barratt and Alberto Di Bernardo led the way for the Cornish club – and both are included in tomorrow’s starting line-up, which shows six changes in personnel.

Henry Barratt	Sam Heard	Grant Anderson	Lewis Vinnicombe	Steve Winn
		Coach Jim McKay hands first starts to Grant Anderson, Sam Heard, Lewis Vinnicombe, Steve Winn and James Moore, the latter of whom was the leading points-scorer in National One last season, Samoan international Iva Motusaga returns at openside flanker in place of Sam Betty.
James Moore	Iva Motusaga

The Australian admits he is keen to use these opening weeks of the season to blood all his squad, before then having to decide just what is his best starting XV.

“It’s important that everybody has their chance to stake a claim for a more regular spot,” said McKay yesterday. “Last week was a solid start for us and we are keen to build on that.

“By making these changes we’re putting a lot on trust in those guys coming in. In no way is it a bad reflection on the boys who’ve dropped down this week, like I said we’re just keen to get everyone up and running and get them some game time under their belts because it’s going to be a long, hard season.”

One man set to miss tomorrow’s trip North is prop Dan Seal, who was stretchered off in the opening half-hour of last Sunday’s game. Seal has undergone medical checks this past week, results of which have revealed his knee injury is not as serious as first thought, but that he is likely to be sidelined for at least the next two months.

But as McKay prepares to lose the short-term services of Seal, the Aussie coach is at least able to welcome back experienced Cornishman Adryan Winnan into tomorrow’s match-day squad.

His inclusion is certainly a boost to a Pirates side, who have been warned by their coach to expect some kind of backlash following that opening day reverse.

“Waterloo are a totally different proposition to last week,” said McKay. “Obviously they’ve come up into our division, so they are used to winning games, especially at home. I’m sure after last weekend they’ll be very determined to get their season going, so we have to be aware of that and prepare accordingly.”

Pirates:
D Roke; J Moore, H Barratt, S Winn, L Vinnicombe; A Di Bernardo, G Cattle (capt); G Anderson, V Ma’asi, S Heard; J Beardshaw, H Senekal; S McKeen, I Motusaga, M Evans. Replacements:

Duncan Roke	James Moore	Henry Barratt	Steve Winn	Lewis Vinnicombe
Alberto Di Bernardo	Gavin Cattle (Capt)	Grant Anderson	Sam Heard	Joe Beardshaw
Heino Senekal	Stan McKeen	Joe Beardshaw	Iva Motusaga	Matt Evans

Replacements: O Hambly, A Paver, S Hobson, S Betty, A Winnan, D Bell, J Hylton.