Cornish Pirates

SUMMER signing Gareth Steenson admits he is settling in well to life with the Cornish Pirates following his switch from National League One rivals Rotherham.

The 23-year-old Irishman is one of a clutch of new recruits to jump on board Jim McKay's ship for the new season, which starts on Saturday, September 1 with a derby date with the Cornish All Blacks.

Steenson, however, heads to the Westcountry with a proven rugby pedigree already behind him. Last term he finished as Rotherham's top points-scorer, amassing an impressive 264 league points, while he is also an Ireland Under-21 international.

His arrival in the Duchy is seen as the ideal tonic for Pirates supporters, who were disappointed to lose the services of Alberto Di Bernardo to Leeds Tykes after just one season.

Steenson, though, is a much different proposition to that of the departed Argentinian ace and he is keen to show his talents to an appreciative audience this season.

"I'm really looking forward to the new season," he said. "Last season was my first taste of National One rugby and it was a real eye opener. This year I'll know a little bit more about what to expect from the league and from the various teams." Having been joined by compatriot Brian Tuohy, who also made the decision to swap Clifton Lane for the Recreation Ground, Steenson believes this season campaign will be even tougher than that of last year. "There have been lots of signings by all the clubs," he added. "The league is definitely going to be tougher and stronger. As I said, this is a new challenge for me and one that I cannot wait to get stuck into." Already Steenson has taken to his new surroundings. "It's a bit different to Rotherham," he joked. "It's a bit more like home for me. I remember coming down for the game last year and the crowd and the atmopshere was pretty special. It'll be good to have those people on our side this time."

Gareth Steenson

With the first pre-season game looming large on the horizon, Premiership champions Leicester Tigers visit Camborne on Saturday week (4pm), Steenson is already honing his skills for the new campaign.

"Pre-season has been tough, but it's been good at the same time," he said. "I've spoken to the coaches about the way we want to play and it definitely suits my style, which is great.

"Last season people had this impression of Rotherham being all about their forwards and being a ten-man side, but in reality that wasn't true. When we had to play tight we did, but when we didn't we played really expansive rugby, a bit like Jim [McKay] wants us to do here.

"With the quality we have down here in the backs, I'm sure we'll really look to attack sides this season and go from there."