Following
the 48-5 points win at home to Newbury Blues on Sunday, the second match in National
One this season is away at Coventry this Saturday, where a tough examination is
normally guaranteed. 'Cov' went down 13-5 away
to Plymouth Albion in their opening game of the campaign, a battle at the Brickfields
which was clearly closely fought. In a match where there was just one try-a-piece,
the below strength Midlanders performed well, the pack fronting up and their defence
sound. For the Pirates, assistant coach Brett Davey makes
a quick return to the Butts Park Arena, having impressed there during his spell
as a player/coach last season. Also, Coventry is a place
where Ben Gulliver and Jimmy Moore have been leading performers in the past. Ben
is the son of their Team Manager, former player Tony Gulliver, and Jimmy was National
One's top points scorer there (with 251) in 2005-06. Both travel in a squad showing
minimal changes from the one that opposed Newbury. Paul
Devlin makes a return from injury, taking the outside centre berth in place of
an injured Mark Ireland, and at scrum-half Nick Griffiths is selected at scrum-half,
him swapping places with Ed Fairhurst, who is named on the bench. Having
experienced serious financial difficulties, the future of the famous Coventry
club was in doubt earlier in the year, before it was eventually announced in July
that the RFU had agreed to allow the club to continue playing in National One
for the 2008-09 season. This followed an appeal made by the Coventry Telegraph
to help raise a £100,000 bond, which was a worrying period for their supporters
and all closely involved with the club. Coventry's new Director
of Rugby is Phil Maynard, who achieved a good level of success when he was in
charge at Pertemps Bees, and someone capable of getting the best out of a squad
where there have been relatively few changes. Cornish
Pirates:
A. Winnan (capt), R. McAtee, P. Devlin, S. Winn, M. Vakacegu,
D. Sanft,
N. Griffiths, B. Bedes, C. Morgan, B. Cumming, B. Gulliver, H. Senekal
S. Heard, R. Elloway, A. Paver. Replacements
D. Seal, D. Dawidiuk, M.
Burak, I. Motusaga, E. Fairhurst, T. Luke, J. Moore. Head Coach: Mark Hewitt Referee:
Mark Wilson (RFU)
Touch Judges: Luke Pearce & Peter Facey
Assessor:
Bob Bullock |
