MATCH
POSTPONED DUE TO PITCH CONDITIONS On
the opening game of this National One season, the Cornish Pirates comprehensively
beat Newbury Blues 48-5 at the Recreation Ground, Camborne. Since
that last meeting, Newbury continued having a pretty tough time of it, whilst
the Pirates, after early autumn lapses, appear to be getting back on track. Indeed,
the respective league table positions tell the story - they are fourteenth, and
the Pirates are seventh, but how will Saturday go? Well, in truth, nobody really
knows, although the Pirates will have noted that one of Newbury's three wins this
season was a 19-11 points home victory against Plymouth Albion. Caution
should always be the rule, and especially so when playing against a team that
is in the relegation zone. The threat posed can never be underestimated, and it
would thus be unwise to give Newbury anything less than total respect. Considering
the fact that 18 players departed Newbury at the end of last season, and with
only 10 remaining, it is perhaps no surprise that the Blues have struggled along.
Losing influential performers such as Aussie fly-half Tim Walsh, scrum-half Dan
Smaje, plus of course Chris Morgan, were obvious body blows, and it has not made
life easy for former England back-rower Ben Sturnham, who was appointed as Head
Coach. At the start of the season the Newbury squad contained 22 newcomers, which
offered a mighty challenge for him to get them to gel. Two
former Pirates, wing Jonny Hylton and centre Marc Sweeney, are with the Berkshire
club. Jonny is in his second year with the 'Blues', and Marc, who had a successful
spell with the Cornish All Blacks and played for England Counties, joined from
Henley. Another face known to Cornish rugby supporters is that of fly-half Gareth
Griffiths, who was loaned from Bristol's Premiership Academy to Redruth last season.
A plus for Newbury is that Ben Sturnham has had the contacts
to persuade a number of useful performers to head east along the M4, including
highly rated young prop Nathan Catt, who is on a loan deal from Bath and was a
member of the successful England U20s side last season. The
Cornish Pirates team named for Saturday's game at Monks Lane, Newbury, shows a
number of changes from the one that faced London Welsh last weekend. Aisea Havili,
who scored two tries on his last outing at home to Sedgley Park, is recalled once
more. He takes the place of Paul Devlin, who steps back into the outside centre
berth, with Mark Ireland dropping to the bench. At fly-half, Rhys Jones takes
over from Simon Whatling, it his first return to the starting line-up since being
injured late in the match against Leeds Carnegie. In the
forwards, injuries to Bertrand Bedes and Matt Evans demand another reshuffle in
the back-row. Chris Morgan will now play at No. 8 against his former club, Iva
Motusaga makes a welcome return on the open-side, whilst skipper Ben Gulliver
moves from the second-row to take the blind-side berth. At lock, Mike Burak and
Heino Senekal pair up, and in the front-row Peter Cook is selected at loose-head
prop. The list of players not selected include Nicky Griffiths,
Adryan Winnan, Rob Elloway, Matt Evans, Scott Franklin, Bruce Cumming and Bertrand
Bedes, who are all injured. Rhodri McAtee has just returned from Wales Sevens
duty, and Sam Betty is still serving his two week ban. Simon Whatling is rested
on rotation. Cornish Pirates:
M. Vakacegu, A. Havili, P. Devlin,
T. Luke, B. Tuohy
R. Jones, E. Fairhurst, C. Morgan, I. Motusaga, B. Gulliver
(capt)
M. Burak, H. Senekal, S. Heard, D. Dawidiuk, P. Cook. Replacements:
A. Paver, P. Andrew, D. Seal, J. Moore, S. Winn, M. Ireland, R. Bright. |
