 Lock
forward Ben Gulliver, playing his first season for the club after heading west
across the Tamar from Plymouth Albion, will lead a much-changed Cornish Pirates
side this Sunday
Dan Seal will be make his first
league start of the season replacing Sam Heard, whilst in the back-row Frenchman
Bertrand Bedes is unavailable. The big No. 8 has made a big impression since his
arrival in Cornwall, but gets married this Saturday in Narbonne. His place in
the middle of the back-row will be filled by Matt Evans, who with others should
be looking to impress. In the outsides Marika Vakacegu moves
from wing to full-back in place of Adryan Winnan, with the Fijian's place out
wide taken by Rhodri McAtee. At fly-half Doug Sanft, who kicked kicked three penalties
and two conversions against Exeter Chiefs, is recalled in place of Rhys Jones.
 Canadian
international prop Scott Franklin is named on the bench, it likely that this is
a game when he will make his first National One appearance.
As
for the the 'Green & Whites', who are sometimes also naturally referred to
as the 'Merry Men from Nottingham', and who finished a fantastic third in National
Division One last season, they will arrive in Cornwall keen to return home with
the spoils. One of only two sides (the other being Northampton)
to have beaten the Cornish Pirates both home and away last season, they will again
arrive with a formidably strong line-up, their team once again captained by influential
New Zealander Craig Hammond. Nottingham have tinkered little
with their successful squad, which is understandable, as their Kiwi Director of
Rugby, Glenn Delaney, is clearly of the view that by retaining and developing
the obvious quality within their ranks it has given them an edge. Frustrated
at losing their opener away to Leeds Carnegie (34-19), after having gone 14-0
behind in almost as many minutes, they have since won all three of their matches
played against Plymouth Albion (43-19), Esher (3-25) and Sedgley Park (32-24),
with them presently placed fourth in the league. The Pirates
will certainly be keen to exact revenge, but will know also that this match presents
a tough challenge. It is still only September, but the pressure is already on,
the season, as we expected, already promising to be an enthralling one.
The
expected team line-ups for Sunday are as follows:-
Cornish
Pirates:
M. Vakacegu, A. Havili, P. Devlin, T. Luke, R. McAtee, D.
Sanft, E. Fairhurst
M. Evans, I. Motusaga, B. Cumming, B. Gulliver (capt),
M. Burak, D. Seal
R. Elloway, A. Paver, Replacements:
S. Franklin,
D. Dawidiuk, H. Senekal, C. Morgan, N. Griffiths, S. Winn, M. Ireland. Head
Coach: Mark Hewitt. Nottingham:
D. Jackson,
J. Cobden, R. Nirmalendran, A. Dodge, A. Savage, T. Taylor
R. Usasz, G. McComb,
L. Sherriff, C. Hammond (capt), D. Montagu
S. MacDonald, N. Hall, J. Duffey,
R. Harris. Replacements: N. Fowkes, J. Clarke, M. Parr, D. Hemingway, N.
Rouse, C. Pilgrim, B. Thompson. Director of Rugby: Glenn Delaney. Referee:
Lyr Apgeraint-Roberts Assistants: Richard Parker-Sedgemore & Steve
Harland
Match Day Sponsor: Kernow Model Railway Match
Ball Sponsor: Dulux Decorator Centres |
