Cornish Pirates V Southend Sunday January 18th
Kick Off 2pm | |  |
This
Sunday at the Recreation Ground, Camborne, the Cornish Pirates will kick off their
EDF Energy National Trophy campaign with a Round 4 match against National Two
side Southend. The Pirates will have high hopes for
victory, but that is something they cannot take for granted against a team they'll
be playing for the first time. Southend is the premier club
in Essex, and has good links with Premiership outfit Saracens, as is indicated
by the fact that Kris Chesney helps coach their forwards. Former club captain
Ben Green is their Director of Rugby, and ex England fly-half Mark Mapletoft is
a coaching consultant.  For
Sunday's important contest the Pirates welcome back a number of players delighted
to return to the starting line-up, including full-back Adryan Winnan who has been
out for some weeks with a shoulder injury.
Another Cornishman,
young prop forward Paul Andrew, will also welcome an opportunity to start, having
featured off the bench of recent.
Lock Sam Raven, who
made his debut in the league match last week against Nottingham, is cup-tied for
this game, as he played for Leicester back in October when the Tigers recorded
an EDF Energy Cup match win at Bath. Heino Senekal is still injured, so Matt Evans,
who impressed at No. 8 when making his return at Meadow Lane, moves up into the
second-row to partner skipper Ben Gulliver.
 The
back-row has a strong look about it, with new boy Blair Cowan selected at No.
8. A 22yr old New Zealander.
Blair he arrived in Cornwall this week having
recently captained Wellington 'B'. A couple of players are rested this week,
but the injury list is still a lengthy one, including Scott Franklin, Bertrand
Bedes, Mike Burak, Alan Paver, Heino Senekal, Rhys Jones, and Sam Betty. Included
on the bench to provide able cover is Wayne Davey, who has played league rugby
for the Pirates in the past, and has been a stand out performer in 'Super Cup'
matches played this season. Cornish Pirates:
A. Winnan, J. Moore,
M. Ireland, S. Winn, R. McAtee
S. Whatling, E. Fairhurst, B. Cowan, I. Motusaga,
C. Morgan
B. Gulliver (capt), M. Evans, S. Heard, R. Elloway, P. Andrew. Replacements:
P. Cook, D. Seal, W. Davey, T. Luke, N. Griffiths, P. Devlin, B. Tuohy. Head
Coach: Mark Hewitt. Southend (team given for programme needs, the
name of their captain tbc):
S. Hoult, M. Billings, L. Sloan, C. Green, T. Lewis
B.
McKeith, R. Reed, T. Stannard, R. Gill, T. Kasten
C. Waring, S. Cook, I. Cook,
L. Irvine, S. North. Replacements:
M. Williams, J. George, J. Connors,
R. Powell, M. Stanley, C. Vaughan, A. Frost. Director of Rugby: Ben Green. Referee:
Philip Davies (RFU)
Assistants: Andys Bickle & Watts
Assessor:
Ian Hamilton Match Day Sponsor: Kernow Model Rail Centre Associate
Sponsors: Whirlwind Sports, Andy Loos, and Addition Accountants Background
Story Southend RFC
Tickets on the gate for ground entrance to the
terrace and east stand for non season ticket holders are
Adults £10
- Concessions £7 - Under 16s free Season ticket holders need to bring
voucher A from the season ticket booklet and they will only pay £5 for ground
and East stand tickets. The East stand will be first come first served
for seats at no extra charge.
Also note there are no tickets at Rowes for
this game due to the voucher A issue with the season ticket holders. | 
