Cornish Pirates

Leinster 12 Cornish Pirates 10

British Irish Cup - Round 2 Pool A
Friday 27th November 2009

Phil Westren's Match Report

For their second game in Pool 'A' of the new British & Irish Cup competition, the Cornish Pirates made a first ever trip across to Ireland to face a formidable Leinster side, who emerged narrow winners thanks to the boot of Aussie centre Shaun Berne.

Despite the match kicking off at the early time of 4pm on a Friday, a surprisingly large number of Cornish Pirates supporters gathered at Leinster's Donnybrook ground.

They had journeyed to Dublin from all about Britain, and beyond, this a game that many were simply determined not to miss.

The occasion was special, as it was their team, the pride of Cornwall, facing a side representing the Heineken Cup Champions.

It was no surprise that the travelling contingent let out a mighty roar when their team stepped out onto Irish turf, such support invariably helping lift a team, as appeared again to be the case when the game got underway.

The Pirates played with a good level of confidence and matched their illustrious opponents in the opening exchanges. At scrum time, in particular, they appeared to have the edge, with due credit to loose-head prop Ryan Storer who was making his first start for the Cornish club.

With a quarter of an hour gone, a good passage of play involving wing Nick Jackson (twice), centre Mark Ireland and fly-half Jonny Bentley applied the first real pressure on their opponents, who were relieved to get the ball kicked into touch.

Continuing to apply pressure, when Mark Ireland looked to threaten once more Leinster were forced into giving a penalty away, gifting the Pirates the chance of three points which were registered through the boot of full-back Rob Cook.

Leinster were all but immediately given the opportunity to level matters with a penalty of their own, but former Bath man Berne missed with his first effort. Indeed, he was soon off target again with a second attempt, which provided extra hope that luck today would be with the Cornish.

The home team looked to take control of the game to mount a number of attacks, and the Pirates were grateful to flanker Matt Evans who thwarted their advance with an important tackle. Visiting supporters also sensed the danger, so they duly responded to raise the volume level of their chant 'Pirates! Pirates!'

As the half-hour mark approached, for Berne and Leinster it was a case of third time lucky when another chance at goal came his way. However, the Pirates looked to respond positively through the efforts of hooker Dave Ward and Bentley, the latter making a couple of impressive breaks.

Leinster's skipper, scrum-half Paul O'Donohoe, who had played against the Pirates at Academy level back at the Mennaye Field in 2006, looked to rally his troops. The marauding Pirates were clearly a serious threat, and a side very much in with a shout when the interval arrived with scoreline still reading 3-all.

The Pirates were forced to make certain changes at half-time, as centre Steve Winn had been injured in the first period and was unable to carry on. Jackson was moved into the centre, and the replacement who went on the wing was young Richard Bright who was immediately tested with, and dealt with, a high ball.

Playing at full-back for Leinster was 82 times capped Irish international Girvan Dempsey, who now looked extra keen to make an impact on the game, and when yardage was gained and the Pirates were penalised at a scrum that followed, Berne gave the home team the lead for the first time in the match.

Within a few minutes Cook had a relatively easy chance to level matters, but the in-form kicker this time missed.

Leinster's line-out was now functioning well, them blessed with the presence of Ireland international Trevor Hogan and 6' 10” Ireland 'A' lock Devin Toner in the second-row, whilst flanker Kevin McLaughlin also impressed.

The Pirates looked to play the better rugby, but as they tried to lift themselves a couple of handling errors let them down, gifting Leinster the possession which would enable them to work their way upfield. A position was created where the Pirates were forced into giving another penalty away, it kicked by Berne to make the score 9-3.

Appearing to turn the screw still further, Leinster looked even more menacing as wing Michael Keating went close to scoring out wide. It was a time for the Pirates to react positively to stay in the game, with Gavin Cattle the captain setting the example. Sharp as ever and upping the tempo he got the Pirates back on the front foot, the extra pressure created ending with Leinster's replacement hooker Jason Harris-Wright being yellow-carded by Mr. Bodilly, the Welsh referee.

Now was the time for the Pirates to get back into the match and make their extra man advantage count, which they did. Following two line-outs close to Leinster's line, the ball reached replacement fly-half Rhys Jones, who was unlucky not to score. However, the chance was not lost, as Cattle was on hand to provide back up and work his way over for what would prove to be the only try scored in the match. Cook the added the extras and the Pirates were ahead once more, albeit by just a point.

The Pirates were deserving of their lead, but could they hold on? Sadly, the answer was 'no'. Without further advantage during Harris-Wright's temporary absence, it a mystifying spell of uncontested scrums, when he returned to the action Leinster were soon awarded a crucial kickable penalty. For someone of Berne's experience it was a formality, and once slotted Leinster closed the game up to deny the Cornish team their chance of recording what would have been a truly memorable victory.

In the absence of High Performance Manager Chris Stirling, who had been unable to travel to Dublin because he was unwell, Forwards Coach Ian Davies commented: “We should have won the game comfortably and a couple of tries that went begging in the first half could have given us the cushion needed. To lose by two points is frustrating.”

As for the supporters, they were mightily proud of their team, which did at least manage to secure what could ultimately prove to be an important bonus point.

The Cornish Pirates next game in the British & Irish Cup will be away to Plymouth Albion on the 13 th February

Leinster:
G. Dempsey, M. Keating, B. Macken (E. O'Malley 74), S. Berne, D. Kearney (N. Morris 67)
I. McKinley, P. O'Donohoe (capt, Simon Keogh 47), Stephen Keogh, P, Ryan (D. Ryan 61), K. McLaughlin
D. Toner, T. Hogan, J. McGrath (S. Maguire 71), R. Strauss (J. Harris-Wright 26), R. McCormack.

Replacement (not used): M. Flanagan.

Yellow card: J. Harris-Wright.

Cornish Pirates:
R. Cook, A. Havili, M. Ireland, S. Winn (R. Bright h/t), N. Jackson
J. Bentley (R. Jones 59), G. Cattle (capt, J. Doherty 72), L. McGlone (R. Elloway 62), T. Holmes, M. Evans (S. Betty 55)
L. Collins (R. Labuschagne 48), S. Pammenter, C. Rimmer, D. Ward, R. Storer.

Replacement (not used): P. Andrew .

Scorers:-

Leinster
Pens: Berne 4

Cornish Pirates –
Try: Cattle
Con: Cook;
Pen: Cook.

Referee: David Bodilly (WRU)