PLEASE
NOTE THIS MATCH IS ON SATURDAY
Well, here we are,
it the end of another season, with the Cornish Pirates welcoming a very strong
London Welsh side to the Recreation Ground, Camborne, on Saturday.
Its
Trevithick Day in Camborne on Saturday, it will be busy, arrive early!
London
Welsh, 12th in the New Year and presently 7th, will arrive in the Cornwall on
the back of a 22-10 points win against Plymouth Albion last weekend, a game when
England U20s star Noah Cato made his debut for 'The Welsh'.
Former
Colston's School captain and Llanelli 'Scarlet' Jonathan Mills captains the visitors,
their team including three Fijian internationals in wing Mike Tagicakibau, hooker
Sunia Koto Vuli and lock Wame Lewaravu. Former England wing Paul Sampson , their
Supporters 'Player of the Year', plays at full-back.
As
for the Pirates, their side shows a number of changes from the one that disappointingly
lost at Moseley last weekend.
In the backs, James Moore
will play at scrum-half, reversing roles with wing Rhodri McAtee who wore the
number '9' shirt against 'Mose', whilst Vunga Lilo starts on the other wing ahead
of Brian Tuohy.
Three changes of personnel in the pack
sees Sam Betty replace Iva Motusaga at open-side flanker, with there a fresh prop
pairing in Sam Heard and Alan Paver, who start ahead of Dan Seal and Peter Cook.
Injury sadly denies club skipper Tim Cowley the opportunity of bowing out in style
before his close season move to Bourgoin, his place taken once more by the ably
experienced Matt Evans.
There is much arranged for what
should be an entertaining afternoon, including mini-rugby pre-match and at half-time,
the Falmouth Marine Band, Ferdi from Flambards (along with Captain Benbow and
Betty Stoggs!), and guest pupils from Kasselfelei School, South Africa, who it
is hoped will sing straight after the Annual Awards which are due to be made in
front of the stand after the main game.
Past President Dicky
Evans will be a welcome face at the match, along with Director Martin Hudson and
family members and friends. Former England captain Richard Sharp is also a most
welcome guest on the day.
The Pirates know they are in for
a tough contest, and that it won't be easy, but they should still be determined
and hopeful of delivering a win.
With considerable interest
in the last game of the season, a crowd in excess of 4,000 is expected and Tickets
are selling fast.
Cornish
Pirates:
A. Winnan, R. McAtee, P. Devlin, S. Winn (capt), V. Lilo,
O. Thomas, J. Moore, M. Evans
S. Betty, C. Cracknell, B. Cumming, S. Hobson,
S. Heard, R. Elloway, A. Paver.
Replacements:
P. Cook, D. Seal,
D. Dawidiuk, I. Motusaga, B. Tuohy, M. Ireland, G. Steenson.
Coach:
Mark Hewitt
London Welsh:
P. Sampson,
N. Cato, A. Cadwallader, P. Mackey, M. Tagicakibau, M. Jones, M. Wilson
H.
Jenkins, S. Etheridge, J. Mills (capt), W. Lewaravu, H. Quigley, A. Liffchak,
S.K. Vuli,
D. Williams.
Replacements:
P. Doran Jones, A.
Kwasnicki, K. Burke, B. Thomas, A. Chilten, T. Marks, R. Jewell.
Director
of Rugby: Martin Jones
Referee: Graham
Knox (RFU)
Touch Judges: Nigel Higginson &
Mark Summerhayes
Assessor: Ian Hamilton
Mascots:
Matt Curnow & Conor Sherlock
Match Sponsors: Burdens
Match Ball Sponsors: Barn Club
