By Morlader
April 4 2013

Its cup time again and once again the Cornish Pirates lock horns with Munster.

So far its two wins out of two, first in the inaugural final in May 2010 and then last season in round 3 at Clonmel in South Tipperary.

The Pirates and supporters will go in to this match in good heart after an inspiring week, first the arrival of new acting CEO and Performance Director, Josh Lewsey, then Stadium approval from Cornwall Council.

So the stage is set for another great day ay the Mennaye Field, even the weather looks to turn towards summer, with the wind forecast to be from the South West at last.

To refresh our minds, here’s a brief look back at the previous two encounters between the two clubs

Cornish Pirates 23 Munster 14
British & Irish Cup Final
Sunday 16th May 2010

Woll wrote: “Cup Finals have this irritating tendancy to be an anti-climax to anyone but the partisan observer; no doubt as the occasion can so often overwhelm.

Not this one; as both Munster and the Cornish Pirates put on a show that hopefully will have kept the audience on SKY, gripped and more than curious of the game outside of the top flight.

Inspired by the mercurial Ward who was everywhere and always, it was the Pirates who edged it with a performance that ignored any temptation to stifle and play the game by numbers.”

Cornish Pirates 
W. Davies (T. Luke 79), R. McAtee, M. Ireland, S. Winn, N. Jackson, J. Bentley, G. Cattle (capt)(J. Doherty 79), B. Cowan (M. Evans 79), D. Ward, C. Morgan, B. Gulliver, L. McGlone (M. Myerscough 52), A. Paver (R. Storer 79), R. Elloway (S. Betty 57), C. Rimmer (P. Andrew 62) .

Tries: Winn, McAtee
Cons: Bentley 2
Pens: Bentley 3 

Munster
15 Sean Scanlon 14 Danny Barnes 11 Simon Zebo (Mike Kelliher 79) 
13 Tom Gleeson 12 Jeremy Manning 10 Declan Cusack (Conor Murray 65) 9 Duncan Williams (Ronan O'Mahony 65) 
8 Peter O'Mahony (capt) 7 Tommy O'Donnell (Paddy Butler 62) 6 Billy Holland 
5 Ian Nagle (Dave O'Callaghan 62) 4 Dave Foley 
3 Stephen Archer 2 Mike Sherry 1 Dave Kilcoyne (Dave Ryan 40)

Replacements: not used (16 Sean Henry)
Try: Barnes
Pens: Cusack 3

Munster 6 Cornish Pirates 10
British & Irish Cup Round 3
Clonmel RFC
Friday 11th November 2011

Phil Western wrote: What a result! This was a fantastic British & Irish Cup match win for the Cornish Pirates, when the side showed truly immense character to never give up and snatch victory in the dying seconds of the game.
For the Cornish Pirates it was, as the song goes, indeed 'a long way to Tipperary', but boy oh boy, it was worth it!”

Proud of the display, Cornish Pirates forwards coach, Ian Davies, commented: "We showed tremendous character and the series of scrums which led to the penalty try were a brilliant illustration of control and collective patience."
Ian added: "We as a pack, team and squad should use this fantastic victory to continue moving forward in our season's development."

Munster:
L. O'Dea (C. Hircock h/t), R. O'Mahony, T. Gleeson, JJ Hanrahan, S. Zebo; S. Deasy, P. Stringer (D. Williams 55), P. Butler. T. O'Donnell, B. Holland (capt), M. O'Driscoll, I. Nagle (D. Foley 61), S. Archer, S. Henry (D. Casey 28), D. Kilcoyne (C. Condon 66, D. Kilcoyne 675)).

Replacements (not used): B. O'Hara, D. Moroney.

Cornish Pirates :
M. Evans, R. McAtee, D. Locke, S. Hill, D. Doherty, R. Cook, T. Kessell, K. Marriott (P. Burgess 68), C. Walker-Blair (B. Cowan 51), C. Morgan (capt), I. Nimmo, L. McGlone, C. Rimmer, D. Ward, R. Storer (P. Andrew 64).

Replacements (not used): T. Cowan-Dickie, R,. Elloway, G. Cattle, R. Westren.

Yellow card: Cowan

Scorers :-
Munster - pens: Deasy (2).
Cornish Pirates - penalty try; con: Cook; pen: Cook.