By Worried of Whitton
November 17 2005

It’s, the home match that we’ve all been eagerly awaiting, as Harlequins warmly welcome The Cornish Pirates, formerly, Penzance and Newlyn, to The Stoop, Twickenham. Kick off is at 15.00 on SUNDAY November 20th.

There is very strong interest in this game and Harlequins are expecting to record their biggest crowd ever for a match at The Stoop.

It will be just like the old days as the Cornish supporters throng the streets of Twickenham as they regularly used to for the County championship Finals a few years back. The official website reported last week, that Harlequins look set to break the record for a National Division One league fixture. The current record stands at 10,349, set by Bristol when they played the Exeter Chiefs at their Memorial Stadium earlier this year. In order to accommodate the extra support the South Stand is being opened for this match and I fully expect that our attendance figure will be greater than a number of this weeks’ GP matches.

The Cornish Pirates and Harlequins together with Bedford are now running a three horse race for the National Division One title. All three clubs have long since left the other contenders behind, and all three have the wherewithal to finish in top spot at the end of the season. With Exeter having to play their postponed Powergen Trophy match last weekend, Bedford found themselves without match. As such Pirates were able to capitalise and by beating Otley 39-22 down at Kenwyn on Sunday, and picking up another valuable four try bonus point, leapfrogged over Bedford. The Division One league table shows that Penzance are now in second place on 39 points, with eight wins and one loss. Harlequins remain on top with 42 points and nine straight wins. Coincidentally both teams have scored 321 points and whilst Quins have leaked 106 points, Penzance have had 179 put past them. A close score is therefore predicted, and if both teams maintain their “points against” average we should see a Quins victory by 20-12, however I expect to see more points scored

Sunday will be a battle royal for the top spot, Bedford (3^rd )are away to Plymouth in (4^th) on Saturday afternoon yet even if they were to win with a bonus point, Quins will remain top by their virtue of winning more games, notwithstanding their far superior goal difference. Bedford do however have a game in hand, against Exeter which will be played on December 17^th. This is a very crucial couple of weeks for Harlequins, who travel to Bedford on December 3rd., and we could be seeing the defining moments the season before CVhristmas.

As I mentioned last week, both Bedford and Pirates have indicated that promotion is not their goal this season, and indeed another of last seasons front runners, Exeter, appear to have held back their investment plans this year due to the presence of Harlequins in the division, and deciding that it would be “cost effective” to defer their Premiership plans for one year. This year, Pirates would not meet the promotion criteria due to their temporary ground at Kenwyn and this is only year one of a three year plan. Bedford were recently reported in The Daily Telegraph, that they are refusing to contemplate the prospect of promotion as they believe that they will be in a better position to judge their position at the end of next season. Harlequins therefore are the only team that have announced their affirmed intention to finish first, in this seasons Division One championship.

So just who are The Cornish Pirates? Our visitors were formed as Penzance RFC in 1876 and Newlyn RFC around 1894, they played as separate and rival clubs. In September 1945, the two clubs amalgamated and a new club - Penzance and Newlyn RFC – played their first match against Guy's Hospital at the Mennaye Field. The Mennaye was, and still is, perfectly situated with, one half of the pitch being in Newlyn and the other in Penzance. During the 1950s and 1960s, the club was amongst the most well known and respected in the country. Their support was immense with gates often exceeding 5000.During the 1970 s and 80s support waned significantly as rugby became less popular as touring teams were unable to afford the journey west.

When the new English leagues were formulated in the late 1980s, Penzance and Newlyn found themselves in the lower echelons and many young talented players went elsewhere to play at a higher level. During the 1990 s local man, Richard Evans, made an offer to the Club, with a view to bringing back to the Mennaye, the standard of rugby which he remembered. He aimed at improving the facilities of the Club but, in 1996, when rugby went professional and he felt that he could do much more, and today the senior side is now a mixture of pros, semi-pros and talented amateurs. Their standard of rugby has improved so much, that last season the Pirates finished in 4th position in National Division 1.To fulfill their aspirations of gaining promotion into the Premiership it was necessary to meet a number of criteria including becoming a Limited Company and playing home matches in a 15,000 capacity stadium. Thus for the club to further increase the support base it meant that the team had to relocate to another site to play their home matches whilst redevelopment was undertaken. In May of this year Evans plans were approved which included; relocating to a new temporary site at Kenwyn, Truro for the 2005/06 season, re-branding including changing the clubs name to the Cornish Pirates and upgrading all the facilities at the Mennaye Field. I understand that there home gates this season are100% up on last year.

In choosing a new identity there was obviously need to incorporate some local heritage in the name. CornyQuin explained that Evans’ vision is to bring premiership rugby to Cornwall, by tapping into the county’s passion for the game and national identity, hence “Cornish” Pirates. However the chosen name is a curious choice, as to most people Cornwall is more associated with smugglers, tin mines, china clay and those wonderful summer holidays as a child. I can exclusively reveal that in depth research shows that the name does infact derive from yet another Cornish tradition - Pirates is after all an anagram of ‘r Pasties!

In his match report last week Alan Quin wrote “it was a relatively poor performance yet it gained another five points” with Harlequins delivering their ninth successive league win by 22-29. The result gave Sedgley Park the honour of being only the second team, after Otley, to earn a league point from Harlequins this season.

“It was never going to be a continuation of the previous week’s try-fest as the home side had learned a number of lessons from the previous week’s defeat. To help their opponents, Quins’ seemed to think it would be just a continuation from where they had left off. It wasn’t anything of the sort.”

From the start Quins seemed intent on running the ball and after only five minutes, Harlequins were 5-0 up thanks to So’oialo. Within 10 minutes the lead had extended to 12-0 courtesy of Jim Evans. Further scores followed on both sides and Quins went in at the break just 19-12 ahead. Clearly with a lot more to do

Harlequins started the second half with clear determination to score more tries and some excellent fluent moves with very skilful passing between Duffy, Monye, Masson and Keogh and after ten minutes, from a scrum, the ball came to Will Greenwood and his accurate cross kick to the right corner found Ugo Monye who took the catch and scored. Mehrtens missed the extra points but the try bonus was secured with Quins lead now 12 points. Sedgley picked up 3 points from a penalty before Duffy scored Quins fifth try, with ten minutes to go and Quins 29-15 ahead. Sedgely did not give up and did not seem to tire as many teams have done in the last quarter from a set-piece possession Voortman broke the defensive line to score and De Jager’s conversion was the last kick of the match to leave Sedgley with the score 22-29, and  a loosing bonus point.

Afterwards Dean Richards said that Sedgley had put a lot into their game and he was pleased that they had given Quins a real test. Five league points was what they had come for and what they had achieved. However management, players and supporters are all fully aware that the team will have to play a lot better than that on Sunday at The Stoop.

Last weekend The Pirates put in a workmanlike performance against Otley at Kenwyn, handsomely winning 39-22 and also picking up five points. Two tries apiece from Kevin James and Jon Pritchard, plus one Duncan Roke ensured the Pirates not only move above Bedford into second spot, but also preserved their unbeaten home record.

Having suffered defeat twice against Otley last season, Pirates were not about to make it three. It took nine minutes for the home side to score, as winger Kevin James powered his way over in the corner following good build-up play involving Motusaga, Welding and Davies. Barlow’s tough touchline conversion narrowly failed, but the Pirates fly-half was able to add a penalty on 20 minutes, before adding the extras to Pritchard's score five minutes before the break but a determined Otley side who reduced the deficit in stoppage time when their fly-half slotted a penalty to make it 15-3 at the break.
In the second half it was Otley who opened the more brightly, with hooker Luffman finding his way over from close range and Binns converting bringing the gap to just five points. This seemed spur on the home side. Tries were traded throughout the second half with Pirates maintaining their lead, a lead which they sat on and. A host of turnovers and unforced errors allowed Otley a route back into the game. Otley refused to give and their efforts were rewarded with two more tries Yet once more the Pirates responded with quick ball which saw James sprint down the left flank and score under the posts. Jarvis’ conversion sealed the home victory.

Pirates coach Jim McKay, admitted he was happy with his side’s win over Otley, but insisted the performance was mixed. “I’m happy with the result, but overall I felt we under performed. We played well in patches, but there were a lot of turnovers and unforced errors in our game.  To beat Otley is a good result…… a good test for us ahead of the Harlequins game, but our mistakes helped keep them in the game. The forwards played very well and laid the platform for us. We scored some good tries, but we know we’ll need to up our game for next weekend, which is going to be a massive test for us.”

Researching ND 1 opposition can be very difficult, at times. This week the task was made easier, as I was able to ask Corny Quin, to whom I m grateful for providing me with “the form guide” on his second club. As a dual season ticket holder, Corny Quin probably knows far more about our opposition than anyone else at Harlequins apart from Dean Richards. CQ has seen all of the Pirates home games this season and therefore very well placed to give us a good insight.  His response follows:   

“Pirates have an ambitious Australian coach (just like Quins!),Jim McKay who was previously at Orrell    I‘m not sure if he was there at the same time as SS, but speaking to him after the game on Sunday he thinks highly of our oft criticised No. 9.  He also fears Gavin Duffy, Ugo Monye and Nick Easter for their attacking threat and I told him I thought they were a wise top 3!  But that sums him and Pirates up.  They do tend to concentrate on attack and scoring from their own possession.  They have scored as many points as Quins this season but conceded about 8 a game more. In attack, I rate them very highly - their backs are very tight, like to run with the ball and onto balls kicked behind defenders.  Their full back Wes Davies, plays a lot like Duffy but not quite up to the same standard.  They have two very high scoring wingers in Kevin James and Richard Welding (with 8 and 11 tries respectively this season. But they are not guaranteed to be the two starting wings as Pirates do have a good choice available in the 3/4s and when Matt Jess on the wing has a lot of support.  I ve noticed that Pirates do not tend to change the way they play though, regardless of who is playing.  My own feeling is this is the Aussie coach's will.  They play quite an Aussie game which, in a way Quins do as well under Friend.

It’s uncanny but watching Pirates is a lot like watching Quins in the style of play.  You get the feeling the backs are better than the opposition but tend to make a few too many handling errors to really put sides consistently to the sword.  They both like to pass it through hands and also try kicking into space.  Quins in AM probably have the edge in that area though.  However, in Tom Barlow and Lee Jarvis Pirates have two very decent fly-halves.  Gavin Cattle at 9 will make life difficult for SS.  In the centres they have Duncan Roke who has been with Leicester, Worcester and England 7s.  He's very solid and can break a line. James and Pritchard are the other two centre possibilities also with no obvious weaknesses.

Up front, Pirates have a solid pack.  They have coped well with every one they've opposed this season bar Bedford whose pack was, by all accounts, too much for them.  This is possibly a bad omen for Quins, as I don't see too many differences between the packs.  Their coach rightly expects Nick Easter to be a threat, but equally Quins will have to look out for Will James in the 2nd row.  He is an athletic version of Worcester's Gillies, standing 6'6" and weighing 19 stone, he is an incredibly effective player.  James, Bearman, (the captain), and Beardshaw are the Pirates' line out focus - but above all stands James!.  He also steals a lot of opposition ball in the line, usually breaks the gain line (and some!) when carrying the ball and tackles hard.  No surprise then that coaches / scouts from virtually all the top GP teams were at Truro at the weekend watching him.  So too were our own Dean Richards and national academy coaches John Wells and Dorian West - the latter two ahead of the launch of the national academy at Truro on the Monday.

As for Sunday, I wouldn't see either pack dominating the other.  Our lineout will have to be at its best to deal with James if he has a good game.  The key may well be which team makes the least mistakes in the backs.  That is one area that Pirates have had a tendency to be weak in.  But then again - so have Quins!  Pirates don't play too dissimilarly to Newbury.  The one difference is that they won't tire after 40 minutes, they are a full time professional outfit and their superior fitness has told in all the home games this season.  Quins shouldn't expect them to be easy to put away if it’s close after 60 minutes.  Pirates also play on a home pitch that has the same dimensions as The Stoop.  They will therefore be used to the space and their backs will love the surface.

One question to be answered though, this will be the biggest rugby day for many of the Pirates players (not to mention the fans).  Playing in front of 10,000 +, it remains to be seen whether they have the mental strength to cope.  They will play with passion - their Cornish fans will demand it.  They also have the skills and flair if they can put it together on the day, and they have the strength and fitness, but then, so do Quins.  In bags.....! I can't wait!”

Indeed none of us can wait!  As a post script CornyQuin added “I should mention that I had a very lengthy and drunken chat with Dicky Evans and Jim McKay on Sunday.  They are quietly confident that they are on the right track for their 3 year plan but wouldn't be drawn, obviously, on Sunday too much other than looking forward to the contest immensely!”

Finally, I m sure that we all wish the Pirates’ owner, Dicky Evans a very happy “significant” birthday this weekend, and I’m sure he’ll buy everyone he meets at The Stoop a drink :o)  however, our warm congratulations in now extend to an away win!  Enjoy your day at The Stoop.

So by five o’clock on Sunday afternoon we all expect to have watched an exciting game,  resulting in yet another fine win for Quins, even though it will be probably close. I expect the loosing side will take one point from this game, and the Pirates will have been repelled and sent back down the A30 on their long journey back to Truro as Cornish Patsies!

 

 

At the time of publication neither side had announced their Teams for Sunday

Match Officials:
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Touch judges: Steve Lander, Kevin Stewart