Preview - Cornish Pirates v Rotherham

By Dick Straughan
November 17 2007

The Cornish Pirates return to Camborne to face Rotherham tomorrow (2pm) determined to prove that they have indeed turned a corner after two tough wins on the road, and anxious to lay to rest any ghosts of their last home performance - a dire defeat to Nottingham at the end of October.

That last gasp defeat to Nottingham typified everything that had been wrong in the Pirates season to date as the team struggled to find form and consistency, whereas last Saturday`s huge victory in South Yorkshire against Doncaster rekindled fond memories of last season`s dogged Pirates side and their never-say-die attitude.

Few, if any, teams will return from Castle Park this season with points after enduring the type of pressure Doncaster exerted on the Pirates for much of last weekend`s game. Had it not been for several wrong options late in the match the Knights may well have prevailed, but Jim McKay`s side hung on and finally broke out in stoppage time to seal the match with a cleverly won Gareth Steenson penalty.

The defeat clearly hurt Doncaster and several sources from within their camp have publicly sought to lay the blame for their loss firmly at the door of Referee Nick Williams. This soccer-style reaction to adversity has been not only disappointing to hear but totally unfair on Williams and the Pirates.

So from one tough Yorkshire side the Pirates now focus their attention on another. The season so far has not been kind to Rotherham, a team who for most of the last campaign promised so much. Losing key players in Joe Bedford, Erik Lund, Hendre Fourie and Adam Hopcroft to Leeds, along with Centre Brian Tuohy and mercurial fly-half Gareth Steenson to the Pirates, tore a huge whole in their squad. With Coach Andre Bester departing and his successor Phil Werahiko, resigning after last weekend`s surprise home defeat to London Welsh (3-17), Rotherham make the long journey to Cornwall off the pace in 8th place.

Rotherham have not scored a try in league rugby since Louis McGowan scored his second at Moseley on October 20th in a 15-31 win. Since that match Rotherham have only troubled the scorers with a penalty in the defeat to the Welsh and will be anxious to forget the two blanks that preceded it - a 0-41 thrashing at home by Northampton, and a 15-0 defeat at Brickfields two weeks ago in a poor match.

Pirates Head Coach, Jim McKay, has responded to the threat that a wounded Rotherham will clearly bring to Cornwall by rotating his squad after last Saturday`s bruiser. Hooker Rob Elloway and Flanker Chris Cracknell definitely miss out due to injury, their places taken by Nathan Kemp and Iva Motusaga respectively. The keenly contested scrum-half shirt starts on the back of Richard Bolt with Ed Fairhurst dropping to the bench, whilst Brian Tuohy is recalled to the wing to face his old club with Jimmy Moore starting the afternoon in the warmth of his tracksuit.

Last season the Pirates fought back from an 18-0 half-time deficit to claim the spoils 18-24 at Clifton Lane. The return fixture at Camborne on a grim March afternoon before the cameras of Sky Sports produced a hugely physical 16-16 draw. Tim Cowley scored the Pirates try with the other points coming from the boot of Jimmy Moore. Included in the Rotherham points were two penalties from Gareth Steenson.

Despite their inconsistencies the Pirates are handily placed in fifth at the time of writing. Jim McKay has this week publicly stated that he intends to finish second at least at the end of the league campaign. If the Pirates match the physicality, intensity, and hunger they showed last weekend against Rotherham, expect a comfortable win.

 

TEAMS- 

 

Cornish Pirates:   O. Thomas, B. Tuohy, V. Lilo, N. Buckley, A. Koko, G. Steenson, R. Bolt, M. Evans, I. Motusaga, T. Cowley (capt), H. Senekal, J. Beardshaw, D. Seal, N. Kemp, P. Cook.

Replacements - D. Dawidiuk, A. Paver, B. Cumming, S. Hobson, E. Fairhurst, J. Moore, R. McAtee.

 

Rotherham Titans:   E. Claassens, J. Blackwood, M. Lawson, R., Connolly, S. Grissing, T. Allen, N. Chivers, M. McCormack (capt), N. Cochrane, A. Dunlop, L. McGowan, J. Waterhouse, P. Boulton, N. Conroy, S. Walsh.

Replacements - K. Corrigan, A. O'Donnell, J. Sutton, C. O.Connor, B. Wade, C. Hallam, G. Griffiths.

 

Referee - JP Doyle (RFU)