The Cornish Pirates will be delighted to welcome Bristol Rugby to the Mennaye Field on Sunday, as a Pirates v Bristol match 'tiz always a little bit special!
It's fifth versus second in the league, when the 'Mennaye' expects its biggest crowd of the season to date, and understandably so as Sunday's visitors are genuine contenders for promotion. Andy Robinson's team will also venture to Cornwall ultra keen to avenge the 23-21 defeat suffered at the hands of the Pirates when the two teams met in this season's Greene King IPA Championship double-header opener at Sandy Park, Exeter, whilst they might also remember that their last success at the Mennaye Field was a 28-20 points victory in September, 2004.
With Gavin Cattle not quite fully recovered from injury, stand-in skipper and flanker Chris Morgan will lead the Pirates against his former club, with it noted that centre Junior Fatialofa, lock Darren Barry and hooker Tom Channon have also played for Bristol in the past.
Channon returns to the starting line-up, as does the propping pair of Shane Cahill and Peter Joyce. Recent 'Barbarian' Tom Riley is named in his familiar outside centre berth, Angus Sinclair is selected at fly-half, and Matt Evans, who has been on international duty with Canada, takes a seat on the bench.
Cornish Pirates: 15 Craig Holland, 14 Mike Pope, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Junior Fatialofa, 11 Kieran Goss, 10 Angus Sinclair, 9 Tom Kessell, 8 Jake Parker, 7 Alex Cheesman, 6 Chris Morgan (capt), 5 Darren Barry, 4 Neale Patrick, 3 Peter Joyce, 2 Tom Channon, 1 Shane Cahill.
Replacements: 16 Rob Elloway, 17 Kieran Davies, 18 Will Graulich, 19 John Stevens, 20 Kieran Hallett, 21 Rheon James, 22 Matt Evans.
Referee: John Meredith Assistants: Shane Lewis & Jonathan Healy
Match Day Sponsor: Travis Perkins Match Ball Sponsor: Midas Construction Ltd
An important Greene King IPA Championship 'Kick to Win' competition will take place at half-time. Entrants must be aged 18 or over and three successful kickers will have the chance to play for a Cornish Pirates touch rugby team at Twickenham at the end of the season. There's also an added bonus, as entrants will also each be given an allocation of Greene King IPA.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article