Ahead of the scheduled home fixture against Hartpury on Boxing Day, the Cornish Pirates had planned to warm-up wearing a special one-off designed rugby shirt made available through Whirlwind Sports.

The match against Hartpury though was postponed due to positive covid cases in the Hartpury playing squad, the game will be rescheduled for a later date.

The remembrance shirts to be worn were to mark the 40-year anniversary of the RNLI Penlee Lifeboat Disaster, that so sadly occurred on Saturday, December 19 1981, when in terrible conditions all eight brave crew members of the Penlee Lifeboat "Solomon Browne" were lost as they went to the aid of the motor vessel "Union Star" in trouble off Tater Dhu. Eight people aboard that ship also sadly perished.

During pre-match hospitality at the Hartpury game, a Silent Auction for two of the special edition shirts, both signed by Neil Brockman, was to have taken place, whilst the remaining shirts were to afterwards be available to bid for via the Whirlwind Sports website: https://www.whirlwindsports.com/

Already from sales of the shirts generally through Whirlwind Sports, the sum of £5,000 has been raised for RNLI Penlee Branch funds, which is a fantastic amount.

What will happen now? For the present, simply watch out for updates that will follow.

It has rightly been said many times, with added importance in the 40th anniversary year, that the crew of the “Solomon Browne” will never be forgotten.

The next game for the Cornish Pirates is away to leaders of the RFU Championship Ealing Trailfinders on New Years Day, kick off at 3pm.