Cornish Pirates 19, London Irish 7

For the Cornish Pirates there was much more to this win besides it being a first ever victory against London Irish, as it evolved from sheer hard work, development, and a collective determination to deliver. Appropriately, for the time of year, it also delivered the perfect Christmas present, writes Phil Westren.

Changes in the starting line-up from the team that ran out at Bedford the previous week included returns for Rory Parata and Callum Patterson to form the centre partnership. Up front, hooker Sam Matavesi and prop Tyler Gendall were named, whilst Josh Caulfield was selected alongside John Stevens and Tom Duncan in the back-row.

On a damp and blustery afternoon, with the wind on their backs the Cornish Pirates made an impressive start in this, their final Pool 3 game in the new Championship Cup.

Patterson made good yardage in midfield, support followed through Matavesi and prop Jack Andrew and, when the ball was moved right, full-back Kyle Moyle scored at the clubhouse corner. On a most difficult day for kicking, fly-half Will Cargill was luckless with his conversion attempt.

A first score for already crowned Pool 3 winners London Irish came in the fourteenth minute. After being awarded several penalties, mounting pressure would count, and following a potent catch and drive it was wing Matt Williams who picked a path that took him over the line. Former Northampton Saints and England fly-half Stephen Myler added the extra two points.

How would the Pirates respond? The answer – positively, it now their time to deliver ‘apres’ a driving line-out. It wasn’t immediate, however when the ball was worked towards the Penzance posts, a pumped-up Andrew would be identified as a try-scorer. For Cargill, the conversion was this time a formality.

12-7 up at the break, when the second half got underway the Pirates continued to impress against their illustrious opponents, with the reward being a third try in the match, this time dotted down by No. 8 Tom Duncan. Cargill’s well-struck conversion made it 19-7.

In the near half-hour remaining, despite no more points being scored in the match there was still much to admire in the play of the Pirates.

With a solid scrum and smooth-working line-out, other bonuses included the performance of replacement wing AJ Cant, taking his chance well following the departure of an injured Robin Wedlake.

The tackling effort also, especially from flanker John Stevens, was exceptional. Home supporters sensed an upset, signalled by chants of ‘Pirates, Pirates’ - and then ‘Oggy Oggy’.

Into the last quarter of an hour, there was continued admiration for the steely performance put in by the Pirates but also concern when former ‘Pirate’ Blair Cowan hit Moyle dangerously with his shoulder. After a delay in play ‘Moyler’ thankfully got to his feet and walked off to applause, whereas for Cowan, shown a red card for his misdemeanour, his departure was one of embarrassment.

Finally, if anyone was looking for a final statement of determination from the home side, then it was one made by wing Alex O’Meara, whose terrific chase-back tackle prevented what would surely have been a second ‘Irish’ score.

Co-coach Gavin Cattle had commented pre-match that the fixture posed a massive challenge, with there an understandable gulf between the two sides in terms of resources.

He also added, however, that his team was relishing the opportunity to test themselves against the strongest side in the division, and boy they did just that, it an examination passed with flying colours – to provide that perfect Christmas present!

Cornish Pirates: 15 Kyle Moyle (Javier Rojas Alvarez 70), 14 Alex O’Meara, 13 Rory Parata, 12 Callum Patterson, 11 Robin Wedlake (AJ Cant 39), 10 Will Cargill, 9 Alex Day; 1 Jack Andrew, 2 Sam Matavesi, 3 Tyler Gendall, 4 Toby Freeman, 5 Brett Beukeboom (c), 6 Josh Caulfield, 7 John Stevens, 8 Tom Duncan.

Replacements (not used): Charlie Gibbings, Tom Concu, Nodar Cheishvili, Dan Lee, Jake Ashby.

London Irish: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Brendan Macken (Barney Maddison 69), 13 Tom Fowlie (Tom Stephenson 59), 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Matt Williams, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Brendan McKibbin (Ben Meehan 66); 1 Gordon Reid (Lovejoy Chawatama 54) 2 Dave Porecki (Saia Fainga’a 66), 3 Pat Cilliers (Manasa Saulo 66), 4 Josh McNally (c), 5 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Conor Gilsenan (Ofisa Treviranus 50), 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Jake Schatz.

Red card: Cowan.

Scorers:

Cornish Pirates – tries: Moyle, Andrew, Duncan; cons: Cargill (2).

London Irish – try: Williams; con: Myler.

Referee: George Selwood (RFU)

St. Austell Brewery Man-of-the-Match: Josh Caulfield

Match Ball Sponsor: Ecohaus Design & Build

Attendance: 1104

  • At the conclusion of the weekend’s Championship Cup Pool stage, having finished runners-up to London Irish in Pool 3, in the quarter-finals the Cornish Pirates will likely now play away - opponents to be confirmed - on the weekend 1-3 February.