Cornish Pirates

Cornish Pirates

Full name	Penzance and Newlyn Rugby Football Club
Founded	1945 (1945)
Location	Cornwall, England
Ground(s)	Mennaye Field (Capacity: 4,000 (2,200 seated))
Chairman	Ian Connell
Captain(s)	Chris Morgan
League(s)	Greene King IPA Championship
2013–14	6th
Team kit
Official website
www.cornish-pirates.com

The Cornish Pirates (Cornish: An Vorladron Gernewek) are a professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn Pirates, the Cornish Pirates play their home games and train at their traditional home at Mennaye Field in Penzance.

Plans ca. 2004/05

There has been recent talk of plans to build a permanent 15,000 seat stadium which will be fit to host Premiership rugby, but at present the club is considering its options as the minimum entry requirements to the Premiership are constantly changing.

At the end of the 2004/05 season the Pirates finished in 4th position in National Division 1 which at the time was their highest league position since owner Dicky Evans became President and just 3 places below Premiership rugby status. To fulfill the club's aspirations of gaining promotion into the Premiership it is necessary to fulfill a number of criteria including becoming a Limited Company and playing home matches in a new capacity stadium.

The decision to relocate

In 2005 the Pirates moved away from their home at The Mennaye in Penzance, first to Kenwyn Rugby Ground, near Truro, and then to Camborne Recreation Ground. The Pirates returned to The Mennaye for the 2010/11 season and remain there to date. In examining the options it was viewed as imperative to increase the support base which led to a difficult decision for Dicky Evans and the supporters of the Pirates, as to whether the team should relocate to another site to play their home matches or not. The questions, concerns and sentiments arising from the proposals were thoroughly debated in the clubhouse and elsewhere. However, on 27 May 2005 at an emergency meeting held in a packed St Johns Hall the innovative plans were passed. They included:

• Relocating to a new temporary site at Kenwyn, Truro for the 2005/6 season.
• Re-branding including changing the club's name to the Cornish Pirates.
• Upgrading all the facilities at the Mennaye Field which will continue to act as the permanent training base for the Cornish Pirates.
• The Mennaye to continue to act as the playing home for the Pirates mini and junior sections and Mounts Bay.

Following the vote Richard Evans told members: "ten years ago I asked you to support me in taking this club into the professional era. At that time there were those were totally against this move, there are people that are against this latest move. However, it is my belief that we must try this venture". He expressed his personal happiness at the support expressed for the move and regarded it as a step towards a Premiership rugby club in Cornwall.

Cornwall Council is currently developing a business plan for a proposed Stadium for Cornwall, which could host both the Pirates and Truro City Football Club.^[1]

The Stadium For Cornwall plans hit a problem when Cornwall Council refused to give any public funding to constructing the facility, which they announced towards the end of the 2011/12 season.

When new chairman Ian Connell took over on 1 July following owner Dicky Evans' decision to retire,^[2] it was announced that the club hope to move into a new stadium in Truro in time for the 2016/17 season.^[3]

2006/7 season

Following a highly successful 2005/6 season, (when crowds were increased and the Pirates finished 3rd in Division 1), it was decided to relocate again and over the next two seasons the Cornish Pirates will play their home rugby matches at Camborne RFC's recreation ground. Camborne's ground is seen as many to be the best rugby ground in Cornwall boasting a superb grandstand.

The Pirates say they intend to make match days an "event" as they did last year at Kenwyn and as the Camborne Recreation Ground accommodates over 9,000 people with a stand capacity of 780, and a new Family Stand of allowing for more than 1,000. There is also good banked standing, a 80-foot-long (24 m) marquee bar complete with Cadgwith Singers and ample parking at or near the ground.

Cornish Pirates continue to work towards developing a stadium that will be required to ensure Premiership status. They are reportedly working with Cornwall County Council, and other partners, and at various sites near Truro, Camborne, or points in between. The Camborne Rec is a popular and historic Cornish rugby venue, having hosted many top class games over the years against teams including the "All Blacks" and the "Wallabies".

On 15 April 2007, the Cornish Pirates won the EDF Energy National Trophy at Twickenham for the first time in the club's history, against Exeter Chiefs. The score was 19–16.

2007/8 season

After the success of the 2006/7 cup win, the hope was that the club’s ambition could finally be realised, this hope was hampered by the loss of Viliami Ma'asi and Alberto Di Bernardo (to Leeds), these losses were offset in some degree by the signing of Canadian international scrum half Ed Fairhurst, former England U21 centre Simon Whatling from Worcester and seasoned professional Rob Elloway from Gloucester. At first the results were not good but after the world cup the team began to pick up and were joined by one of the stars of the tournament Tongan full back; Vunga Lilo. Unfortunately the side couldn’t live with the newly relegated Northampton Saints and were unlucky to draw them in the 1st round of the cup, going down 15–3 at home.

Club honours

^[4]

• Cornwall Cup winners (3 times): 1975-76, 1998-99, 1999-00
• Cornwall & Devon champions: 1989-90
• South West Division 2 champions: 1996-97^[5]
• South West Division 1 champions: 1998-99^[6]
• National League 3 South champions: 2001-02
• National League 2 champions: 2002-03
• EDF Energy National Trophy winners: 2006-07
• British and Irish Cup winners: 2009-10^[7]
• RFU Championship runners up: 2010-11, 2011-12

Current standings

2014–15 RFU Championship Table
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points For	Points Against	Points Difference	Try Bonus	Loss Bonus	Points
1	Bristol	22	21	0	1	774	399	375	18	1	103
2	Worcester Warriors	22	19	0	3	858	335	523	18	3	97
3	London Scottish	22	12	2	8	534	498	36	10	2	64
4	Rotherham Titans	22	13	1	8	505	488	17	5	2	61
5	Nottingham	22	12	0	10	461	578	–117	5	3	56
6	Yorkshire Carnegie	22	10	1	11	494	462	32	7	5	54
7	Jersey	22	8	2	12	495	621	–127	5	7	48
8	Cornish Pirates	22	9	0	13	436	464	–28	4	5	45
9	Doncaster Knights	22	8	1	13	429	481	–52	3	6	43
10	Bedford Blues	22	7	0	15	433	604	–171	6	4	38
11	Moseley	22	5	1	16	441	637	–196	4	5	31
R	Plymouth Albion	22	3	2	17	314	630	–316	1	5	21
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background are promotion play-off places. Pink background is the relegation place. Updated: 19 April 2015 Source: "Greene King IPA Championship". NCA Rugby.

Current squad

2014-15 Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Aaron Carpenter Hooker Canada Tom Channon Hooker England Rob Elloway Hooker Germany Jack Innard (D/R) Hooker England Jack Andrew Prop England Paul Andrew Prop England Kieran Davies (D/R) Prop England Jamal Ford-Robinson Prop England Adam Jamieson Prop England Alan Paver Prop England Francisco Deformes Prop Chile Mike Roach (D/R) Prop England Darren Barry Lock England Will Carrick-Smith (D/R) Lock England Charlie Davey Lock England Will Graulich Lock England Jake Parker Lock England Laurie McGlone Lock New Zealand Matt Bolwell (D/R) Flanker England Alex Cheesman Flanker England Dan Lee Flanker England Chris Morgan Flanker England Josh Stevens Flanker England Joe Atkinson Number 8 England Tom Duncan Number 8 England

Player Position Union Gavin Cattle (c) Scrum-half Wales Tom Kessell Scrum-half England Stuart Townsend (D/R) Scrum-half England Kieran Hallett Fly-half Ireland Bertie Hopkins Fly-half England Laurence May (D/R) Fly-half England Alex Dancer Centre England Tom Hendrickson (D/R) Centre England Rheon James Centre Wales Tom Riley Centre Wales Matt Evans Wing Canada Craig Holland Wing England Mike Pope Wing England Kyle Moyle Wing England Max Bodilly (D/R) Fullback England Kieran Goss Fullback South Africa Luke Jones Fullback England

Notable former players

• Joe Bearman
• James Hawken
• Brian 'Stack' Stevens
• Rob Thirlby
• Trent Andrews
• Viliami Ma'asi
• Adam Mills
• Will James
• Blair Cowan

See also

• 2012–13 RFU Championship
• 2012–13 Cornish Pirates RFC season
• 2012–13 British and Irish Cup
• Newlyn RFC
• Penzance RFC

References

External links

• Official site
• Unofficial Fans site & Forum
• Camborne RFC
• Trelawny's Army
• London Cornish RFC – for those living in London missing Cornish Rugby!
• Cornish Pirates on itsrugby.co.uk

RFU Championship 2014–15 Teams Bedford Blues Bristol Cornish Pirates Doncaster Knights Jersey London Scottish Moseley Nottingham Plymouth Albion Rotherham Titans Worcester Warriors Yorkshire Carnegie Former clubs Birmingham-Solihull Blackheath Bracknell Cornish All Blacks Coventry Ealing Trailfinders Esher Exeter Chiefs Fylde Gosforth Harlequins Henley Liverpool St Helens London Irish London Welsh Manchester Morley Newbury Newcastle Falcons Northampton Saints Orrell Otley Richmond Rosslyn Park Rugby Sale Sharks Saracens Sedgley Park Wakefield Waterloo West Hartlepool Seasons National Division Two 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Premiership Two 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 National Division One 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 Championship 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Representative team RFU Championship XV

British and Irish Cup 2014–15 Teams English Bedford Blues Bristol Rugby Cornish Pirates Doncaster Knights Jersey London Scottish Moseley Nottingham Rugby Plymouth Albion Rotherham Titans Worcester Warriors Yorkshire Carnegie Irish Connacht Eagles Leinster A Munster A Ulster Ravens Welsh Aberavon Carmarthen Quins Cross Keys Pontypridd Former clubs English Birmingham & Solihull 2009–10, 2010–11 Coventry 2009–10 Ealing Trailfinders 2013–14 Esher 2010–11, 2011–12 Exeter Chiefs 2009–10 London Welsh 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14 Newcastle Falcons 2012–13 Scottish Ayr 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14 Currie 2010–11, 2011–12 Dundee HSFP 2012–13 Edinburgh Academicals 2013–14 Gael Force 2009–10 Gala 2012–13, 2013–14 Heriot's FP 2009–10 Melrose 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 Stirling County 2012–13, 2013–14 Welsh Bedwas 2012–13 Bridgend Ravens 2012–13 Cardiff 2009–10, 2012–13 Llandovery 2010–11, 2012–13 Llanelli 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14 Neath 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 Newport 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13 Swansea 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13 Seasons 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

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