Cornish Pirates taken on Royal Navy in front of bumper crowd

This ‘Friday night under lights’ game versus the Royal Navy drew an excellent bumper crowd of 1,725 at the Mennaye Field, the contest replacing the originally arranged Jersey Reds league fixture that had to be cancelled following the demise of the Jersey club.

For what was amazingly only the second home game thus far for the Cornish Pirates in 2024, in a team skippered by John Stevens there were debuts for squad members Billy Young (prop) and Harry Hocking (hooker). Billy is a former Saracens Academy member who has played for Canterbury and for Kent, and Harry, who has made appearances for Redruth this season, is dual registered with Exeter Chiefs.

Frankie Nowell was named at full-back, and Tom Pittman partnered Tom Georgiou in the centre. Bruce Houston and Ruaridh Dawson formed the halfback pairing and, for this game, Jack Andrew packed down in the second-row engine room alongside Josh King.

There were also five young guest players listed in the Pirates squad, one of whom, Harry Andrewartha, who has featured for Redruth this season, being named on the wing. The other four, each keen for their opportunities off the bench were Pirates Amateurs players James Lambourn (prop), Toby Osborne (lock), and Archie Pilcher (back-row), along with Camborne’s Will Tanswell (scrum-half).

Scene set under the glow of the ground’s floodlights, the Pirates also got off to a sparkling start when, in the very first minute, Georgiou ran into space to score the game’s opening try to the left of the Newlyn posts. Houston also nailed his opening conversion attempt.

Following recent rain, conditions were inevitably a little muddy, and slippery, as the Pirates looked to create further scoring opportunities. However, they were denied by the visiting team’s resolute defensive effort, until midway through the half a jinking run by Pittman saw him link with Houston who scored and then converted his own try.

The Royal Navy side, skippered by prop Kye Beasley, who has played for Camborne and for Plymouth Albion, also featured two Cornish Pirates squad members in fly-half Jordan Gott and hooker Rhys Williams. They and their colleagues battled valiantly, but without joy, before the Pirates scored one more try converted try before the break credited to skipper Stevens.

There were several good performances to highlight in the home team. The centre pairing of Pittman and Georgiou was slick, whilst in the forwards man of the match flanker Harry Dugmore and lock Josh King stood out, along with the efforts of stalwarts Jack Andrew and Marlen Walker.

Into the second period the Pirates conjured up two more fine tries, both scored at the clubhouse corner. Georgiou made it a brace on the night, with Houston landing a fine conversion from out wide, and an excellent cross field kick from Pittman saw wing Robin Wedlake score what would prove to be the last points of the match.

Both teams emptied their bench during the second half where in general the Royal Navy team enjoyed more of the play than they had in the first forty. Handling let them down on a couple of occasions when scores looked ‘on’, and the Pirates did well to hold them up, in a match that proved a very worthy workout for both sides.

A special word too for the appointed experienced referee, Tom Foley, who was warmly welcomed not for the first time to the Mennaye Field, and who was, of course, a leading official at last year’s Rugby World Cup.