Having begun their season with a home drubbing against Doncaster followed last weekend by a disappointing defeat against Sedgley Park, Coventry will be anxious to quell the rising discontent amongst some at the Butts Park Arena with a much needed win.

In a curious repeat of April`s end of season clash between both sides at the same venue the struggling hosts will entertain a Pirates side slightly hampered by injuries and still not quite at full throttle on the pitch. That match ended with a 20-32 success for the Pirates after a trademark late fightback stole the initiative from the home side. Jim McKay will expect a more controlled and assured performance tomorrow especially as he has tasted defeat twice at Coventry whilst in charge of the men from the Duchy.

In their opening two fixtures the Pirates have produced patches of high quality, fast paced and outstandingly aggressive rugby that have asked searching questions of their opponents. They have also shown a worrying propensity to switch off mentally after the half-time interval, a weakness that has not just cost them points but ultimately the match against the Saints. Coventry will be aware of this and McKay and his team have been working hard in training on closing out games.

The Pirates will take the field before their traditional travelling band of noisy adoring fans, who will be reinforced by the Midlands Cornish ex-pat community. The team will be led this week by fly-half Gareth Steenson as the inspirational Tim Cowley is forced to sit out the match with a hamstring strain. Eni Gesinde gets a full Pirates debut on the flank as Chris Cracknell switches to number 8. Nick Buckley also gets a first full start at Centre in place of Simon Whatling who drop to the bench. In the front row Dan Seal comes in for Sam Heard, and Johnny Williams steps up to the replacements bench as Alan Paver is still sidelined.

With my predictions so far way off beam I have got some catching up to do to restore a tattered reputation! I expect Coventry to start like a runaway train and if they can gain a sufficient advantage look to slow down and stifle the Pirates progress. The battle up front will be tough with Ollie Hodge no doubt keen to get one over his former employers in the shirt of the Midlanders. Bruce "The Enforcer" Cumming will enjoy the challenge.

If the Pirates start as they did against the Saints and maintain the momentum and concentration they will win. I believe they will so I`m going for a final score of Coventry 15 Pirates 37. 

Teams:-

Cornish Pirates
15 Adryan Winnan, 14 Rhodri McAtee, 13 Paul Devlin, 12 Nick Buckley, 11 Brian Tuohy
10 Gareth Steenson (Captain), 9 Richard Bolt, 8 Chris Cracknell, 7 Iva Motusaga, 6 Eniola Gisende
5 Bruce Cumming, 4 Joe Beardshaw, 3 Dan Seal, 2 Rob Elloway, 1 Peter Cook.
Replacements: 16 Sam Heard, 17 Johnny Williams, 18 Nathan Kemp, 19 Scott Hobson, 20 Simon Whatling
21 Steve Winn, 22 James Moore.

Coventry
15 Ben Toft (Capt), 14 Kurt Johnson, 13 Ben Russell, 12 Donovan Sanders, 11 George Dixon, 10 Myles Dorrian, 9 Tom Slater, 8 Laurie McGlone (Vice Capt), 7 Darren Clayton, 6 Henno Venter, 5 Ollie Hodge, 4 Gregor Gillanders, 3 Rudi Brits, 2 Chris Whitehead, 1 Carl Rimmer,

Replacements: 16 Stuart Firswell, 17 Dai Maddocks, 18 Danny Hodge, 19 Jamie Millar, 20 Mike Walls, 21 Ronnie McLean, 22 Lee Parry.

Referee- Mark Wilson (RFU) 

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