The Midlanders have impressed of late with a notable victory at Castle Park against Doncaster Knights (28-17), followed a week later with a solid bonus point victory over a dogged Sedgley Park side (28-7). These performances a far cry from the one served up in the 34-6 humbling at Nottingham earlier in the month - a defeat that marked the end of Murray Henderson`s reign as Head Coach.

Coventry now sit ninth in Division One with six wins to their credit and eleven bonus points in their season total of thirty-five to date. They have only one other victory on the road to their name to date this season but it was another notable scalp - a 28-19 victory at Brickfields over Graham Dawe`s Plymouth Albion.

Recent fixtures between the Pirates and Coventry have been tight affairs and rarely easy on the eye. Earlier in the season the Cornishmen stole the match six minutes into second half stoppage time, as Gareth Steenson`s conversion following Chris Cracknell`s try broke the home side`s hearts. Coventry did little to help their cause having two players sin binned in the dying minutes for needless fouls, but in truth it was a poor performance from the Pirates.

The last meeting between these two sides at Camborne came on January 7th when, in appalling weather conditions, two Kurt Johnson tries had Coventry 6-15 ahead as the game moved into the final quarter. Only a late try for Vili Ma`asi and an even later penalty from the man who joined him at Leeds - Alberto Di Bernardo - saving the Pirates blushes as they triumphed by a single point again.

Having suffered several injuries following the battle with Northampton Saints, and perhaps with one eye on the return cup match against the Saints and the massive derby against Exeter in the next few weeks, Pirates Head Coach Jim McKay has shuffled his line-up for tomorrow`s game.

Tongan international Vunga Lilo will start at full-back, his positional home for his country, with Paul Devlin recalled at inside centre in place of the injured Steve Winn. James Moore will start on the left wing against his former club, whilst Cov kid Peter Cook gets the nod at loosehead in place of Alan Paver who starts on the bench. Scott Hobson comes in for the injured Bruce Cumming, and Tim Cowley reverts to Number 8 in place of Matt Evans.

The biggest selection call has again been made at fly-half with Ollie Thomas getting another chance to repeat the flair-filled performance he put in a fortnight ago against the Cornish All Blacks. McKay was right to recall Gareth Steenson at Franklins Gardens, but another good performance from Thomas will really put the Irishman under pressure for the ten shirt.

Coventry have named a side including the ever-reliable Johnson on the wing, former Pirate Ollie Hodge on the bench, and Myles Dorrian at ten with their captain - Ben Russell - in the centre, both of whom terrorised the Pirates at the Butts Park Arena in September.

I expect home advantage to be a telling factor tomorrow with Coventry attempting to dominate up front and nullify the pacey counter-attacking style of the Pirates. Don`t expect it to be pretty to watch!

TEAMS 

PIRATES - Lilo, Tuohy, Ireland, Devlin, Moore, Thomas, Fairhurst, Cook, Dawiduik, Seal, Senekal, Hobson, Cracknell, Motusaga, Cowley (capt).

Replacements - Elloway, Paver, Evans, Betty, Steenson, Bolt, McAtee

COVENTRY - Toft, Kirisome, Sanders, Russell (capt), Johnson, Dorrian, Jones, Maddocks, Whitehead, Britts, Nimmo, Gillanders, Rheeders, Venter, McGlone.

Replacements - Rimmer, Whitehall, O. Hodge, D. Hodge, Walls, Cobden, Davey

Referee - Nick Williams (RFU)

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