Yorkshire Carnegie
Potential Banana Skin - Away to Cornish Pirates!
Cornish Old Boy
By Mark Cotton
November 13 2008
Leeds make their only ‘European’ jaunt of the season next Sunday when they cross the Tamar to visit the Cornish Pirates. Only a few weeks ago this match would have looked a banker result for the Headingley side, but the Pirates have put together a decent run of results, including a draw at Doncaster and a sensational win at Bedford. Unbeaten Leeds must be at their best to take the points.
Hopefully there were no injury worries following Leeds’ win over Bedford, so this should give the management team of Back and Key the opportunity to put out a full-strength side. I would expect that ex-Pirates Richard Welding and Alberto di Bernardo to feature in the 22, but sadly for the Cornish fans former favourite Vili Ma’asi is suffering from a long-term injury and will take no part in the game though I expect he will be present at the Rec.
‘Negie will need lots of experience and guile in the forwards, so I’d expect Hendre Fourie to start. Little Murph and Jon Pendlebury have formed an effective partnership at lock, and Sunday’s front row put in a good performance against their Bedford counterparts with Fosi and Tommy providing a very large handful in the loose. If Leeds can get an upper hand in the scrums, quick ball should enable whoever is picked in the centres to break through the Pirates centres, who possibly are the weakest link in the side.
Again, there are several options for 12 and 13 but certainly the ever-improving Scott Barrow should have made the 13 shirt his, and Henry Paul must surely make an appearance. Finally I’d expect Tom Biggs and Leigh Hinton to take their usual positions in the backs. However given the coaches’ habit of squad rotation I’ve no doubt they will keep everybody guessing until the last moment.
I’m sure that those of us travelling to Camborne will witness a full-blooded encounter with no quarter given by either side. And that’s just in the bars and pubs of West Cornwall! Two seasons ago the Pirates gave us arguably the three most exciting games we faced in ND1. Leeds just scraped the honours in the league matches with a home win and a draw on our travels. Pirates took the honours on a blizzard swept Friday night at Headingley by a single point on their way to taking the Powergen trophy at Twickenham. With three thousand baying Cornishmen, including the famous ‘Press Gang’ international travelling supporters, packing the Camborne Rec., Carnegie will need to be on top of their game to take the result.
Anything less and the Duchy of Cornwall could become their Banana-skin Republic.
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13/11/2008 14:49
Enjoy the trip down and keep us posted!
looking forward to the Premiership next Season already...!
Cornish Pirates Academy 14 - Leicester Tigers Academy 10
When these Guys were watching:
