By Phil Westren

WITH the first set of Premiership Cup games completed, eleventh-placed Cornish Pirates return to Championship action when they welcome sixth-placed Chinnor to the Mennaye Field on Friday evening (ko 7.30pm).

It will be a first-time meeting of the teams at senior level, Chinnor – nicknamed the Villagers - having gained promotion to the Championship at the end of last season. Their Director of Rugby is former Harlequins and England forward Nick Easter, who was pleased to see his team win their Championship opener 57-24 against Cambridge back in September.

However, he was though less pleased when Chinnor and Cambridge were not included in this season’s Premiership Cup competition, a decision that many feel was appalling.

Credit to the two sides for then deciding that they would play each other in the ‘Not the Premiership Cup’!

The Cornish Pirates, who will be seeking their first home win of the season, make four changes in their starting XV from the one that faced Hartpury away last weekend. There are returns for Billy Keast at loosehead prop and Bruce Houston at fly-half and, with Harry Yates named to partner Charlie McCaig in the centre, Matt McNab moves out on the wing.

Commenting ahead of Friday’s encounter, Cornish Pirates’ joint head coach Alan Paver said: “Getting promoted into the Championship is a bit like entering the unknown, so credit to Chinnor for doing extremely well. I am sure they have a good balance of retained and freshly recruited players who will form tough opponents.

“For us, at present, there is a lot of expectation, as we really need a win. If it comes, we’ll take it and be delighted, but we’ll have to be as best prepared as we can. Our group of young men are working hard and getting better, but we need to put in a performance on the field for the full 80 minutes.

“Coming out of the Cup games we have reaffirmed the value of the set piece, and although not yet really seeing the reward, we will. Experience gained will tell at some point, and it is also important to keep the mood buoyant, improve our game management, and with good leadership move forward.”

Alan added: “Something that has stood out is the understanding of our supporters. Knowledgeable, they are aware we are in a process of development, and they have, of course, witnessed such cycles before. Yes, there will be inevitable feelings of frustration at times, which we all have, but needed at present their support has shone through.”

CORNISH PIRATES: 15 Will Trewin 14 Matt McNab 13 Charlie McCaig 12 Harry Yates 11 Arthur Relton 10 Bruce Houston 9 Cam Jones; 1 Billy Keast 2 Sol Moody 3 James French 4 Charlie Rice 5 Eoin O’Connor 6 Josh King 7 Will Gibson 8 Hugh Bokenham (captain). Replacements: 16 Harry Hocking 17 Billy Young 18 Jay Tyack 19 Matt Cannon 20 Tomi Agbongbon 21 Dan Hiscocks 22 Iwan Jenkins 23 Iwan Price-Thomas.