Cornish Pirates

After the Pirates beat the Knights 10 – 21 at Castle Park in September can the Knights prevent the Cornish club achieving the double?

Comparing league standings the Pirates are 5th with 7 wins and 5 losses, while the Knights are 11th with 4 and 8. The Pirates have a greater points difference of 59 or about 5 points/game.

Statistically in Blair Cowan (no. 8) and ex-Knight Wes Davies (full back), the Pirates have the Championship’s 2nd and =3rd top try scorers. Rhodri McAtee (Pirates scrum half) sits in 19th position in the scoring charts and has scored more tries than any Knight. In total, the Cornish Pirates have scored 35 tries to the Knights’ 20. The Pirates’ have also virtually scored double the amount of tries in the second half of games to the first half and unfortunately about 70% have been scored in Cornwall. This means the Knights must set themselves for a tough second half away at Camborne.

Not surprisingly given Cowan’s try scoring rate; Back Row features fairly well within the tries scored by position, as does the Full Back but all of the backs follow closely behind. Tries scored by wingers are predominant, being nearly 40% of all tries scored by the backs. Although Pirate forwards have scored 11 tries (but Cowan has scored 7 of those) and the Knights have scored 3, collectively the Knights forwards have amassed 6 but the Pirates haven’t been awarded any penalty tries.

The Pirates are the Championship’s 4th top try scorers but have the 5th worst try leakage. Conversely the Knights are equal 3rd in try leakage (fewest) but 3rd bottom in tries scored according to Statbunker.

Defensively with 28 tries against, the Pirates have had 7 more tries scored against them than the Knights. The tries scored against the Pirates have been fairly even home, away and throughout the game with only slightly more in the second half and a couple more away. Therefore the tries scored difference is 8 for the Pirates.

So the Knights must watch for the No.8 peeling off scrums/rucks & mauls and good passing between the backs giving scoring opportunities to break the line and the ball often being shipped out wide to the wings if a breach can’t be exposed.

Although a Cornish Pirate isn’t particularly high on the list of top points scorers that is because they don’t use 1 major kicker. Jonathan Bentley (Fly Half), James Moore (Left Wing), Rob Cook (Full Back) and Rhys Jones (Fly Half) all appear in the Championship’s top 20 points scorers with 132 points between them (Individually the highest, Gareth Steenson of Exeter Chiefs has scored 124)

Elsewhere 3 teams could be caught but the Bees can’t catch us and all 3 teams have a worse points difference. Coventry are closest on points difference, 34 points worse than the Knights but Coventry’s future looks very dismal.
Plymouth Albion (4 league points above) travel to Goldington Road to play the Blues from Bedford (4th)
Coventry (2 points above) go to Devon to face the unbeaten Exeter Chiefs, while Rotherham (1 point above) must face 2nd-placed Bedford.

So interestingly the bottom 4 (above the Bees) must play the top 5 apart from Nottingham (3rd which should make for an interesting weekend should results not go to form for any of the top 4.