British and Irish Cup

This weekend Doncaster Knights travel all the way to Cornwall to take on the Cornish Pirates in the British and Irish Cup Semi Final. Ulster and Munster contest the other Semi Final which will give us the final two teams contesting the first ever British and Irish Cup Final.

The Knights conquered Pool D with an unblemished record of 5 wins from 5 games and were the only team to gain the winning bonus point (4 tries or more) in each game, this run to the Semi Final typified the “ one resolve” of the squad to overcome the difficult run of 9 games in 27 days which part of the cup run featured as part of.

The Cornish Pirates finished top of Pool A with 4 wins and 1 loss, their loss was only narrowly (12 – 10) to Leinster. The Pirates collected home advantage in the draw, and both sides now know that they will host the final if triumphant. The final will be televised on SKY Sports HD on Sunday May 16 at 6pm, more incentive for both sides

For this game the Knights want to continue the form that saw them do the double over Nottingham in the Championship promotion play-offs, scoring 50 points against the Meadow Lane side over two games. The win last weekend proved that even when down, it is never safe to count the Knights out, a sting in the tail even when on the ropes in a competition. The South Yorkshire side kept their promotion Semi dream alive with that result, and are still contesting a season on two fronts. This seems an unbelievable achievement for a side who lost their opening 6 games and had to bring in Academy Players and unretire Assistant Coach Brett Davey to marshall their first win of the season.

The Pirates have little to keep their powder dry for, Bedford’s 15 points in the playoff promotion table puts them 5 points in front of the Pirates in the competition and there are only 5 points remaining to play for. Bedford also have a points difference advantage of +28 , meaning that even if the Pirates manage to secure a 5 point win it would have to be a free scoring and defensive performance.

The game is destined to be an all guns blazing affair, with both squads wanting to lift the Cup and be forever known as the first British and Irish Cup winners and both Directors of Rugby demanding another show of commitment from players who have a season of game time behind them.

The Pirates know this is the perfect chance to reward their travelling “Press gang” for their loyal support season after Season and will go into the Semi final with the home Cornish support as loud as they have been in years.

The Knights bonded in adversity this season and learned one valuable lesson, take the next game as the one to focus on and leave discussions of finals to those who have already qualified.