Having lost by the narrowest of margins, 27-26, at home to Bedford Blues last Friday evening, in Round 11 of ‘Champ’ rugby the Cornish Pirates will strive to bounce back away to Chinnor on Saturday.

Enjoying their second season in Tier 2, and with former Harlequins and England player Nick Easter at the helm as the Oxfordshire side’s Director of Rugby, ‘The Villagers’, to give Chinnor their nickname, have settled in well. After acquiring several impressive results, they will inevitably provide stern opposition in what will be a seventh versus fourth in the league encounter at Kingsey Road, Thame, which kicks off at 3pm.

The Cornish Pirates make just one change in their backs for Saturday, with Matty Ward making a return on the wing in place of Harry Yates, who this week takes a seat on the bench. As for the pack, a fresh pair of prop forwards are selected to start, namely Alessandro Heaney and Ollie Andrews. Heaney featured as a replacement against Bedford Blues, replacing Billy Young, with Ollie Andrews makes a first start in the league this season in place of Alfie Petch with James French retaining the tight head bench slot.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s contest, which will be the Cornish Pirates final game in 2025, joint head coach Gavin Cattle has said:

“Firstly, I felt our game against Bedford was a good advert for ‘Champ’ rugby. There were just a few crucial moments in the game that we didn’t quite manage well enough, and there are sometimes certain little things that can change the momentum of a game. However, Bedford are a good team, and we did push them as close as.

“Looking forward now to our fixture on Saturday away to Chinnor, they have commendably found their feet at the level and have recorded some impressive results. We are under no illusion that they will provide a tough challenge as we’ll work to return to winning ways.

“There have been some really encouraging signs in our play and focusing on ourselves we must look to build on the positives.”

The Cornish Pirates full selection for Friday is as follows:

Cornish Pirates:   15 Louie Sinclair 14 Arthur Relton 13 Chester Ribbons 12 Joe Elderkin 11 Matty Ward 10 Arwel Robson 9 Dan Hiscocks (captain); 1 Alessandro Heaney 2 Morgan Nelson 3 Ollie Andrews 4 Charlie Rice 5 Alfie Bell 6 Matt Cannon 7 Josh King 8 Tomi Agbongbon.

Replacements:   16 Matt Pritchard 17 Billy Young 18 James French 19 Rory Suttor 20 Luke Ratcliff 21 Will Rigelsford 22 Harry Yates 23 Ben Cambriani.

Referee:   Joe James

Assistants:   Jack Sutton & Simon Adams

Official 4:   Steve Hambley