Having won four ‘Champ’ games on the trot, and in the process moved up to fourth in the league table, the Cornish Pirates will be looking to maintain their progress at home to Richmond on Saturday (ko 2.30pm). They will also warmly welcome special guests Bill Sweeney (RFU Chief Executive) and Simon Gillham (Chair of the Tier 2 Board) to the Mennaye Field.

‘The Mond’, to give Richmond their nickname, have returned to the level after playing two years in National One. They are presently tenth of 14 teams in the division and have to date recorded three wins, including a 17-12 victory against Hartpury last time out.

Following their 52-0 win against Cambridge two weeks ago, the Cornish Pirates side shows several changes for this weekend. In the starting XV there are returns for wing Arthur Relton, prop Alfie Petch, and flanker Jack Forsythe, whilst Max Norey, who has arrived at the Mennaye Field on loan from Exeter Chiefs and has made 19 appearances for the Pirates in the past, is selected at hooker. Another ‘Chief’, Zack Wimbush, who literally made a big impact as a replacement for the Pirates against Cambridge, is unavailable this weekend, but two players pleasingly recovered from injury and taking places on the bench are backrower Rory Suttor and centre Chester Ribbons.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s encounter, joint head coach Gavin Cattle has said:

“It has been good to see progress on the things we have been working on, such as our kick game and line-out, but we still have a lot of growth to go and need to maintain our focus, and with have a tough block of games ahead we’ll know afterwards where we are at.

“For the immediate present, after completing our first set of matches and having had a week off, we need now to be ready to go again, and we certainly won’t be taking anything for granted against a Richmond side who we respect. They are very spirited, have a set of talented backs and have worked their way back up, so credit to them. Also, having played at the Mennaye in the past, and having one or two players in their squad who have worn our shirt, they are fully aware of what to expect.

“But, importantly focusing back on us, we just need to continue improving in certain areas. The kick game has gone well and the line-out is markedly better, but we need to improve in multi-phasing. The exciting thing just now though is that we have boys coming back from injury and the competition for places will be hotting up, which is always a must.”

The full selection for the Cornish Pirates on Saturday is as follows:

Cornish Pirates:   15 Iwan Price-Thomas 14 Matty Ward 13 Harry Yates 12 Joe Elderkin 11 Arthur Relton 10 Louie Sinclair 9 Dan Hiscocks (captain); 1 Billy Young 2 Max Norey 3 Alfie Petch 4 Charlie Rice 5 Alfie Bell 6 Josh King 7 Jack Forsythe 8 Tomi Agbongbon.

Replacements:  16 Matt Pritchard 17 Alessandro Heaney 18 James French 19 Milo Hallam 20 Rory Suttor 21 Will Rigelsford 22 Angus Mawson 23 Chester Ribbons.

Referee:   Ben Simpson

Assistants:   Iain Kiy & Simon Adams

Official 4:   Paul Box

Match Day Sponsor:   Microcomms

Match Ball Sponsor:   One Atlantek

Match Day Collection:   The Ickle Pickles Children’s Charity