Matt Evans to move on

As the season for the Cornish Pirates has now come to an end, team manager Matt Evans has decided to step down from his role to become a fulltime employee with the Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service.

A former Canadian international, Matt joined the Cornish Pirates post the 2011 Rugby World Cup, making his debut as a player that November in a superb 10-6 British & Irish Cup win away to Munster. Now aged 35, he had decided to hang up his boots during the 2019/20 season after having made 130 appearances and scoring an impressive total of 63 tries – also not forgetting a successful drop goal landed when the Pirates recorded a memorable 45-38 victory against Bristol in February 2015.

A wonderful servant during his time at the Pirates, Matt has commented:

“My time with Pirates has come to a close, and reflecting on both my playing and backroom staff experiences my feeling is that I leave with some great memories and friendships.

“I would like to thank Dicky (Evans) for his support throughout my time here, as without him none of this would have been possible. Having arrived at the club 12 years ago with a kit bag, I now leave as a Homeowner, Husband, Father and Firefighter due to Dicky’s support.

“It has been a long journey to apply for a wholetime position with the Cornwall Fire and Rescue service and I wouldn’t have been able to do so without the support of Gav and Paves (joint head coaches Gavin Cattle & Alan Paver). They allowed me to be on-call in Penzance for the last four years and they, without hesitation, supported me with flexibility and cover to enable me to attend training courses, ‘shouts’ and other commitments so I could be in a position to apply. Naturally, I cannot thank them enough for this, and for me it symbolises what they as a management duo are about.”

Matt added:

“Thank you to the Pirates community and Cornwall. I am lucky to keep this county as my home and look forward to coming to watch the Pirates -but on the other side of the railings next season!”