Thursday 27 February 2014

Pirates V Jersey. Ian Davies interview

The Cornish Pirates have had a tricky few weeks with recent defeats costing them a real shot at the top four play offs this season writes James Hewlett. A cracking start that saw them win seven of their first nine matches, before a memorable finish by Jersey at St Peter giving the Islanders a much needed four points, gave the Pirates’ supporters false hope that they could challenge for the top spots once again.

Head Coach Ian Davies has been quite pragmatic about the whole situation. ‘It's where we are as squad’, he said. He continued, ‘I said at the start of the year it would be a roller coaster. People look at the results and see four defeats but they need to be taken in the context of where they are in the season, all four of them on the road, and one in the British and Irish Cup when we had already qualified for the Quarter Finals. Long term injuries to senior players hasn't helped, but has meant more game time for younger players.’

Davies believed that whilst he has a good side, this was not to be a stellar season for the Cornishmen. ‘We were never realistically going to finish in the top four this year. It is easy for people to get carried away after a few early season results. We are a mid-table squad that on it's day can beat anyone else in this league.’

With the play-offs out of the question, the focus has switched to other avenues. Davies has controversially stated, ‘I've publicly said that the British and Irish Cup is now our priority. This has upset some supporters but they are not looking at the season as a whole, the stages of development (through the cup campaign) that this squad need so they can flourish and prosper in future years will be invaluable.’ 

This will be the fourth time the sides have clashed this season, with the Pirates having held the upper hand for much of the three previous games. Davies does not believe this is now relevant, and rates Jersey as a much better side than their lowly league position suggests, especially with a new Head Coach settling in. Davies said, ‘Well of course Harvey Biljon was assistant coach here at the Pirates for four years so will know a lot about us. I'm sure he is constructing a game plan to trouble us as he strives to stave off the threat of relegation. With the squad Jersey has relegation should not be a worry really. For us, we have two wins and a defeat (against Jersey) but we really have only played 100 minutes of decent rugby over those three matches.’

Plenty then for both coaches to work on, both before, during and after this game, and Davies highlighted several Jersey players he will instruct his charges to keep a close eye on. ‘Dai Bishop has been consistently good,’ he said. ‘(Niall) O'Connor is a very good goal kicker, (Mark) McCrea is a dangerous runner and Tom Brown is a very strong ball carrier. It goes without saying we know how good the former Pirates in the Jersey squad can be – Drew Locke, Grant Pointer, Nicky Griffiths, Aaron Penberthy, Ben Maidment and Joe Buckle.’ It is unlikely that all the former players will be given a chance on Saturday, but those who do will be anxious to do well on their old stamping ground, and give Jersey a much needed buffer over Ealing Trailfinders at the bottom.





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