Gutsy Scots make Pirates work hard for victory

By MIKE SINCLAIR

Cornish P ………. 21pts

Tries: Nelson 29, John 74, Williams 80

Conversions: Jenkins 29, 74, 80

London Scots …. 0pts

TWO late tries put the gloss on the scoreline after the Pirates were forced to dig deep to repel a side they had slaughtered 50-14 away in the Premiership Cup a fortnight earlier.

Battling London Scottish went toe to toe for 74 minutes before the Cornish side finally ensured four points from their opening Championship fixture.

Only a converted firsthalf catch and drive pushover try for Pirates hooker Morgan Nelson, following a huge 50-22 from Iwan Jenkins, separated the sides for the vast majority of a hardfought clash as wind and driving rain lashed the Mennaye Field.

Scottish occupied much of the territory, laying siege to the home line for most of the first 15 minutes of the second half but a desperate defensive effort kept them out.

The resistance of the part-timers was finally broken as Pirates’ two best performers combined with Jenkins making the break to send fellow Exter dual-reg recruit Dan John in for their second try.

Then Pirates struck again with Nelson’s replacement Rhys Williams on the end of a second rolling maul try following a penalty into the corner.

Scottish, undertaking the 530-mile round trip to Cornwall in a day, made 11 changes to the side which started the previous clash between the two sides and director of rugby Bryan Redpath rated it “a great performance”.

The former Scotland captain said: “We’re a two four-hours training a week side against a fully professional outfit and there are a lot of positives from where we were two weeks ago.

“We had four opportunities and didn’t score while Pirates took their chances and full credit to them.”

With full-back Kyle Moyle injured, John made a hugely impressive Mennaye debut – rock solid under the high ball in atrocious conditions with an effective deep kicking game and a counter-attacking threat.

The lineout was less impressive with Pirates losing six on their own throw with four of those coming in the opening 15 minutes but they got their act together against a combative visiting pack with an effective back row.

Assistant coach Louie Tomkin said: “It certainly wasn’t a classic and the weather determined the game. Scottish were a very tough team with some good athletes. We’re happy with the result after we pulled away at the end.”