Pirates of Penzance come to Veritas Park

Rather than treading the boards of the Brewhouse, these Cornish Pirates are rugby players. Finishing third last season in the Championship, the men from the Mennaye Field in Penzance will have their sights on an even higher finish this term. This Saturday’s fixture at Veritas Park on Hyde Lane marks the first home game of pre-season for the Taunton Titans and one of only two games for the Pirates before they begin their campaign in English rugby’s second tier.

Coached by Alan Paver and Gavin Cattle, the Pirates have made a habit of hitting the ground running, claiming some big scalps along the way. They make it difficult for teams to go to Penzance and win – Exeter Chiefs came a cropper there in a 2018 pre-season game and in 2021 Saracens lost their opening Championship encounter at the Mennaye Field. A three-hour drive to Taunton is considered a local derby by the men in black and red. The sheer distance they must cover to play the likes of Nottingham and Doncaster surely takes its toll. So it’s incredible that they lost just four games last season –the same number as eventual champions Ealing Trailfinders. This season will be the first that they begin though since news broke that the Stadium for Cornwall project will no longer go ahead, a major blow to their Premiership aspirations.

For Tony Yapp’s Taunton charges this game provides an opportunity to see how much they have advanced since the last time the Pirates raided several seasons ago. On that occasion the Cornishmen won by a country mile. Now, however, Titans play in National League One – just one tier below the Championship’s Pirates. Though a pre-season friendly, it’s a great chance to get a feel for what might lie ahead in the future of Somerset’s ambitious leading rugby club.

Both clubs benefit from a close relationship with Exeter Chiefs. It’s an arrangement that enables Exeter’s squad players to gain valuable game time whilst adding strength to Pirates and Titans. The Cornishmen number seven on-loan Chiefs in their ranks this season including several well-known to the Veritas Park faithful - Matt Johnson, Cory Teague and Tom Wyatt - all of whom have previously played for Titans.

It promises to be a special match-day atmosphere at Veritas Park. In addition to the famous pre-match carvery, there is a curtain-raiser for the Taunton 2XV against visiting Crediton RFC. There will bethe usual bars open and offerings from Proper Cornish whose delicious pasties,like Trelawny’s Army, make the journey up the A30. It’s likely that there will good number of visiting fans, so Taunton’s rugby supporters are urged togetbehind the boys. With entrance just £10 for adults, there’s no excuse not toturn up.

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