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Pirates ring changes

Friday, November 21, 2008, 10:00

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INJURIES, viruses, international call-ups and the need for some good old fashioned rest have meant Cornish Pirates head coach Mark Hewitt has had to dig deep into his squad reserves ahead of Sunday's visit of Sedgley Park (2pm).

The Pirates will take to the field at the Rec showing no fewer than eight changes to their line-up from that which was narrowly beaten 25-23 by National League One leaders Leeds Carnegie last Sunday.

A demanding run of fixtures, coupled with the international absence of Canadian trio Ed Fairhurst, Mike Burak and Scott Franklin, has meant Cornwall's top club side are currently in need of a fresh impetus.

Thankfully, Hewitt has at his disposal a more than useful stock of players and – as he pointed out yesterday – he is more than happy for everyone to show their worth as his side looked to get back to winning ways against a Sedgley side who have won just three times in 12 starts this season.

"This is why we have squads of 30, 35 players," explained Hewitt, who will be without the injured Nicky Griffiths and Rhys Jones, as well as captain Adryan Winnan because of a virus. "You can't go through a season and not expect to have people injured or missing at some stage – it just doesn't happen.

"We've tried to rotate the squad round a bit over the course of the season and it's no different this week. For some guys it's an opportunity for them to go out there and show what they can do.

"In no way are we taking Sedgley lightly by making these changes. We've had a testing run of fixtures, two hard games on the road [at Bedford and Esher] and then the Leeds game last week, plus we've had the Canadians away as well, so it's been hard on the boys.

"Sedgley, we know, are a good side and we have a lot of respect for them. We've watched them in a couple of games this week and they are a side who like to play with no fear and like to stretch sides. That said, if we can defend well and keep our attacking shape, then I think we can cause them problems, but we'll need to be at our best."

In a bid to help share the workload, Hewitt gives first starts of the season to Peter Cook, James Moore and the returning Simon Whatling, who played his first competitive game in 14 months when he featured for the Pirates in their 15-3 Cornwall Super Cup victory over the Cornish All Blacks at Polson.

Also in from the outset will be Sam Betty, Matt Evans, Tom Luke, Mark Ireland and Aisea Havili, the latter of whom has been sitting in Siberia since a verbal lashing by Hewitt following the home defeat by Rotherham last month. However, the Tongan international reminded Hewitt of his scoring talents on Monday evening when he dotted down two ties in the Super Cup success. Fly-half Doug Sanft, though, is still shivering on the sidelines despite featuring in the same game.

Instead of recalling the Samoan, Hewitt has instead opted for Steve Winn, Paul Devlin and youngster Richard Bright – who has been recalled from his loan spell with Mounts Bay – as his cover for the back division. For Bright, it is his first senior call-up for the Pirates and Hewitt has been delighted with the progress shown by the highly-rated 18-year-old.

"I thought Richard was really exciting on Monday," said Hewitt. "You can see he has benefited from going out on loan to Mounts Bay. At his age he needs to be playing week in, week out and getting that game time."

Likewise, Hewitt was also pleased to see the return of Whatling after a lengthy stint out of the game. He said: "I thought Simon went well considering the amount of time he has been out. He is in from the start on Sunday and together with Jimmy Moore, there's a good amount of experience at half-back."

Pirates: M Vakacegu; A Havili, M Ireland, T Luke, B Tuohy; S Whatling, J Moore; P Cook, D Dawiduik, S Heard; H Senekal, B Gulliver (capt); S Betty, I Motusaga, M Evans. Replacements: D Seal, A Paver, C Morgan, B Bedes, S Winn, P Devlin, R Bright.