Rugby rivals poised for battle

WELSHMAN Gavin Cattle is ready to lead the charge as the Cornish Pirates bid to become the first side this season to inflict defeat on Championship leaders Exeter Chiefs.

Back for a second spell with the Pirates, the 29-year-old knows all about big game encounters with the Chiefs – as it was the scrum-half himself who skippered the Cornish club to victory over Exeter in the final of the EDF Energy National Trophy at Twickenham in 2007.

Two years on from that memorable occasion, the rivalry between the two Westcountry clubs remains as intense as ever. It's a fixture which – for both teams – is one that always gets the blood pumping through the veins. Tomorrow, over 6,000 are expected to pack into Sandy Park for the latest match up.

Not only are local bragging rights and cross-county rivalries at stake, but the thought of downing the rampant Chiefs for the first time this campaign is a high motivating factor for the visiting Pirates.

"Obviously they are the frontrunners and massive favourites for the game, but we will approach it like any other game and try to cause an upset," said Cattle.

"Exeter, we know, are a great side and have some very good players in their ranks. It's going to be tough, of course, but we too have good players and we'll be going up there and giving it our best shot on the day."

Buoyed by a narrow victory over Bedford Blues last Sunday, Cattle believes the fourth-placed Pirates have the quality and determination within their ranks to pull off a result.

"We needed the Bedford result," added Cattle. "We'd had a few indifferent weeks and it was important that we showed some kind of response. Ahead of the game we had done a bit of soul searching as a group and asked questions of ourselves as to why we were not always transferring the things we did in training onto the pitch on a Saturday. Obviously there are various reasons for that, things like the opposition, injuries, etc, but a lot of it starts with the effort and grit that you put in – that is what we are all about.

"To be a top eight side in the Championship doesn't come easy, you have to work at it. Against Bedford, yes you could say we were a bit fortunate at the end, but we stuck at it throughout and put in what I thought was a gutsy performance."

An equal dose – if not more – will be required from the Pirates against a Chiefs side, which shows three changes from that which saw off Nottingham 42-11.

Sean Marsden and Paul McKenzie come into the back division in place of Emyr Lewis and Matt Cornwell, while James Hanks gets the nod over Tom Hayes in the second row. Hayes' demotion to the bench means Richard Baxter will skipper the Exeter side, a position the all-action No.8 has carried out countless times in the past.

Like Cattle, Baxter is relishing tomorrow's meeting. He said: "Games between ourselves and the Pirates are always big occasions. At the start of the year it's these local derby fixtures that you always look for first.

"We know how good a side they are and that they'll come up to us with a lot of supporters behind them. Over the years we've had some great games with Penzance and Saturday is going to be another."

Key focus for Baxter and his fellow Chiefs is maintaining their unbeaten tag. He added: "I don't think there is any extra pressure on us this week simply because we put pressure on ourselves every week to keep producing. When you are top of the league, everybody wants to try and knock you off, so it's up to us to try and keep winning."