The Cornish Pirates welcome Richmond to the Mennaye Field, Penzance, on Sunday for a first meeting between the two teams. The kick-off is at 2.30pm.

After the toughest of introductions to the Greene King IPA Championship, Richmond recently notched up their first points of the season.

Playing neighbours London Scottish in their last ‘away’ game, a full-blooded and spirited performance earned them a deserved 17-16 victory at the Richmond Athletic Ground, whilst last weekend at the same venue they picked up an impressive four-try bonus point when losing 39-31 to Yorkshire Carnegie.

Respectful of the challenge that an improving Richmond side will pose, at the same time the Pirates will look to follow up their excellent win at Doncaster with another encouraging result.

Wing Matt Evans and lock Brett Beukeboom return from international duty with Canada, and the game will also mark flanker Alex Cheesman’s 100th appearance for the club.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s contest, co-coach Gavin Cattle has said: “We are expecting this game to be a big challenge, against a tight knit group who have recruited sensibly and are now starting to find their feet.

“Our boys will be keen to put on a good performance at home, but with there no room for complacency.”

The Cornish Pirates full selection is as follows:

Cornish Pirates: 15 Toby May, 14 Kyle Moyle, 13 Tom Hendrickson, 12 Nicolas De Battista, 11 Matt Evans, 10 Laurence May, 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Tom Duncan, 7 Alex Cheesman (100th game), 6 Jake Parker, 5 Brett Beukeboom, 4 Chris Morgan (capt), 3 Tyler Gendall, 2 Rob Elloway, 1 Marlen Walker. Replacements: 16 Tom Channon, 17 Jack Andrew, 18 Edd Pascoe, 19 John Stevens, 20 Alex Day, 21 Will Cargill, 22 Jack Arnott.

Tickets for the Sunday’s contest will be available at the gates on the day, but the advice for supporters is to purchase their ticket needs early. For further information please visit www.cornish-pirates.com/tickets

With reference to pre-match hospitality for this and all future home games please contact the General Manager, Tom Magill – tel: 01736-335314 or email tom.magill@cornish-pirates.com