Post by Jamie Crawford on Sept 30, 2014 12:32:06 GMT
The Pirates have had a very poor start to the season for them, starting with three straight losses. They finished sixth in the Championship last season; so in the top half.
Looking at their opening fixtures, their poor start is not surprising.
Their defeats have been home to the Knights’ opponents last week Leeds Carnegie (18 – 29), home to second-placed London Scottish (19 – 30), away against Championship leaders Bristol (45 – 17) and finally a home win against Moseley (29 - 19). Don’t forget that Bristol won Stage One of the Championship, only to be overtaken by London Welsh in the Promotion Play-offs.
Last Sunday when the Prates played Moseley, Moseley were ninth before the match due to them drawing against Jersey and scoring a losing bonus point. Moseley are now eleventh and the Pirates have risen up from the bottom of the hull to tenth.
Does that game mark the comeback of the Pirates; have the Pirates boarded the ship and started asserting their authority? Forcing teams to walk the plank springs to mind but apparently Pirates didn’t actually do that. Pirate’s actual punishments/killings were far more gruesome but not suitable for films!
Each of the teams that they have played, apart from Moseley are or have been the top two teams in the Championship this season, so the Pirates have had arguably the toughest start to the season of any club. They haven’t played Worcester Warriors or Rotherham Titans yet but they’ve only got to play Bristol and the Scottish once more this season.
The Knights lie in fifth place following their fantastic 32 - 23 win against Carnegie last Sunday but don’t let fifth v tenth lull you into a false sense of security, Saturday will probably be a hard-fought and close encounter but the Knights are capable of defending their Castle against the marauding Pirates.
The Pirate Tom Kessell (scrum half) is their danger man at try-scoring and equal third in the Championship. Aaron Carpenter (hooker/No. 8), Matt Evans (wing/full back) and Kyle Moyle (utility back) are only a try behind. Despite their league position, collectively the Pirates are the fifth top try-scorers in the Championship. The Pirates have scored more tries than the Knights which demonstrates that it’s not only how many tries you score but when you score them. More important is defense; the Pirates have conceded more tries than any other team in the Championship which is not surprising given the quality of their opposition in their opening three games.
The Pirates have leaked more than three times as many tries scored by forwards as the Knights and double that of Moseley, the second weakest against forwards. Again this may be misleading given that only four games have been played plus the forward strength of Bristol and London Scottish.
Similar to the Knights, the Pirates have been stronger in the second half and they have let a few tries more run by them in the opening twenty of each half.
Yet again given the strength of the Pirates early opposition, the stats probably don’t illustrate their strengths and weaknesses. Only video footage of their games played can do this and I’m sure that Griff has reviewed this and highlighted them to the Knights.
After four games Bristol are top of the table and the only team to have won all their games in the Championship; they have scored a winning bonus point in ¾ of their games. We are one of four teams that have only lost one of their first four opening games but Worcester Warriors, London Scottish and Rotherham Titans have won three, three and two bonus points respectively compared to our one scored last Sunday.
Jersey lie in wait one place and three points below us, they have only won one of their four opening games but they are the only team in the championship to have scored four bonus points in four games (plus a draw). Jersey travel to Goldington Road to play ninth-place Bedford Blues.
This early in the season and with so many permutations with bonus points; a bonus point win could put us second (but won’t in the real World!) A loss could drop us to eighth but similarly it’s highly unlikely. The Knights must draw confidence in the fact that Leeds Carnegie beat the Pirates in Cornwall yet the Knights beat Carnegie in Leeds and not concern themselves with other results.
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
Looking at their opening fixtures, their poor start is not surprising.
Their defeats have been home to the Knights’ opponents last week Leeds Carnegie (18 – 29), home to second-placed London Scottish (19 – 30), away against Championship leaders Bristol (45 – 17) and finally a home win against Moseley (29 - 19). Don’t forget that Bristol won Stage One of the Championship, only to be overtaken by London Welsh in the Promotion Play-offs.
Last Sunday when the Prates played Moseley, Moseley were ninth before the match due to them drawing against Jersey and scoring a losing bonus point. Moseley are now eleventh and the Pirates have risen up from the bottom of the hull to tenth.
Does that game mark the comeback of the Pirates; have the Pirates boarded the ship and started asserting their authority? Forcing teams to walk the plank springs to mind but apparently Pirates didn’t actually do that. Pirate’s actual punishments/killings were far more gruesome but not suitable for films!
Each of the teams that they have played, apart from Moseley are or have been the top two teams in the Championship this season, so the Pirates have had arguably the toughest start to the season of any club. They haven’t played Worcester Warriors or Rotherham Titans yet but they’ve only got to play Bristol and the Scottish once more this season.
The Knights lie in fifth place following their fantastic 32 - 23 win against Carnegie last Sunday but don’t let fifth v tenth lull you into a false sense of security, Saturday will probably be a hard-fought and close encounter but the Knights are capable of defending their Castle against the marauding Pirates.
The Pirate Tom Kessell (scrum half) is their danger man at try-scoring and equal third in the Championship. Aaron Carpenter (hooker/No. 8), Matt Evans (wing/full back) and Kyle Moyle (utility back) are only a try behind. Despite their league position, collectively the Pirates are the fifth top try-scorers in the Championship. The Pirates have scored more tries than the Knights which demonstrates that it’s not only how many tries you score but when you score them. More important is defense; the Pirates have conceded more tries than any other team in the Championship which is not surprising given the quality of their opposition in their opening three games.
The Pirates have leaked more than three times as many tries scored by forwards as the Knights and double that of Moseley, the second weakest against forwards. Again this may be misleading given that only four games have been played plus the forward strength of Bristol and London Scottish.
Similar to the Knights, the Pirates have been stronger in the second half and they have let a few tries more run by them in the opening twenty of each half.
Yet again given the strength of the Pirates early opposition, the stats probably don’t illustrate their strengths and weaknesses. Only video footage of their games played can do this and I’m sure that Griff has reviewed this and highlighted them to the Knights.
After four games Bristol are top of the table and the only team to have won all their games in the Championship; they have scored a winning bonus point in ¾ of their games. We are one of four teams that have only lost one of their first four opening games but Worcester Warriors, London Scottish and Rotherham Titans have won three, three and two bonus points respectively compared to our one scored last Sunday.
Jersey lie in wait one place and three points below us, they have only won one of their four opening games but they are the only team in the championship to have scored four bonus points in four games (plus a draw). Jersey travel to Goldington Road to play ninth-place Bedford Blues.
This early in the season and with so many permutations with bonus points; a bonus point win could put us second (but won’t in the real World!) A loss could drop us to eighth but similarly it’s highly unlikely. The Knights must draw confidence in the fact that Leeds Carnegie beat the Pirates in Cornwall yet the Knights beat Carnegie in Leeds and not concern themselves with other results.
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
