THE Cornish Pirates rounded off their pre-season programme with a convincing 61-14 victory over a youthful Exeter Chiefs XV at the Mennaye Field on Friday night, writes Phil Westren.

In a game they dominated from start to finish, the Championship outfit powered their way to nine tries in total, these coming courtesy of Morgan Nelson (2), Matty Ward, Ben Cambriani, Alfie Petch, Arwel Robson, Tomi Agbongbon, Matt Pritchard and Will Riglesford.

Fly-half Robson slotted seven conversions in a polished performance, while Rory O’Kane added another for the Cornishmen, who kick off their new league campaign on Saturday, October 4 when Hartpury are the visitors (2.30pm).

In reply, backs Ollie Bastion and Ollie Miall claimed consolation scores, both of which were converted by Louie Sinclair.

Speaking after the game, Pirates’ joint head coach, Gavin Cattle, reflected on his side’s latest showing. He said: “Looking at the ages of the two teams we expected to be physically dominant – and we were. There were certain pleasing aspects around our structures, with our maul working well and our line-out taking a big step in the right direction.

“The forwards were dominant throughout, both in the loose and the scrum, while in the backs I thought Arwel [Robson] was a deserved man of the match. I thought he dictated the direction of play and kicked very well.”

Cattle added: “I also thought our skipper Alex [Everett] showed his normal grunt and determination as a top end Champ player – and on his 50th appearance Josh King once again proved what a consistent workhorse he is.

“Looking ahead to the league, some lads are still to come in and there will be competition for places, plus we’ll continue working on our skill set with an aim to play a good brand of rugby to continue attracting supporters.”