This afternoon the Ravers will start the longest journey in English rugby as they embark on their trip to Penzance for tomorrow’s 1 pm clash with Cornish Pirates. The 753-mile round trip just sneaks ahead of the Prem’s 732-mile Newcastle Falcons annual visit to Exeter. Cornish Pirates clearly have ambitions to join the elite competition in the Prem so in future years perhaps this particular statistic will be surpassed with a Falcons to Pirates 956 miles. But do air miles count?
Due to the 1 pm kick off tomorrow the Ravers will not be staying overnight on Dartmoor as they did last year but will travel all the way to Penzance to minimize disruption on Saturday morning.
In May 2026 Cornish Pirates became the first English Rugby side to secure investment from US investors with a 7-figure investment made by Stonewood Capital priming the starting gun of a 10-year plan to get the Pirates to the summit of English Rugby. This was followed in August by the announcement that television star Nick Knowles had also joined as an investor.
The full-time 7th placed hosts will be keen to remedy last week’s unexpected 19-33 loss at home to part-time Richmond. Winning away against a fully professional side is a difficult ask for any Champ side and a very young and relatively inexperienced Caldy squad will certainly have its work cut out. However, Head Coach Matt Cairns was encouraged with the squad’s first half performance last week against Coventry. “We competed well for the first 55 minutes against a top full-time side before Coventry’s power told. On Saturday we will need a full 80-minute performance if we are to get something from the game.
Head Coach Matt Cairns has selected the following squad for tomorrow’s match which will be shown live in the clubhouse.
Story of the Stats
ELIOR CHAMP RUGBY · ROUND 8
Cornish Pirates v Caldy
Cornish Pirates
- Daniel Hiscocks leads the league for kicks in play with 67, 61 of which have been box kicks. Cornish Pirates also lead the league for kick retention.
- Cornish Pirates have won 9 of their 10 meetings with Caldy, a 90% win rate, and have never lost at Mennaye Field against them, winning all 5 home fixtures.
- Cornish Pirates top the Champ for post-contact metres with 933, demonstrating the physical edge their carriers bring every time they make contact with the opposition defence.
- Jack Forsythe leads the league for dominant tackles with 9 and has made 50 defensive ruck entries (2nd), making him one of the most impactful defenders in the Champ this season.
Caldy
- Caldy lead the Champ for mauls won with 66 and have scored 11 maul tries, the most of any team in the league, making their driving lineout one of the most potent weapons in the division.
- Caldy lead the Champ with a scrum success rate of 97.1% and won 100% of their scrums in their most recent match, demonstrating consistent dominance at the set piece.
- Harry Oliver was Caldy’s top performer in their most recent match with a rating of 8.0, contributing 17 tackles, 2 clean breaks, and a try.
- Oliver Hearn has thrown 66 successful lineouts this season (2nd) and scored 6 tries (4th).
Caldy’s 2nd xv travel to Preston to face an in-form Preston Grasshoppers side who sit in 2nd place in the league. This is likely to be the pivotal game of the season for Caldy who are not only defending their 6 match winning run this season but also their 130+ winning sequence over the previous 7 seasons.
Community players progress to Senior rugby at Caldy RFC
Last Saturday’s Caldy senior rugby squads included no less than 20 players who have progressed from our Minis, Juniors & Colts sections to now represent Caldy’s 3rd xv, 2nd xv and 1st xv senior rugby squads !
Congratulations to everyone involved and huge thanks to all our coaches, managers, supporters, parents and sponsors who contributed to our Community Rugby players’ journeys and their successful transition into the Senior Rugby squads.
Proud coach moment – Michael Fletcher, Steve Bishop with Harry Lightfoot, Dylan Carroll and Jack Wilson.
Community Rugby – Sunday 15th November
This Sunday, it’s back to the training paddock for the Minis to consolidate learnings after 3 weeks of fixtures. The u12s Girls return to Paton Field hosting Manchester Rubies with a 1.15 pm kick off.
For the Juniors, the u13s are away to Parkonians, whilst the u14s have a double header away at Collegiate and Sefton. It’s Cheshire Cup action for the u16s with a 1st round tie away at Anselmians.
Cup action for the u17s Junior Colts as well, with a home League Cup tie against Marple – kick off at 12.30 pm
Sunday 15th November as follows :
- u6s, u7s, u8, u9s, u10s, u11s, u12s at home training
- u12s Girls at home v Manchester Rubies ko 1.15 pm
- u14s – u18s Girls training at home
- u13s away at Parkonians
- u14s away at Liverpool Collegiate & away at Sefton
- u15s at home training
- u16s Cheshire Cup away at Anselmians
- u17s Junior Colts League Cup at home v Marple ko 12.30pm
- u18s Senior Colts – no game
Please remember “No referees, No games” – disrespect or verbal abuse of rugby match officials is totally unacceptable & has no place in rugby.
Good luck to everyone & enjoy your rugby this weekend !
