The 2012–13 season was the Cornish Pirates tenth season in the second tier of the English rugby union league system, the RFU Championship and their fourth in the British and Irish Cup.
| Nickname(s) | The Pirates |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1945 |
| Location | Penzance, Cornwall |
| Ground(s) | Mennaye Field (Capacity: 3,500) |
| Coach(es) |  Ian Davies (head coach) |
| Captain(s) | Gavin Cattle |
| League(s) | RFU Championship |
| Official website | |
| www | |
Pre–season friendlies
| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result | Score | Attendance | Match Report | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 August | Loughborough Students | H | W | 36–7 | 868 | report | [1] |
| 18 August | Exeter Chiefs | A | L | 3–56 | 4127 | report | [2] |
| 25 August | Newport | H | W | 32–18 | 1139 | report | [3] |
RFU Championship
Stage one consists of twelve teams playing each of the other teams twice, once at home and once away, making a total of 22 games for each team. The league programme starts on Saturday, 1 September 2012 and will be completed by Saturday, 20 April 2013. The top four teams qualify for the two–legged semi–finals whilst the bottom team will be relegated to National League 1.[5][6]
Stage one fixtures
| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result | Score | Attendance | Position | Match Report | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 September | Jersey | A | W | 20 – 6 | 2470 | 4th | report | [7] |
| 2 | 6 September | Plymouth Albion | H | W | 19 – 17 | 2260 | 3rd | report | [8] |
| 3 | 16 September | Bristol | A | L | 17 – 29 | 4613 | 6th | report | [9] |
| 4 | 22 September | Newcastle Falcons | H | L | 3 – 25 | 1745 | 9th | report | [10] |
| 5 | 28 September | Doncaster Knights | A | D | 18 – 18 | 1121 | 8th | report | [11] |
| 6 | 6 October | London Scottish | A | L | 24 – 25 | 1126 | 8th | report | [12] |
| 7 | 27 October | Leeds Carnegie | H | W | 21 – 8 | 1971 | 7th | report | [13] |
| 8 | 3 November | Moseley | A | D | 9 – 9 | 1003 | 7th | report | [14] |
| 9 | 10 November | Rotherham Titans | H | W | 53 – 21 | 1763 | 6th | report | [15] |
| 10 | 23 November | Bedford Blues | A | L | 6 – 32 | 3155 | 7th | report | [16] |
| 11 | 1 December | Nottingham | H | W | 11 – 10 | 1411 | 6th | report | |
| 12 | 26 December | Plymouth Albion | A | W | 9 – 5 | 3058 | 6th | report | [17] |
| 13 | 1 January | Bristol | H | W | 32 – 17 | 2954 | 4th | report | [18] |
| 26 January | Newcastle Falcons | A | P – P | 6th | report | ||||
| 14 | 9 February | Doncaster Knights | H | W | 31 – 18 | 1309 | 4th | report | [19] |
| 15 | 16 February | London Scottish | H | L | 17 – 20 | 1857 | 5th | report | [20] |
| 16 | 22 February | Newcastle Falcons | A | L | 3 – 50 | 2208 | 5th | report | [21] |
| 17 | 2 March | Leeds Carnegie | A | L | 27 – 35 | 1363 | 6th | report | [22] |
| 18 | 9 March | Moseley | H | W | 17 – 14 | 1223 | 6th | report | [23] |
| 23 March | Rotherham Titans | A | P – P | report | |||||
| 19 | 30 March | Bedford Blues | H | L | 18 – 26 | 2032 | 6th | report | [24] |
| 20 | 5 April | Rotherham Titans | A | L | 28 – 41 | 1012 | 6th | report | |
| 21 | 14 April | Nottingham | A | L | 26 – 28 | 1469 | 6th | report | |
| 22 | 20 April | Jersey | H | W | 28 – 24 | 1959 | 6th | report |
Stage one league table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle Falcons (CH) | 22 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 677 | 252 | +425 | 13 | 1 | 98 | Promotion place |
| 2 | Nottingham (SF) | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 624 | 409 | +215 | 10 | 4 | 74 | |
| 3 | Bedford Blues (RU) | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 664 | 485 | +179 | 11 | 2 | 71 | |
| 4 | Leeds Carnegie (SF) | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 585 | 480 | +105 | 9 | 6 | 67 | |
| 5 | Bristol | 22 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 524 | 481 | +43 | 6 | 3 | 65 | |
| 6 | Cornish Pirates | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 435 | 480 | −45 | 5 | 3 | 52 | |
| 7 | Rotherham Titans | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 503 | 569 | −66 | 6 | 3 | 51 | |
| 8 | London Scottish | 22 | 10 | 0 | 12 | 456 | 610 | −154 | 4 | 4 | 45[a] | |
| 9 | Plymouth Albion | 22 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 419 | 518 | −99 | 4 | 8 | 40 | |
| 10 | Moseley | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 377 | 542 | −165 | 1 | 6 | 33 | |
| 11 | Jersey | 22 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 385 | 595 | −210 | 2 | 5 | 31 | |
| 12 | Doncaster Knights (R) | 22 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 364 | 592 | −228 | 2 | 7 | 23 | Relegation place |
Rules for classification: If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
- Number of matches won
- Difference between points for and against
- Total number of points for
- Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
- Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Notes:
British and Irish Cup
The 2012–13 British and Irish Cup is the fourth season of the annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional and professional clubs from Britain and Ireland. First round matches began on the weekend of 13 October 2012 and the final will be on the weekend of 17 May 2013. The competition consists of eight groups of four teams playing each other twice to give each team six matches. The top team in each group qualifies for the quarter–finals and the final will be played at a venue to be decided when the finalists are known. The Pirates are in Pool 3.
Group stage
| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result | Score | Attendance | Match Report | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 October | Carmarthen Quins | H | W | 44 – 32 | 1469 | report | [27] |
| 20 October |  Dundee HSFP | A | W | 32 – 6 | 400 | report | [28] |
| 9 December | Swansea | H | W | 27 – 9 | 1356 | report | [29] |
| 15 December | Swansea | A | W | 30 – 10 | 350 | report | [30] |
| 13 January | Dundee HSFP | H | W | 34 – 14 | 1536 | report | [31] |
| 19 January | Carmarthen Quins | A | L | 12 – 17 | 150 | report |
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TB | LB | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cornish Pirates | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 179 | 88 | 91 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 24 | ||
| Carmarthen Quins | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 150 | 123 | 27 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 19 | ||
| Swansea | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 98 | 137 | –39 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| Dundee HSFP | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 84 | 163 | –79 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Points breakdown: *4 points for a win *2 points for a draw *1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less *1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match | |||||||||||||
Quarter–final
The quarter–finals were played on the weekend of 6 April and was decided by how well each group winner performed in the group matches. This is the third time in four seasons that the two teams have met with the Pirates winning the two previous encounters.[32] Details of the full draw can be found at 2012–13 British and Irish Cup.
| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result | Score | Attendance | Match Report | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 April | Munster A | H | L | 9–10 | 1478 | report | [33] |
Squad 2012–13
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
[34] [35] [36] [37] [38][39] [40][41]
Dual registration
- David Ewers (Exeter Chiefs)
- Lloyd Fairbrother (Exeter Chiefs)
- Sam Hill (Exeter Chiefs)
- Charles Walker–Blair (Exeter Chiefs)
- Rob Cook (Gloucester)[42]
- Jack Yeandle (Exeter Chiefs)[43]
- Lewis Vinnicombe (Redruth)
- Owen Hambly (Redruth)
- Tom Duncan (Redruth)[44]
- Ashley Smith (London Welsh)[45]
- Jack Nowell
Transfers 2012–13
Players in
Tom Bedford (from Newcastle Falcons)- Darren Berry (from Bristol)
- Alex Cheeseman (from London Wasps)
- Adam Clayton (from Birmingham & Solihull Bees)
Alaifatu Junior Fatialofa (from Bristol)
Kieran Hallett (from Nottingham)- Gary Johnson (from London Welsh)
- David Lyons (from Moseley)[46]
- Kyle Moyle (from St Ives)[47]
Ben Prescott (from Northampton Saints and Nottingham) [48]
Tom Riley from ( Newport Gwent Dragons)[38]- Darren Semmems (from Cornish All Blacks)
- Peter Joyce (from Redruth)[49]
- Ben Mercer (unregistered)
Players out
Rudi Brits (released)- Rob Cook (to Gloucester)[50] (dual registration from 7 September)
- Tom Cooper (to
Jersey) - Tom Cowan–Dickie (to Plymouth Albion and Exeter Chiefs, dual registration)[51]
- Darren Daniel (released from contract in March 2012)
- David Doherty (to Leeds Carnegie)
- James Doherty (to Leeds Carnegie)
- Drew Locke (to Gloucester)
- Rhodri McAtee (released and moving to Plymouth Albion)[52]
- Mike Myerscough (to Leeds Carnegie)
- Ian Nimmo (to Newport Gwent Dragons)
- Carl Rimmer (to Exeter Chiefs)[53]
- Matt Smith (to Leeds Carnegie)
Andrew Suniula (released)- Ceiron Thomas (released and moving to St Ives RFC)[54]
- Dave Ward (to Harlequins)
- Ryan Westren
Coaching staff
- Ian Davies ( ) (Head Coach) from April 2012. Previously Forwards Coach appointed in April 2009.
- Harvey Biljon ( ) (Backs Coach) appointed in April 2009.
- Simon Raynes ( ) (Strength and Conditioning Coach) since summer 2005.
