May’s braced for Pirates backlash
FLY-HALF Laurence May says Ealing have the scent of silverware as they aim to complete back-to-back wins over Pirates for a place in the Championship Cup final.
But after triumphing 28-8 over their rivals in the league at Penzance last week, Pirates old boy May expects a backlash from his former teammates.
May, who spent four years in Cornwall before joining Ealing last summer, told The Rugby Paper: “It’s pretty weird playing Pirates back-to-back and this will be a different game with them coming to play on our 4G pitch after the Mennaye.
“They’ll come with unbelievable physicality and work-rate and there’ll be lots of kicking so we’ll have to work incredibly hard to beat them. Pirates lost to Ealing in the B&I Cup semi-final last year so we know how seriously they’ll be taking this.
“It’s a massive game for us as well. Talking to boys who were here last year, they say winning the cup was one of their best achievements. I’ve never won anything as a player so it’s important to me that we win some silverware.”
Club captain Sam Dick- inson returns from his shoulder injury at lock, while further changes up front see Rohan O’Regan given a go at openside with Matt Cornish at hooker.
Will Harries starts at full-back while David Johnston is given the No.13 jersey. A sub-plot for Ealing is the momentum they can gain in their bid to chase down London Irish at the top of the Championship and keep their promotion dream alive.
May, 24, is desperate for a crack at top-flight rugby after being binned by Exeter. He said: “I was in Exeter’s academy and they were looking for a third first team No.10, but Joe Simmonds was coming through and they didn’t think I was good enough.
“I probably wasn’t at that time, but it wasn’t the worst thing because I’ve gone on to play well over 100 games in the Championship. That’s been valuable and, with another year on my contract at Ealing, I’d love to kick-on into the Premiership now.”
Pirates welcome back wing ace Robin Wedlake and flanker John Stevens from injury, while Dan Lee and Dan Frost are at No.8 and hooker.
Lock Brett Beukeboom said: “We let ourselves down last week but this is a chance to right the wrongs. Their half-backs hurt us and defensively we’ll need to tighten up, but the cups have been good for us down the years and it’s a big chance for silverware.”