Cattle eager to get the plates spinning

GAVIN Cattle is relieved to have kept his Cornish Pirates squad largely intact as Championship clubs wait to hear government plans to aid rugby through the barren period of unattended matches.

Cattle is back at the top of the club’s coaching hierachy, with fellow joint-head coach Alan Paver, following the departure of director of rugby Chris Stirling back to his native New Zealand.

Revered in Cornwall for his two spells as a player spanning more than a decade, Bridgend-born Cattle is eager for action after Pirates’ third-place finish in last season’s Championship.

“It (lockdown) was nice for the first six weeks to take some time off but beyond that you start wanting normality back,” Cattle told

“We are still on furlough so while we can’t train, what we have done is open up the club for community access to the gym and the players who are local can use it.

“We have been keeping in contact with the players and we’ve been fortunate to keep almost everyone from last year’s squad together. Furlough has allowed us to be rock solid in that sense.”

Cattle skippered Pirates to a British & Irish Cup triumph over Munster in 2010 and made over 200 appearances for the club.

This season will be his sixth as coach at Mennaye Field – whenever it starts.

Cattle added: “Last season we had the luxury of Chris in the role of director of rugby. It is something that I and Alan have balanced between us before, so with Chris back in New Zealand it just means we have to spin a few more plates.

“But we are experienced with our track records and working with Chris there were things we picked up. There is a system in place now that builds on the foundations that myself and Alan had laid so the rugby stays the same.

“Plus we had Chris Morgan and Matt Jess join the coaching staff as assistants so there is a good team behind us.

“I’m trying to remain positive; the government recognises that clubs are crucial in the community. If there is going to be a long delay to getting crowds in, which I think is too early to tell, I would hope that there would be help for clubs of some sort.”