Cornish Pirates
Flanker John Stevens tells Adam Hathaway about the club’s new ground and his famous father…
THE CHAMPIONSHIP came out of lockdown with a bang when Cornish Pirates turned over three-times European champions Saracens on the opening day. That 25-17 win left Pirates flanker John Stevens with a broken nose, generated more headlines than any other game that weekend and threw the debate over the Championship’s status into the mix once again.
The Cornish side were forced to pull down the shutters after their 30-13 win at Ampthill on 14 March 2020, with no inkling of when they could be raised again. And it was nearly a year’s wait for their next match, a pre-season friendly against Jersey in February.
In between there had been furlough, socially-distanced training and several false dawns when players prepared for games that might never happen, plus the interminable wait for money to assist with Covid tests. When finance finally came through, the Championship clubs could get back to business. No wonder they fancied a game and no one fancied a game more than the Pirates.
Events at the Mennaye Field, as Sarries were downed, were a shot in the arm for Cornish rugby and a shot in the arm for the Championship. They were also a shot across the bows of the RFU, who slashed funding to the league last year, all those who denigrate the tournament and ring-fencers everywhere.
“It was massive,” says Stevens. “We were trending on Twitter at one point, which I don’t think you would normally get. I look on all the rugby Facebook pages and all the chat, even though it was a Premiership weekend and during the Six Nations, everything seemed to be centred around our game.
“I think a lot of people look down their nose at it (the Championship) massively and everyone would say, ‘You’re not with Exeter’ and they think you’re not any good. That is people’s opinion and you’ve got to change it and keep going.
“It’s not helped by the way it is treated by the RFU sometimes. If they’re not promoting a competition people must be like, ‘They are the governing body, if it doesn’t hold value why would they invest?’ It does hold a value.
“Cornwall has never really been a football region, which is why rugby is very blessed down here and that is why it’s a hotbed of the sport because football is not a massive competitor.”
Richard Sharp, Phil Vickery and Jack Nowell are amongst the Cornishmen to have flown the black-and-white
Saint Piran’s Flag on Lions tours. And Stevens’s father, the late great prop ‘Stack’, did the same in 1971, played more than 500 times for Pirates, 83 times for Cornwall and 25 for England, including away wins in South Africa and New Zealand. There are plenty more where they came from. Just ask Sarries.
Stevens, a champion showjumper as a teenager and a cricket fan, wasn’t forced into rugby but it has turned out okay. He signed for Pirates in 2013, after coming through the youth section, and has been carrying the family name on ever since.
“He (his dad) always let my brother and I do what we wanted,” says Stevens. “We played football and cricket and he never pushed us into rugby. Everyone, especially locally, knew who he was so he had to be a bit useful but he wasn’t pushy at all. My mother, Jane, was a very good netball player and sprinter as well.
“Everyone says what a legend he was but to us he was just normal.”
When the Stadium for Cornwall – a £23m, 10,000-capacity complex near Truro, which will also be home to Truro FC – is open for business it will give a focal point and maybe persuade locals they don’t have to go to Sandy Park for their rugby fix. Back-row Stevens adds:
“It would be massive, not just for Pirates but for the whole of Cornwall.
“Everyone says it is to inspire the next generation but all the youngsters down here would probably be Exeter fans, with Jack Nowell and Luke Cowan-Dickie doing so well. But at the end of the day you should support your local side and at the minute they’re the local Premiership side in this region.
“I know a lot of people who jump on the train on Saturday and go to watch Exeter whereas maybe they should be coming to watch us play. Especially if the stadium was there they would.”
And that could nurture another generation of Cornish Lions.