Ben Mercer Column: The Arms Race for South West Talent
Cornish Pirates in action against Exeter on Friday
©Brian Tempest
Last Friday night, I went to watch my old team Cornish Pirates triumph over an Exeter Chiefs XV in a preseason friendly at the Mennaye.
I was down visiting some friends and was fortunate enough to sit down with old teammates and current Pirates coaches Alan Paver and Gavin Cattle and listen to their aims and expectations for the future of the team….
Once upon a time when Exeter Chiefs were not one of the leading sides in the country, promising youngsters were obliged to travel up to one of the traditional West Country powerhouses of Bath, Bristol or Gloucester in order to seek out top level rugby. As this was not a professional game it required a great degree of personal sacrifice.
At Bath when they were the team to beat, players such as Steve Ojomoh and Victor Ubogu from Devon and Roger Spurrell and Graham Dawe from Cornwall used to trek up for training or moved their lives to the area motivated by the opportunity to play rugby. My old coach Graham Dawe used to drive two and a half hours each way in order to train before getting up at dawn to work on his farm.
Even in our Bath Academy setup, there were Devon and Cornwall based kids who were fortunate that their parents would drive them long distances to various rugby clubs in the Bath area in order for them to participate in training on weeknights, despite having work and school the next morning.
Now there is no need. Exeter’s success has annexed the whole of Devon and Cornwall and they have really availed themselves of the opportunity. Of the squad that contested last year’s final against Saracens, the majority had come through their academy setup including recent internationals Jack Nowell, Sam Simmonds (as well as his brother, Joe) and Henry Slade.
This says two things. Exeter are really good at developing their players and they have a great catchment area in which to scout talented youngsters. Each Premiership team has a designated catchment area but the geography of the south west means that these kids would go to Exeter regardless.
Back to Friday night, the fiercely motivated and well organised Pirates team beat a Chiefs side who fielded a strong backline with a less heralded pack of forwards. This is not something to get carried away about and the Pirates coaches were clear that there is a huge gap in quality between them and even the lower reaches of the Premiership.
What was also striking was the number of players from both teams who knew each other from dual registration agreements.
Cornish Pirates have broken ground on their new stadium in Truro. This project could take some time to reach fruition but when complete, will place the Pirates in the geographical centre of Cornwall and within far easier reach than their current position in Penzance.
Will the next Jack Nowell trek his way to Exeter for two hours or will he make the 45-minute journey to Truro for his academy rugby?
If the Pirates have Premiership aspirations, then they will try to convince these youngsters to come and develop with them and will be able to offer a much more realistic path to first team rugby. They can’t match Exeter for resources or finances but they can offer the opportunity to play that some academy players find difficult to come by.
Exeter will probably still be the choice for any England age group stars but although this process is more straightforward than it used to be, youth player development does not happen in a straight line.
Sam Simmonds is a case in point having never featured for an England age group team and struggling a bit on loan at the Pirates before breaking through with the Chiefs. Now he’s a full international. There are England age group players who never crack top flight rugby as it’s not an easy thing to do.
Chiefs are making moves to guarantee that they will have a partner club for their dual registration players and would benefit from a promotion for another of my old clubs in Plymouth Albion. Plymouth are closer to Exeter than the Pirates and already have a history of ties with the Chiefs.
The Pirates know that they have to upgrade not only their own offering to young players but the knowledge and ability of coaches at clubs across Cornwall in order to produce as many good youngsters as possible.
This will involve the sharing of information and resources across traditional lines and rivalries in an historic rugby area and will take some time. If they manage it though, they will have first pick of an unusually fertile rugby hotspot and could spearhead their own Premiership push in the future.
