CORNISH Pirates will head into Monday's clash with Bristol firmly believing that they are the underdogs and Liam Middleton's men the favourites to reach the final.
Pirates finished seven points behind Bristol during the regular Championship season – and were second in their play-off pool, while Bristol edged out London Welsh in theirs.
The league matches between the sides, however, were among the closest in the Championship all season – with Pirates winning by a point on home soil and losing by four at the Memorial Stadium.
But Pirates coach Harvey Biljon believes the tag of favourites will very much be worn by Bristol over the coming two legs of semi-final action.
"Pressure can do funny things to teams and Bristol are the favourites to go up this season," said the former Wasps scrum-half. They are a quality outfit, but in three meetings this season, if you include the British & Irish Cup, we have won two and lost one.
"We do play better when we are the underdog. There have been games this season where we have not carried the tag of favourite too well at all."
Pirates were 18-17 victors over Bristol in the Championship in February and will be supported by a huge crowd on Monday, although a large Bristol contingent is also expected to make the long trip to Penzance.
"Everyone recognises how big this game is and I absolutely believe that the home support will get behind us and have a real effect on the team," added Biljon. "We know what challenge we will face and we have looked closely at Bristol this week.
"We need to concentrate, though, on what we need to achieve – and, make no mistake, we will need to put in a huge defensive effort ."
linux monitor system remote web monitoring long term exposure to carbon monoxide
No comments:
Post a Comment