Venue disruption will not affect Pirates - Paver

Cornish Pirates joint-head coach Alan Paver said the squad have tried to ignore the switch of venues for their home Champ Rugby game against Ampthill.

Saturday's match will be played at Camborne's Recreation Ground after the main grandstand at the Mennaye Field was badly damaged by Storm Goretti.

Paver said the club's non-playing staff have been excellent in allowing him and the players to concentrate solely on Saturday's game.

"We know the club are working very hard behind the scenes to try and get the game on and get the pitch in good condition," Paver told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"To be fair, they've done an absolutely fantastic job, everyone involved with the tidy up, and I think they're pretty much nearly there, but they couldn't guarantee it was going to be absolutely ready for this weekend, so they just made the decision to be really clear.

"We're very thankful that the club and everyone involved have got a good handle on this, which has allowed the players really just to concentrate on what they're doing.

"We've been able to get the coaching done on the field, so touch wood, it's not really going to cause us any issues."

Camborne is a ground Paver knows well from his time as a Pirates player.

He and fellow joint-head coach Gavin Cattle were in the side that won the inaugural British and Irish Cup at the ground when they beat Munster in May 2010.

Pirates spent almost five years at the ground before returning to the Mennaye that summer.

"It is a ground that we know well, we played there for a good few years, especially the British and Irish Cup final there, so some great memories, some big crowds," Paver said.

"So we're just thankful that we can maybe step left and get the game on and the guys then have got something to get their teeth into as well.

"In terms of disruption, it is very little. We would like to get up there probably for the last training session just to familiarise ourselves, but that'll be weather dependent."