Cornish Pirates Rugby Club is a Cornish professional rugby union club playing in the second tier of the English rugby union system, the RFU Championship. The club was formed in 1945 when Penzance RFC and Newlyn RFC amalgamated to form Penzance & Newlyn RFC and is based in Penzance, Cornwall. Twenty days after the end of the Second World War, the first match was played against Guy's Hospital on 22 September 1945. The club was renamed Cornish Pirates in 2005 and apart from one season at Kenwyn, Truro and four at the Recreation Ground, Camborne, they play at the Mennaye Field in Penzance. [1] [2]
The list below details the club's achievements from the first league season when they played at level eight in the Cornwall and Devon League through to last season (2011–12), when they equalled their highest league position and were also losing finalists in the play–off for promotion to the Aviva Premiership. The club have won promotion on six occasions and have been successful twice in national competitions and also won Cornish Cup competitions three times.
| Season | League | Notes | National Cup | Cornwall Cup | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | Level | |||||
| 1987–88 | Cornwall and Devon League | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 166 | 111 | 13 | 4th | 8 | QF | |||
| 1988–89 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 120 | 147 | 10 | 7th | SF | |||||
| 1989–90 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 256 | 96 | 18 | 1st | Promoted | 1st R | ||||
| 1990–91 | Western Counties | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 105 | 115 | 5 | 9th | 7 | 1st R | |||
| 1991–92 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 116 | 96 | 12 | 5th | QF | |||||
| 1992–93 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 314 | 129 | 16 | 4th | 1st R | |||||
| 1993–94 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 185 | 124 | 16 | 4th | QF | |||||
| 1994–95 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 287 | 160 | 16 | 4th | 18 consecutive home wins | SF | ||||
| 1995–96 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 202 | 150 | 14 | 3rd | Promoted | 5 clubs promoted due to league reorganisation | QF | |||
| 1996–97 | South West Two (West) | 21 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 636 | 241 | 36 | 1st | 6 | Promoted | 1st round | SF | |
| 1997–98 | South West One | 22 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 599 | 361 | 29 | 4th | 5 | SF | SF | ||
| 1998–99 | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 1083 | 247 | 40 | 1st | Promoted | 3rd round | Winners | |||
| 1999–00 | National Three South | 26 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 1055 | 481 | 41 | 2nd | 4 | 3rd round | Winners | ||
| 2000–01 | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 823 | 492 | 38 | 3rd | Finalists[1] | |||||
| 2001–02 | 26 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 1271 | 468 | 49 | 1st | 4 | Promoted | 2nd round | |||
| 2002–03 | National League Two | 26 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 849 | 442 | 45 | 1st | 3 | Promoted | 2nd round | ||
| 2003–04 | National League One | 26 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 474 | 892 | 43 | 10th | 2 | 4th round | |||
| 2004–05 | 26 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 698 | 526 | 85 | 4th | 2nd round | |||||
| 2005–06 | 26 | 19 | 0 | 7 | 694 | 561 | 90 | 3rd | highest position | 2nd round | ||||
| 2006–07 | 30 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 812 | 491 | 101 | 4th | Winners | |||||
| 2007–08 | 30 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 800 | 583 | 91 | 5th | 3pts deducted[2] | |||||
| 2008–09 | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 744 | 578 | 82 | 7th | 2nd round | Winners[3] | ||||
| 2009–10 | RFU Championship | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 555 | 463 | 56 | 6th | 2 | 3rd place in group stage | Winners [4] | ||
| 2010–11 | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 633 | 337 | 76 | 3rd | highest position | lost promotion play–off final | group stage | |||
| 2011–12 | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 606 | 464 | 74 | 3rd | highest position | lost promotion play–off final | SF | |||
| 2012–13 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 435 | 480 | 52 | 6th | ||||||
| 2013–14 | 23 | 10 | 2 | 11 | 456 | 554 | 51 | 6th | ||||||
| 2014–15 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 436 | 464 | 45 | 8th | ||||||
| 2015–16 | 22 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 530 | 570 | 49 | 9th | ||||||
| 2016–17 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 559 | 497 | 55 | 6th | ||||||
| 2017–18 | 22 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 681 | 577 | 67 | 4th | ||||||
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The Cornish Pirates are a professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn RFU, the Cornish Pirates play and train at their home ground, the Mennaye Field in Penzance.
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