GAVIN Cattle insisted there were plenty of positives for Cornish Pirates to take despite a 61–22 defeat to Premiership side Harlequins in front of a packed crowd at Mennaye Field.

With no ‘Champ’ league game, the Pirates took the opportunity to welcome the Londoners to Penzance for what was their first visit to the Mennaye Field since February 1952.

Tying the game in as part of a four-day training camp in the Duchy, the inaugural ‘Tribute Cup’ Buddha Hunt Memorial fixture between the two sides did not disappoint with a feast of running rugby and a bucket load of points bagged.

Harlequins, as expected, proved the dominant force for much of the contest, claiming first half scores from Jamie Benson, Kieran Treadwell, Rodrigo Isigro and skipper Alex Dombrandt (2) to lead 35-5 at the break.

Luke Radcliff claimed the home side’s only score in the opening 40 minutes, but team-mates Harry Yates, Finn Lowe and Rory Suttor all found their way over the whitewash in the second period.

For the visitors, Dombrandt added another to claim his hat-trick, whilst there were further scores for Sam Kerr, Jack Musk and Connor Slevin.

Speaking after, Pirates’ joint head coach Cattle said: “I said before the game that this contest would provide an opportunity for us to get quality game time against a quality side – and that’s exactly how it worked out.

“On a fine afternoon, it was great to see a packed out Mennaye with supporters clearly enjoying what that they had seen from both sides. Our lads deserved credit for scoring four tries in the match, which was no mean feat against such opposition, and I thought they all worked very hard.”

The Pirates are next in action on Saturday week (March 21) when they travel to Richmond, before round the month at home to Worcester Warriors a week later.