Former Cornwall player Lewis Paterson (pictured above) reckons that Devon are playing Cornwall at the right time and will travel to Camborne on Saturday confident of getting a result.
Paterson, interviewd on the Devon RFU site, who now plays his club rugby at Ivybridge following a spell at Launceston when he played for Cornwall, believes Cornwall will be under intense pressure to win in front of their own supporters.
“We are targeting Cornwall,” said Paterson. “They are vulnerable and we are on the rise. We are playing some really good rugby. It is important we go down there with the right mind-set.
Sadly, Paterson, a former winner of the Bill Osborne Shield as Cornwall Player of the Year, will miss the game as he is due to have an operation on a thumb injury. He added. “Last week we improved from the Tamar Cup and it was a winnable game against Gloucestershire. It was just a flip from being on their try line and only two points behind to six minutes later losing by 12 points. It was gutting, but again it was a massive building block.
“We have to go to Cornwall with the mindset that we are going to win and take a scalp.
“They must be a little bit agitated at only drawing at Redruth so I’m sure they are going to be fired up.
“As an ex-Cornwall player you know the support they get down there is invaluable. But Devon had cracking support at Brixham and I’m sure we’ll take a good following down on Saturday.
“It’s going to be really exciting again that Devon are playing Cornwall in the County Championship, but from our side we are going down there to win. I think we are going down with a really strong and in-form Devon team.”
DEVON SIDE TO FACE CORNWALL
Devon: Charlie Briant (Ivybridge), Jack Bond (Barnstaple), Rhys Palmer (Okehampton), Â Matt Crosscombe (Plymouth Albion), Kyle Browne (Newton Abbot), Tom Putt (Brixham), Â Ben Watts (Ivybridge); George Snell (Bideford), Ashlee Crouch (Barnstaple), Tom White (Newton Abbot), Nathan Hannay (Honiton, Capt), George Wilson (Ivybridge), Tom McGratton (Newton Abbot), Dean Abrams (Okehampton), Wayne Sprangle (Tiverton)
Replacements: Aiden Taylor (Plymstock Albion Oaks), Wes Vermingle (Ivybridge), Tim Coats (Plymstock Albion Oaks), Ben King (Ivybridge), Kye Munslow (Withycombe), Connor Bedwell (Brixham), Billy Pinkus (Ivybridge)