Will Butler & Arwel Robson: Worcester centre & Dragons fly-half join Cornish Pirates

Will Butler comes in with Cornish Pirates having three centres out injured

Cornish Pirates have signed Worcester Warriors centre Will Butler on a dual-registration deal and Dragons fly-half Arwel Robson on loan.

Butler, 22, made his debut for the Pirates as a replacement in the win at Nottingham on Saturday having initially joined the Championship club on loan.

He has featured 17 times for Worcester and is an ex-England Under-20 player.

Robson, 24, has scored 92 points in 24 games for Dragons and is a former Welsh youth international.

He has not played since a season-ending hamstring injury early in the 2019-20 campaign.

The arrivals bolster a Pirates squad hit by a number of absences.

Centres Nicolas De Battista and Callum Patterson, along with winger Maliq Holden, all have long-term injuries which will cause them to miss at least the rest of this season.

The Pirates also saw wingers Harry Davey and Robin Wedlake and full-back AJ Cant come off injured at Nottingham while centre Shae Tucker has picked up a knock too.

Arwel Robson is the second Welsh fly-half to join Cornish Pirates on loan after Cardiff Blues' Luke Scully

"We're really pleased to have a talented young back like Will in the squad," Pirates joint head coach Alan Paver told BBC Radio Cornwall after Butler's debut.

"Everybody's spoken extremely highly of him, we hope we can expose him and push his development on to the next level.

"He's got a lot of credibility with what he's done already, we're just hoping we can see the best of him."

Fellow Pirates coach Gavin Cattle added: "From our perspective it is useful to have a 10 like Arwel on loan who has been exposed to Pro-14 level, kicks the line well and recognises space.

"Helping us in our current situation, the support of Dean Ryan and Rob Burgess at the Dragons to facilitate the loan is greatly appreciated, as it enables us to have a good player on our hands, probably for the rest of the season."