Cornish Pirates 'poor' in 38-17 Hartpury loss says coach Gavin Cattle

Cornish Pirates have won one and lost one of their opening two matches this season

Cornish Pirates coach Gavin Cattle says his side were 'poor' in their 38-17 loss at Hartpury in the Championship.

The loss came after the team had been warned against complacency after an opening-day win over Richmond.

John Stevens' first-half try saw the Pirates trail 20-13 at the break as Callum Sirker scored after an hour, either side of a brace for Hartpury forward Harry Short.

"We just couldn't find a foothold in the game," Cattle said.

"We haven't been to Hartpury for a while and you have to question our physicality.

"The performance was nowhere near what we expected."

The defeat comes ahead of the visit of title favourites Ealing to the Mennaye next weekend and Cattle hopes his side can learn from the loss, which came after a difficult nine-hour journey to Gloucestershire from Penzance the day before the game.

"Being completely honest, some of the lads don't know what it takes just yet," Cattle added to BBC Radio Cornwall.

"We've got a lot of potential in the team, that's not underselling what we've got, but it's just learning from these experiences. When it's not going your way, how do you find a way?

"You only get that through experiences and, as coaches, we've got to make sure we provide a setting now that we learn form this.

"I felt Hartpury dominated most areas and I felt we made it easy for them."