Potential investor 'very interested' in Pirates

Cornish Pirates ended the season second in the Championship - their highest-ever league finish

Cornish Pirates chairman Paul Durkin says there is a potential investor who is "very interested" in taking over the Championship club.

Pirates' long-standing owner Dicky Evans is winding down his interest in the club and his funding will cease at the end of this year.

Last month, Evans said potential new investment was being stymied by delays over the future of the second tier of English professional rugby union.

"There's one that's very interested at this point in time," Durkin told BBC Spotlight when asked about potential new owners.

"But they want to know what they're buying into, and one of those things is the structure of tier two and what the relationship between that and Premiership Rugby is going to be.

"You don't want to buy a house if you don't know what the house is."

Ealing beat Cornish Pirates to the Championship title this season - but neither side were eligible for promotion as their grounds did not meet minimum standards

Pirates ended last season in their best-ever position after they finished second in the Championship.

But all players who are signing deals for next season have break clauses in their contract should no new funding be available from 2025.

Last week, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced that there would be promotion and relegation between the top flight and the second tier - a move that was welcomed by the Championship's clubs.

Durkin says the club have upped their search for new investors in the past 12 months and is hopeful that a new-look second tier will help professional clubs' viability outside the Premiership.

It comes after top-flight sides Worcester, Wasps and London Irish all went bust in the 2022-23 season while reigning Championship champions Jersey Reds also ceased trading due to financial issues after the opening three games of last season's Premiership Rugby Cup.

"They need to come into it with their eyes wide open, and to be honest they do know that professional rugby is a bit of a money pit," added Durkin.

"But there are ways of making it at least wipe its face and that's the kind of thing that we're having a conversation about - how do you change the commerciality of not just this club but of tier two as a whole to attract sponsors for the league, to attract in media contracts?

"So one of the key things we've been looking at as Championship clubs is how do you increase the commerciality of tier two?"