Stevens returns as Cornish Pirates crush Richmond
· Yahoo Sports
Captain John Stevens returned to competitive action as Cornish Pirates thrashed bottom side Richmond 66-13 in the Champ.
Stevens, who had been out since the opening game of last season with a serious knee ligament injury, came off the bench in the second half as the Pirates scored nine tries.
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"John's a bit of an icon down in Cornwall, obviously his rugby history and family, but just himself to get back from that just shows what he's made of really," joint-head coach Gavin Cattle told BBC Radio Cornwall.
"He's been at Redruth for the last three or four weeks applying himself and it's great to see him out there because he's a talisman for us, just not on the pitch, off the pitch as well."
Pirates found themselves 6-5 down after 10 minutes as Morgan Nelson's unconverted try was sandwiched in-between two Callum Grieve penalties.
But from then on the Pirates dominated as they secured a bonus-point try within 25 minutes - Luke Ratcliff went over twice while Nelson added a fourth try before Milo Hallam crossed on the stroke of half time.
Dan Hiscocks got a sixth try 11 minutes after the break before the Cornish side forced a penalty try and Arthur Relton went over with 13 minutes left.
Callum Torpey went over three minutes later for the hosts before Matty Ward got a final try for the Pirates just before the final whistle.
"I'm really pleased with the performance and I didn't expect a scoreline like that today," added Cattle.
"As good as the big scorelines look, for me it's about like showing a bit of grit and determination when needed.
"Obviously we had a bit of a tricky start but we managed to get a bit momentum.
"I'm a little bit disappointed with how we came out of the blocks in the second half but then we regathered ourselves again so I suppose that's rugby a little bit you're was looking for that 10 out of 10."