A SIGNIFICANT restructuring of Cornish rugby has been confirmed after the Rugby Football Union (RFU) formally approved an application from the Cornish Pirates for a major demerger involving themselves, the Pirates Amateurs and Penzance & Newlyn RFC.

The move, backed by all three clubs at their respective Annual General Meetings, will see Penzance & Newlyn RFC officially separate from the professional Cornish Pirates and merge with the Pirates Amateurs. In this process, the Pirates Amateurs will be rebranded as Penzance & Newlyn RFC and take on the role of its first XV, competing in the upcoming season in Regional Two South West.

At the same time, Cornish Pirates – currently competing in the RFU Championship, now rebranded as “The Champ” – will continue as an independent, standalone entity. They will now become a voting member club of the RFU in their own right and also a new member of the Cornwall RFU.

The RFU’s Governance Committee confirmed its approval of the “Material Reorganisation” involving the three entities. This includes the transfer of the league position from Pirates Amateurs to the newly-named Penzance & Newlyn RFC and the demerger of Kernow Sport Ltd (trading as Cornish Pirates), who will now operate independently of their historical partner club.

The announcement marks a historic transition for Cornish rugby, particularly for the Penzance & Newlyn club, which celebrates its 80th anniversary this season.

Peter Whyte, chairman of Penzance & Newlyn RFC, expressed optimism about the future. He said: “We look forward to the next chapter and to the continued success of both clubs. This restructure creates a clear identity for each organisation and opens the door to new opportunities - particularly around funding and access to grants - which will benefit rugby across our community.

“I’d like to thank everyone involved in making this possible, including the RFU, Cornwall RFU, and the leadership teams at all three clubs.

“Also, I want to acknowledge the incredible work done by Jack Nicholas, Scott Dugdale and the Pirates Amateurs committee, who have built a fantastic team rooted in the local community, and it will now be very exciting to see Penzance & Newlyn’s first and second XVs take the field in the club’s 80th year.”

“Finally, I wish Sally, Gav (Gavin Cattle), Paves (Alan Paver), the new ownership group, and the Cornish Pirates every success moving forward.”

Cornish Pirates CEO Sally Pettipher echoed the sentiment of progress while acknowledging the emotional weight of the change.

“It’s a bittersweet moment separating from our founder, but each club knows the benefits this will bring,” she said.

“My thanks to everyone involved in making this happen. We are still together in many ways and have exciting plans to make both clubs stronger.”

Meanwhile, the Pirates will kick-off the new Champ season with a home encounter against Hartpury on Saturday, October 4 (2.30pm).

A trip to Ampthill follows a week later, before they wrap up the opening month against Doncaster Knights at home (Oct 18) and London Scottish away (Oct 25).

Other notable fixture see the returning Worcester Warriors head to Cornwall on December 6, while last season’s champions, Ealing Trailfinders, head to the Mennaye for a mouth-watering festive fixture on December 27 in Round 12.

The final home fixture of the regular season sees Coventry provide the opposition on May 2, after which a trip to Hartpury follows on May 9.