Moseley vs Tykes
By Peter Creek
February 20 2007
Moseley are a famous old club who play their rugby in the lugubrious suburbs of south Birmingham. Founded in 1873 with an illustrious history they have struggled to adjust to the professional game losing their home and their top flight status in the process.
They are now to be found in the National Division 1 drop zone with a tough home fixture against Leeds Tykes this weekend.
The hardest part of this game for Tykes ought to be finding the Billesley Common ground where Moseley have established their new home less than a mile from their birthplace at The Reddings. Leeds have a good record on the road with narrow defeats at Goldington Road and Clifton Lane as the only blemishes. Opposition from the lower half of the table have normally been dispatched without quarter on their own turf. Tykes do, however, struggle at home against teams like Moseley and this was the case at the end of October when they limped home by 10 points.
Last week at Doncaster the Tykes showed that the pieces of the jigsaw are finally starting to fit together. Despite being under the cosh for much of the first half Leeds turned round with a slender lead. The second half saw them get hold of the game when forwards and backs linked well resulting in three tries against one for the home side. Leigh Hinton had a good day with the boot despite playing in the unfamiliar fly half berth. Tykes also had a very strong bench at Castle Park and were able to bring on Parkes, Isaacson, Hepworth, Pelu and Lock to make life even more difficult for the Knights later on.
Against Moseley I expect coach Stuart Lancaster to field a strong side but he may well rest one or two key players. Leeds have a relatively quiet time over the next few weeks until the in-form Exeter Chiefs come to Headingley Carnegie in mid-March. The Tykes coaching team are now reaping the benefits of careful planning for the future whilst maintaining momentum by taking each match as it comes. SL has experimented continually throughout the season, playing people out of position, which has resulted in a greater number of options for team selection. I am sure that he has the next few weeks clearly mapped out as the end of season “run-in” rapidly approaches.
Life is hard for Moseley at the moment. They are sandwiched between Waterloo and Otley in fifteenth place in the league and they will be scrapping for every point. Survival is their only target now for the rest of the season. They will go at Leeds from the start, getting in their faces, trying to disrupt the Tykes before they get into any sort of rhythm. Where this might have worked three months ago I think that Leeds now know how to deal with these tactics, as they demonstrated at Doncaster. If they are put out of their stride it will not be for long. Tykes all round game, powerful forwards and fleet-footed backs, will ease them to a comfortable win by twenty points.
