Bristol v London Welsh Preview
By Mark W-J
September 2 2009
After a summer to forget both on and off the field, for London Welsh and the game of rugby union as a whole, the inaugural Championship season kicks-off this weekend with the arrival of Friday night rugby at Coventry. For the third time in four years Welsh start their campaign away to the relegated Premiership club - which this year is Bristol – on Sunday afternoon (6th September, 3pm kick-off).
Having spent the first 11 years of league rugby dining at the top table, this is the third time that Bristol have been relegated from the Premiership. The first occasion – at the end of the 1997-98 season – coincided with our promotion to what was then Premiership Two. Bristol swept all before them, despite almost failing to make the start of the season due to financial difficulties. Eventually a lifelong Bath supporter, Malcolm Pearce, stepped in rather than watch one of the game’s great names go to the wall – although not before Bristol had been compelled to sell the Memorial Ground, their home since 1921, to their then tenants, Bristol Rovers. However, after investing an estimated £9m in the club, Pearce announced that he would walk away at the end of the 2002-03 season, and the club consequently plunged back into National One after a five year stay at the top table. Yet at that time Bristol had one of the most exciting teams – on paper at least – in the Premiership. It must be galling for their supporters to look at the team which took the field in their final game of the season, away at London Irish, and consider what they have achieved since leaving the club. That afternoon the pack featured Andrew Sheridan, Alex Brown and Michael Lipman, while the backline comprised Shane Drahm, David Rees, Andrew Higgins, Darryl Gibson, Phil Christophers, and one of the all-time great half-back pairings, Felipe Contepomi and Agustin Pichot.
Things could have been even worse – there were mutterings of merging the club with arch rivals Bath or moving the club to Oxford, but fortunately the board secured sufficient funding for the new season and Bristol were back in National One, with Richard Hill as head coach. Hill always talked of a three-year plan, and after one mediocre season, finishing one place behind Welsh in 9th, they surprised themselves by storming to promotion in 2004-05. The title was secured with a stunning 68-15 win over nearest rivals Exeter, live on Sky, on Easter Sunday.
Upon their return to the top flight, Hill signed-up many players from rival National One clubs, and many observers recognise that he and Bristol have done more than most to raise the profile of the league by signing players who have been more than capable of holding their own at the higher level. Shaun Perry became an England international, and he would surely have been joined by Dan Ward-Smith had it not been for an untimely career-threatening injury, while the likes of Lee Robinson and the Arscott brothers have also shown glimpses of class.
In their second season back in the Premiership, Bristol qualified for the Heineken Cup by virtue of finishing third in the league table – they lost 26-14 at Leicester in the play-off semi-final, and saw winger David Lemi top the try-scoring charts with 11. Bizarrely, Hill sacked forwards coach (and one of his oldest friends) Martin Haag – a decision which seemed to directly impact the failure to sustain this level of success the following season, when they finished a disappointing 9th. Last season, of course, it got even worse. They won only twice in 22 league fixtures, although the 37-18 demolition of Worcester in March again showed fans a frustrating glimpse of what the team was capable of.
By then, Richard Hill had departed, to be replaced by former England full-back Paul Hull. He has seen many of last season’s squad depart for pastures new over the summer, including Perry (Brive), Ward-Smith, Lemi and England prop Jason Hobson (all Wasps), and the retiring Matt Salter and Mark Regan. Newcomers include former Blues scrum-half, Jason Spice, who has been appointed captain for the new season, and two players who enjoyed much success against London Welsh last season – the outstanding Nottingham No.8, Dan Montagu and Moseley’s dual-registered winger Dan Norton, who scored four tries against us at Esher in May.
Unlike London Welsh, Bristol have enjoyed an unbeaten pre-season, but just two games against lower-league opposition (Clifton 40-7 and Newbury 26-8) have left their supporters worried that the squad may be under-cooked. On the other hand, I’m sure that management will be reminding the fans that the promotion play-offs being adopted in The Championship this season mean that there is more scope for easing into the season with a view to peaking in the spring. Welsh will be hoping that Bristol are slow starters this weekend and that we can quickly wipe-out our five point penalty from the RFU. It’s worth noting that in previous league encounters, Bristol hold the upper hand by four wins to two, but all four of those wins have come in their promotion-winning seasons. Could be an interesting omen come Sunday afternoon for the start of what promises to be an intriguing season…
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Predict the result using the London Welsh Poll. Can our squad pull off a great win, will Bristol be just too strong? Give your views!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:09:02:10:19:26 by Dragons' Den.
Hopefully there will be a good turnout, it's not far over the Severn Bridge.
So glad you have managed to sort out those little problems you have had in between seasons.
It will be great to play rugby against a team with your history, and a warm welcome awaits you all at Bristol on Sunday
ps Thanks for the info Dottigirl
Good Luck!
Backs: L Arscott, L Robinson, L Eves, J Fatialofa, D Norton, M Davies, A Jarvis, S Alford, J Spice, T Arscott.
Forwards: A Clarke, D Blaney, R Johnson, D Crompton, W Thompson, M Sambucetti, R Winters, N Budgett, J Phillips, I Grieve, J Merriman, D Montagu
let's hope it's a cracking game
good luck to you for the rest of the season
