London Welsh v Swansea - B&I Cup Preview

Do you believe in Father Christmas?  And did you honestly believe that Moseley would leave Old Deer Park last weekend with five points?  So do you believe that on Saturday London Welsh will mark the 125th anniversary of our first meeting with Welsh opposition by beating Swansea – our opponents on that historic day, Christmas Eve 1885, an occasion which marked the first win in the club’s history?

A lot has changed in the game of rugby union the last 125 years - to be fair, the last fifteen years have seen more upheaval than the preceding 110 - but it’s reassuring to report that that game at Swansea in the first year of London Welsh’s existence took place at St. Helens, the ground which they still call home.  It had been opened in 1873, a year before the rugby club was founded, and has been shared with Swansea Cricket Club for over 135 years.  Funny how that never impaired the rugby club’s Premiership & European ambitions…  St Helens was the venue for the first rugby international to be played in Wales, the opening game of the inaugural Home Nations Championship on 16th December 1882 in which England triumphed by two goals and four tries to nil on the way to a clean sweep of three wins from three.  Three of the Wales XV that day went on to wear the scarlet jersey of London Welsh; Thomas Judson, Bob Gould, and the captain, Charles Lewis.  But the most famous sporting event to have been witnessed at the old ground took place in the summer of 1968, when Nottinghamshire’s Garfield Sobers hit six sixes from a single over bowled by Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash.

Since the introduction of league rugby in Wales in 1990-91, Swansea have been the second most successful club side in terms of titles won with four.  The last of those, however, came pre-regionalisation, in 2001, with their Ospreylian rivals, Neath, claiming five titles in the last six years.  In the domestic cup competition they have three titles to their name, but none since the turn of the century: they haven’t contested a final since a 22-12 defeat to Llanelli in the first final to be held at the Millennium Stadium, in 2000.  They weren’t one of the six Welsh representatives in last year’s British & Irish Cup, having finished only 8th in the 2008-09 league season.

However, Swansea qualified for this year’s British & Irish Cup by virtue of finishing as runners-up to Neath in last season’s Principality Premiership.  The inaugural play-offs saw the Whites lose in the final to their regional rivals on try-count after a 22-22 draw at Cardiff Arms Park.  During the course of the season, eleven players represented both Swansea and the Ospreys, including Liam Davies, who also made three appearances for the Welsh, and Tom Prydie.  Listed on the club website as a centre and by his region as a full-back, Prydie became the youngest ever Wales cap when was named on the right wing against Italy in March, aged just 18 years, 25 days.  At the time his senior career amounted to only 160 minutes in the LV=Cup and seven minutes off the bench against Viadana in the Heineken Cup: eleven weeks later he became Wales’ youngest ever try-scorer when he touched down against South Africa.

This season the Whites sit in fourth place in the Premiership table, level on points with third placed Llanelli and four points behind Neath.  The British & Irish Cup tie between these two local rivals which was scheduled for last weekend fell victim to the weather, as did a league meeting last month – Swansea haven’t actually played since 20th November as four fixtures at St Helens have been postponed in the space of three weeks. Tom Prydie was named in the starting XV for the league game with Neath after playing the full 80 minutes in the Ospreys’ mauling of the Tigers in the LV=Cup five weeks ago.  But the star of the show against the English Champions was another Swansea-registered player, fly-half Matthew Morgan.  The 18 year old, who was born in Reading, moved from Bridgend in the summer, and Swansea coach Richard Webster has tipped him to be a future star in the international game.

Although last Saturday’s game fell victim to the weather, Swansea had already opened their cup campaign in mid-October with a 32-12 defeat at home to Ulster Ravens.  That’s a result which sees them at the bottom of Pool C, level on points with – you guessed it – Neath, who have yet to play a game and therefore have a points difference of nil.  Ulster’s 36-22 defeat at Bedford last weekend means that they are level with Moseley on five points despite having played an extra game, and with two clubs to qualify from each group for the quarter-finals Welsh still have a fighting chance of reaching the knockout stages.  To do so, we’ll almost certainly need to win at Bedford in mid-January and beat the Ravens at ODP a week later, as two defeats are unlikely to lead to qualification.  Go on - make a Christmas wish…