Bristol v London Welsh - Play-Off Preview
By Mark W-J
March 30 2011
London Welsh visit Bristol’s Memorial Stadium on Friday night looking to build on last Saturday’s record win over the same opposition in the race for second place in Pool A. To suggest that Worcester will progress as group winners is not defeatist but realistic, and with our final fixture at Nottingham in a fortnight we have to hope that their try bonus at ODP will not come back to haunt us.
At the midway point in the group stage of the play-offs, Welsh have the second-best attack of the twelve clubs behind Pool B leaders, Cornish Pirates, having scored 125 points and 15 tries (Pirates have 131 and 17 respectively), while the two clubs can also lay claim to the leading individual points scorers, with Gordon Ross and Rob Cook having recorded 50 points apiece. Worryingly for Bristol, their team has troubled the scoreboard operators less than Gordon, scoring just 49 points in their three defeats, although they did collect a try-bonus in the 43-25 defeat at Nottingham a fortnight ago. Last Saturday’s 54-9 win was our biggest over Bristol in 76 meetings stretching back 110 years, the previous record (39-14) having stood for barely five months; prior to that our biggest margin of victory was just 21-3, in November 1969, a game described in ‘Dragon in Exile’ as being ‘rugby of a vintage quality… the most sublime performance of the season’.
Our defeat at Sixways and the aforementioned bonus point for Nottingham mean that we still need to claim two wins from our remaining three fixtures, of which two are away from home - and in the other we entertain the Warriors. The regulations drawn-up in advance of the inaugural Championship campaign state that ‘at any stage of the Season, positions at that stage of the season shall be determined firstly by the number of wins achieved and then on the basis of match points differential’. At the moment our advantage in points difference over Nottingham is +60, so another high-scoring win at Bristol, combined with a heavy defeat at Worcester for the Green & Whites, would put us firmly in the driving seat for qualification.
But now is not a time for complacency for the Welsh. Just two months ago at the Mem we suffered our heaviest defeat of the season, losing 23-6 in a game which kick-started Bristol’s great escape from the spectre of the relegation play-offs. In addition, we’ve lost the last six games we’ve played on a Friday night - at London Irish, Esher, Bedford, and Neath this season, plus the play-off semi-final at Bristol and a B&I cup tie in Ulster last spring. And our record in league rugby at Bristol is poor - just one win in six visits, 30-18 in February 2004. Yes, Saturday’s defeat at ODP was a fourth consecutive defeat for Paul Hull’s side, and was not only their second-biggest defeat at level two in the pyramid but also just the second time that they’ve conceded fifty points outside the Premiership, the first being a 68-15 mauling at Sixways during Worcester’s promotion season of 2003-04. But the Bristol faithful were quick to voice their displeasure on the internet chatrooms, with many suggesting that maybe Hull should move on sooner rather than later, and that those players who have re-signed for next season - almost 20 have agreed deals for another year - should demonstrate the passion and commitment to the jersey which - they hope - will bring better fortunes next season. The players won’t have enjoyed the post-match comments any more than the supporters enjoyed watching it, and will be fully committed to righting the wrongs of last weekend.
For Welsh, Phil Greening’s comments throughout the winter about the importance of hitting form in the play-offs and not peaking too early have been borne out by two fantastic home wins. We knew last summer when the squad was taking shape that it wasn’t going to be a team built for grinding out results at Rotherham in December, but was one which would be at home at the beginning and end of the season, on warm, dry days and firm pitches. Our inability to keep up with Worcester in the three meetings to-date suggests that we’re not ready for promotion yet, but if we can keep scoring tries and breaking records as we did last week then hopefully word will spread around the rugby-watching community of south-west London, and the players may get to play to the audience they deserve - without having to sign for our promotion rivals! Bristol’s crowds may be dwindling by their standards in proportion to their fortunes on the field, but even their lowest gate this season is almost double our best. Despite having two football clubs in the city, Bristol is still deemed to be a rugby stronghold in an area which can happily accommodate three Premiership clubs in barely a 15 mile radius. It’s a proud old club, and while many supporters accept that their place in the modern game may be in the Championship rather than the Premiership, there are many who believe that, with Leeds looking odds-on certainties for relegation, next year could represent their best chance of reclaiming their place in the elite. And what better way to start than by putting London Welsh firmly back in their place?
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Sean Marsden; Anthony Elliott, Jack Tovey, Junior Fatialofa, George Watkins; Mark Davies, Sam Alford; Mark Irish, David Blaney, Jason Hobson, Darren Barry, Roy Winters, Iain Grieve, Jamie Miller, Dan Montagu.
Replacements:
Ollie Hayes, Wayne Thompson, Mariano Sambucetti, Marco Mama, Richard Bolt, Ed Barnes, Jack Adams.
The Mem is a tough place to visit and playing an evening game under floodlights seems to take some getting used to as well. Weather forecast looking good which is a positive for us.
A few spaces left on the SC coach. £19 with half price for first timers, juniors and accompanying spouses. Call 07989 784082 or email lwsc_email@yahoo.co.uk to book.
Quote:adge1
.....which form book? The one which reads we've only won once there in living memory? the one which reads we won last week so we should do it again this week? Or the one which says no team I support has ever won at the Mem when I've been there?
Feb 2004 was the last away win against Bristol. That's a record that needs to be wiped out today!
Rugby commentary starts at 7.45pm.
Rovers football chat on at the moment..
[news.bbc.co.uk]
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:04:01:20:24:35 by Blackheath Welsh.
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However the game was over by half time, and the injuries further restricted a flowing game.
Well guys that breaks that particular monkey and a good result achieved by all. One more game to win to secure the position in the group. Wuss next week and an opportunity.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:04:02:10:45:16 by londonbound.
Quote:Bristol played a particularly canny game, shuffling the ball across field into areas as congested as their ring road. Was it their fault that in trying to press for a score they allowed interceptions for tries? And the charge down was just unfortunate. Bristol made far more tackles than Welsh - another indication that they played a major part in the game - although several of them were thought to be high by the LW supporters, but the ref didn't agree most of the time. The ref incidentally, in his peculiarly effete way, was adept at making curious decisions. So, Welsh got the win and the bonus point, but surely all the LW players shaking hands with all the LW supporters after the final whistle was just plain showing off? Anybody would think they're going for promotion.Newest Sir Benfro
Listening to the live coverage on Radio Bristol is hysterical... they are only saying how well Brizz are playing !! Obviously forgotten the scoreline
.Mightily impressed at how much stronger our pack is looking at this stage of the season.
It was great to see the team so fired up and while the players always ackmowledge the travelling support you could see this win was a big one.
Great performance, great win and looking forward to the challenge of Worcester now.
I guess the same applied to a few of our team and this was one reason why the victory meant so much to them.
No idea what the penalty count was but it seemed high for both of the teams.
Difficult to single out individual performs. The pack were goods in both the right and the loose. Aled had another confident game at FB, the wings and centres were always looking to attack and Ross and Runciman got the line moving very effectively.
Well done to all the supporters that were able to make the trip and battled the horrendous traffic on the M4. A long journey and late return but well worth the effort.
Quote:Extra strong cooking sherry today?nld
The pack were goods in both the right and the loose.
Quote:adge1Quote:Extra strong cooking sherry today?nld
The pack were goods in both the right and the loose.
Bloody predictive text!