London Welsh v Plymouth Preview
By Mark W-J
September 8 2011
London Welsh’s 55th season at Old Deer Park kicks off on Saturday with the visit of Plymouth Albion for the ‘match of the day’ in the Championship. The game pitches second against third in the embryonic table, with the 21 previous league meetings producing ten wins apiece and a single draw at Brickfields in February 2010, with each club having won five home and five away fixtures in the series.
This is Albion’s 10th season at level two in the pyramid, having been finished as runners-up to Orrell in National Two in 2001-02 to achieve back-to-back promotions. Yet just four years earlier they came within a whisker of dropping out of the National Leagues altogether, finishing 13th of 14 teams in Jewson Two South (level four) with just six wins from 26 fixtures. That year they also suffered their heaviest defeat in league rugby when they were thrashed 70-0 by Esher at Molesey Road. But Albion find themselves in third place in the Championship following their 22-11 win over our neighbours last Saturday, while we’re one place ahead on points’ difference following our 26-13 victory at Headingley. Only two teams collected a try bonus point in the opening round of fixtures; Bristol, who won 38-12 and are therefore the only team not to concede a try, and Moseley, who outscored the Pirates by four tries to three in their 27-27 draw at Billesley.
Last year was not a happy one for Graham Dawe’s men as they lost 14 of their 22 league matches to finish in 10th place, thereby facing the horrors of the relegation play-offs. They finished third in their pool, ten points clear of the Bees, over whom they claimed home-and-away victories, but lost both ties with Esher while the games with Moseley were each won by the home side. It was the inability to beat the teams in the top half of the table which cost Albion dear last term. They won six and drew two matches, finishing with identical home and away records of three wins, one draw and seven defeats; but the eight games which were no lost were against just four teams - Bees, Esher, and Moseley (the other teams in the bottom four) and Rotherham, who finished just two places above the relegation contenders in 7th. They did collect five losing bonus points from their seven home defeats - only Doncaster and Welsh won by more than seven points at the Brickfields - but further bonus points at Bristol and here in Richmond were augmented by a single try bonus at Moseley in October. With only 365 points and 31 tries scored in 22 games they had the worst attacking stats in the Championship, although in mitigation their defensive record of 500 points conceded was the best outside of the top four.
To make matters worse, top try scorer, Kieran Hallett, has moved to Nottingham, for whom he kicked three penalties and a conversion in the 26-28 defeat to Bedford last weekend; two of the tries were scored by prop Michael Holford, making his league debut for the Green & Whites following his summer move from London Welsh. And top points scorer, fly-half Alex Davies, is one of four former Plymouthplayers who lined-up in our 22-man squad at Leeds last weekend. Alex has scored 583 points in 132 league appearances (49 as a replacement): in three years atPlymouthhe made 43 starts with a further 14 appearances as a replacement, scoring 382 points - 239 of them last season alone.
The other three faces in our squad who will familiar to visiting supporters this weekend are winger Liam Gibson, prop James Tideswell, and flanker Mike Denbee. Liam scored our first try at Leeds, and his nine touchdowns last year represented a best-ever return in his seven seasons of senior rugby since bursting onto the scene as a teenager at Newbury. James has joined from London Irish on a permanent basis having made three appearances on-loan last season. He converted from the back-row to the front-row during his time at the Gloucester Academy, and it was his skill in winning turnover ball at the breakdown which led directly to the winning try for Dom Shabbo on his debut at ODP off the bench against the Pirates last November. He then started the next two games, against Bees and Albion, for whom he had made just seven appearances (two starts) in 2008-09 after five seasons at Stourbridge, before moving to Sunbury. Although he never started a Premiership game for our fellow Exiles he did make seven appearances as a replacement in his first year with the club, scoring a try in a 33-22 defeat at Wasps. Mike Denbee spent about 18 months with Albion after arriving in the city as a student, making his debut against Northampton Saints in January 2008. In his only full season, 2008-09, he made 26 appearances and scored three tries, before moving to Spain for a season with CR La Villa, returning to England at the start of last season to join the Bees. Following their relegation, however, his was the first summer signing announced by London Welsh for the 2011-12 season.
Graham Dawe is starting his 13th season as Director of Rugby at Plymouth - he celebrated his 52nd birthday last Sunday, but was named on the bench for Albion’s visit to ODP last November. Despite last season’s disappointments the supporters have great faith in the man who has brought much success to their club, developing numerous previously unheralded players into future Premiership and international stars. Their primary objective for this season will be to make the step up to the top eight, and last season’s results demonstrate that the best way to bridge that gap is to start picking up wins instead of bonus points against the top sides. We now fall into that latter category, following consecutive appearances in the play-off semi-finals, but Albion will travel with their tails up following their opening weekend win over Esher after having waited five weeks to pick up their first victory last season. With Bristol playing London Scottish on Sunday, the winners of Saturday’s game could go top of the table for 24 hours - but let’s not get carried away…
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
.
Have a great day saturday all and one and a cracking game of rugby .