Bristol v London Welsh Preview
By Mark W-J
October 20 2011
Last weekend started so promisingly for supporters of Wales and London Welsh, as both anticipated success on a scale not seen for almost a quarter of a century. But one dodgy tackle in Auckland and a series of missed tackles in Richmond left us sobbing in our beer - in the bowls club - on Saturday evening; Friday offers both teams a shot at redemption and a chance to climb back up the rankings.
Wales’ defeat to France saw the team drop to places from a best-ever world ranking of 4th, behind our Gallic cousins and - unbelievably - England. The Exiles, meanwhile, were replaced at the summit in the Championship by Bristol, who seem to have turned a corner after a year of crushing disappointment and a season of under achievement and rebuilding. Our trip to the Memorial Stadium pitches first against second, and will be televised on Sky Sports 2, our fifth live appearance in just under 18 months. The first was also at Bristol in the 2009-10 play-off semi-final, a game which the home side deservedly won 28-15, after recovering from Dom Shabbo’s first minute try. Our record in front of the Sky cameras isn’t good - played four, won one, lost three. The win came in the only home game of the four - 48-26 versus Nottingham in round one of last season’s play-offs - while, for those of you looking for an omen, that was also the only one of the four fixtures to have been played on a Saturday. Our last two meetings withBristol were also in last year’s play-off pool; a 54-9 win at ODP on the last weekend of March followed by a 36-14 away victory on April Fools’ Day. While Bristol did manage a 29-19 win over Nottingham the following week, they finished their campaign with an 81-13 thrashing at Worcester, although some pride was restored with victory over Bedford in the final of the B&I Cup.
This season has seen many changes at the Mem, with Liam Middleton stepping up from Academy Manager to replace Paul Hull as Head Coach. It’s difficult to criticise Hull, who is one of the great club servants of the modern era, but there was a distinct impression that the club had stagnated under his leadership, and the announcement midway through last season that he’d be leaving at the end of the campaign seemed to backfire as the team stumbled into the promotion play-offs before appearing to run out of steam. This season, however, has been a different story. Six wins from seven see Bristol back on top of the Championship, three points ahead of Welsh. Their only defeat came at Leeds (12-11) in round three, while they’re one of only two teams to have taken at least a point from all of their games to-date,Rotherhambeing the other. With only 95 points and seven tries conceded they have by far the meanest defence in the league, but 175 points and 19 tries scored gives them only the fourth-best attacking stats. By contrast Welsh have the second-best defence - 133 points and 12 tries conceded - and the best attacking record, with 215 points and 27 tries scored.
Bristol’s attacking threat clearly comes for their three-quarters, who have contributed 12 of the team’s 19 tries; Jack Tovey is top-scorer with five, closely followed by George Watkins on four, while Matt Williams, who scored 16 tries for Doncaster last term, has two. Our own Ed Jackson is still the division’s top scorer, maintaining his try-per-game average with the opening score againstRotherhamlast weekend, while full-back Edd Thrower has joined Seb Jewell on three tries. Welsh and Bedford have each had tries scored by thirteen different players (we’ve also had one penalty try), whereas Esher and Rotherham have had only six try-scorers each - and Esher have only scored six tries all season. They haven’t crossed the whitewash in their last three games, losing 37-3 to Welsh, 12-3 to Rotherham, and 20-6 at home toBristollast Saturday. Bristol’s two tries were both scored while their hosts were down to 14 men, with first lock Mike Blakeburn and then former LW & Bedford prop Robin Boot spending 10 minutes in the bin.
After suffering the heartbreak of the promotion play-off against Exeter just under 18 months ago, many Bristol fans seem happy to accept that their club has now consolidated in the Championship. Crowds are up slightly on last season, with an average of 4,250 from the three home games to-date, and the supporters are enjoying a reasonable standard of rugby without the fears of financial ruin which have haunted the club on-and-off for over a decade. Like Bedford - the second-best supported club in the league - they’ve got a set-up which proves that a loyal fanbase, quality yet unsung players, and half-decent facilities are enough to support a proper rugby club, where winning is important - but survival is priceless.
Photographs from Bristol's visit to ODP in 2010/11:
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Sean Marsden; George Watkins, Jack Tovey, Junior Fatialofa, Matt Williams; Matty James, Tom Slater; Darren Crompton, Rhys Lawrence, Jason Hobson, Mariano Sambucetti, Roy Winters, Josh Ovens, James Merriman, Iain Grieve (c).
Replacements: Ross Johnston, Mark Irish, Darren Barry, Dan Montagu, Louis Silver, Mark Davies, Ben Mosses.
Replacements: 16. Saul Nelson, 17. Billy Moss, 18. Shawn Pittman*, 19. Matt Corker, 20. Lee Beach, 21. Jack Moates, 22. Seb Jewell.
Link: [www.london-welsh.co.uk]
Although I don't think we can compare last seasons play-off results to any outcome this season. As you've eluded the Bristol team for this season is a different beast to last seasons, despite the majority of the squad being the same.
Good luck tomorrow night.
If it is the latter then I think it is a very sad day that London Welsh colours are being changed to suit a sponsor. In the early days of Div 1 we had Birmingham and Solihull changing their name to Pertenps bees because of their main sponsor. I hope this won't happen at LWRFC!
Leave the kit alone please!!!!!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:10:22:07:26:54 by GvK.
Second time this season that they've failed to close out a game and then concede a last minute try. Lyn Jones didn't seem too concerned and the players were laughing and joking as they left the pitch so at least they enjoyed their day out....
We lost by one kick drifting slightly to the left of the posts. If it had not been for that they would have had to score twice at the end which was beyond them. Our tackling when Bristol was on the break however was poor by comparison with our defence in close quarters play, with three ineffective tackles in a row letting in one try at the north end.
Does nobody teach the flying tackle any more? In a pursuit you lose speed if you reach ahead of you to tackle a fast running player and will invariably fail. A man running flat out for the line is rarely jinking as he runs if there is nobody ahead of him so a flying tackle should get the man, With a flying tackle you have a chance = just one, it is true - of not only bringing the man down but also obliging him to release the ball as he breaks his fall.
Anyone notice the traditional letters on Bristol's kit, but on the front near the badge? The good old days....
The Pirates match will indeed be pivotal and it would be good to see a really large turnout this coming weekend. Perhaps Scottish and Esher supporters should come up and see how it's done (making hog-roast).