London Welsh
Exeter v London Welsh - Preview
By Mark W-J
October 7 2009
London Welsh have no chance to bask in the glory of last weekend’s victory over Bedford as they face a trip to the new league leaders, Exeter, this Saturday (10th October, 3-00pm). The Chiefs secured a bonus point in their 35-26 win at Bristol on Sunday, and this weekend’s game brings together the only two teams in the league to have taken at least a point from each of their five matches to date.
Last Sunday’s win shows how far Exeter have come in recent years; despite finishing second to Bristol in 2004-05 the Chiefs were routed 68-15 at the Memorial Stadium on Easter Sunday, and just six months later crashed 70-5 at The Stoop. Yet they’ve consistently been a top-half side at Level two, and therefore one of the top 20 clubs in the country, since an 11th place finish in 1997-98, and we’ve finished above them in the ladder only once in the last 20 years – fourth against fifth in 1998-99. But Exeter have made no secret of their ambitions of playing in the Premiership, and have finished as runners-up in National One in each of the last two seasons, and three times in the last five years.
Last year’s record haul of 119 points, including 23 wins from 30 and 23 bonus points, wasn’t enough to satisfy the Board, and Head Coach Peter Drewett was sacked, to be replaced by his assistant, club stalwart Rob Baxter. Baxter is currently being assisted by former Northampton and Bedford fly-half Ali Hepher, ex-Bath, Exeter and Pirates scrum-half Ricky Pellow, and one-time England and Leicester prop Robin Cowling, previously an assistant coach at Cornish Pirates.
While results on the pitch have tempted some observers to attach the ‘bridesmaid’ tag to the Chiefs, off the field the club look to have got their house in order. Their new home at Sandy Park has conference facilities which can generate income 365 days a year, and the ground currently has a capacity in the region of 8,000 with planning permission already granted to expand should the club win promotion to the top flight. Some may argue that it’s ironic that they should have stolen a march on the Premiership’s ‘13th team’ at a time when finishing top of the league is not enough; others may suggest that Bristol are keeping their powder dry and chose not to reveal their full hand to their strongest rivals as such an early stage of the season.
Saturday’s game will bring the league’s top two points scorers face-to-face. Chiefs fly-half Gareth Steenson sits at the top of the chart at present with 71 points (16 conversions, 13 penalties) with Aled Thomas second on 64 points (2 tries, 9 conversions, 12 penalties). However, Steenson’s strike rate is currently a shade over 90%, missing only three shots at goal all season; Aled has converted 21 of his 32 attempts to date. Steenson has been the leading points scorer for three clubs in the last three years with 264 points for Rotherham in 2006-07; 287 for Pirates in 2007-08, making him the league’s top scorer; and 224 for Chiefs in 2008-09.
This is the 14th time in the last 15 years that the two clubs have found themselves side-by-side in the league ladder. We were runners-up to the Chiefs in Division Four in 1995-96, despite claiming a 32-14 victory at the County Ground on the final Saturday of the season, and they won a second promotion 12 months later, one season ahead of us. As a consequence, we have played Exeter more than any other club in the history of league rugby – 27 matches beginning with a 15-7 away defeat in the spring of 1990. Unfortunately, Exeter have also inflicted more defeats on the Exiles than any other team, having emerged victorious on 19 occasions. Our last victory in the series was 23-10 at ODP in the 2005-06 season, a win which cost coach Ian Bremner his job. We have yet to record a win at Sandy Park, our last away win being 24-18 on 14th October 2000 at the County Ground. The old venue was often criticised by visiting supporters for resembling a paddy field, but our victory on that day was secured by winger Adam Jones hacking a dropped ball from deep in his own half and diving on it 10 yards from the home side’s line to aquaplane over for the try.
Despite a well-earned win over the Blues, Welsh have dropped out of the top six courtesy of Moseley’s controversial bonus point win at Coventry on Friday night. The Midlands side entertain Plymouth – currently one place below us and level on points – this weekend, and with Pirates, who lost their 100% record to Albion last week, due to visit ODP next weekend we need to continue our current rich vein of form if we are to maintain a healthy position in the play-off places. The five-point penalty continues to haunt us, but looking at events up at Birmingham and Solihull in the last fortnight makes you appreciate how lucky we really are.
Mike Powell on the charge against Exeter last season
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Quote:Gorseinon Jack
Has the Team been named yet?
Exeter have announced their squad:
Forwards: Simon Alcott, Richie Baxter, Chris Bentley, Chris Budgen, Neil Clark, James Hanks, Tom Hayes, Tom Johnson, Ruaidhri Murphy, James Scaysbrook, Chade Slade, Brett Sturgess and Hoani Tui.
Backs: Tom Bedford, Matt Cornwell, Phil Dollman, Mark Foster, Danny Gray, Matt Jess, Emyr Lewis, Bryan Rennie, Gareth Steenson, Clive Stuart-Smith and Haydn Thomas.
Exe 3-0 LW
34 mins
Exe 3-3 LW
42 mins
Exe 10-3 LW
half time
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:10:15:48:31 by Blackheath Welsh.
21 mins
Exe 10-9 LW
34 mins
Exe 13-9 LW
FT
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:10:16:44:14 by Blackheath Welsh.
Bonus point was well deserved.
It will be interesting to see how both teams play in the return on 2nd Jan.
Wish you all well until then.
Chiefs Chiefs CHIEFS
But they're very good at looking after people in wheelchairs.
Quote:dottigirl
We should've won. Exeter created nothing. We made too many errors in the second half.
But they're very good at looking after people in wheelchairs.
Pretty much aggree with you assesment of the match. But it looks as though we had a game plan that worked.
The following is taken from an article in our local newspaper on Friday.
" EXETER supporters have been warned not to expect the Chiefs to play how they did at Bristol in tomorrow's game against London Welsh.
Head coach Rob Baxter said the club's fans will have to get used to seeing their side do what it takes to win games this season.
That means they will change the way they play for different opponents and Baxter believes the Exiles will pose a very different threat to Bristol."
BTW You wouldn't mind posting your comments on wheelchairs on the Pirates and Albion websites would you?
Your comments would of course be very welcome on the Chief's board.
The match was tight, but as previously stated LW made too many handling errors. As long s they keep improving they have as good a chance as anybody in the play offs which can be a bit of a lottery.
Thanks to Chiefs for a great day out and looking forward to taking the Royal Marines contingent up to ODP.
Good effort lads for yesterday.
Was a good day in exeter however anyway, and we coulda, shoulda won that game.
THE NEW LONDON WELSH WEBSITE
it sounds as though we should and could have won.
The new website looks very good.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:11:17:40:59 by Di Bark.
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