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Play Off Fixtures Confirmed


By Dragons' Den
February 25 2012

Twenty two games completed and the ‘business end’ of the season is now upon us. Five of the six matches played this weekend could have had a bearing on the play-off pools and for London Welsh the final outcome is fourth position and a place in Pool A alongside Bristol, Nottingham and Doncaster. We have the full fixture list for all pools.

 

The Pools, together with the points carried forward from the main season, are as follows:
  

Pool A

 

 

Pool B

 

 

Pool C

 

Bristol

3

 

Bedford

3

 

L Scottish

6

L Welsh

2

 

Pirates

2

 

Moseley

6

Nottingham

1

 

Leeds

1

 

Plymouth

6

Doncaster

0

 

Rotherham 

0

 

Esher

4

 

Pirates and Bedford find themselves in the same pool for the third consecutive season and, as per last season, London Welsh start this part of the campaign welcoming Nottingham to Old Deer Park and finish it at Meadow Lane.


Moseley may have earned themselves an unwanted reputation as relegation pool specialists having graced Pool C for all three seasons of the Championship. For Esher and Plymouth this is their second consecutive year battling against relegation and this experience may help lift them ahead of newcomers London Scottish.

The dates and times of the play off fixtures may take a few days to resolve with clubs trying to avoid clashes with the Six Nations games and also waiting to hear which matches Sky decide to televise. If our unique Championship Relegation And Promotion Extrapolation Equipment is to be believed then the full fixture list is as below. If this is wrong then the unfortunate initials of this device will prove far more accurate than its forecasting abilities.

The full fixture list for all three play-off groups appears to be:

         
  Pool A Pool B
         
9, 10, 11 DoncastervBristol RotherhamvBedford
March L WelshvNottinghamPiratesvLeeds
         
         
16, 17, 18  BristolvL Welsh BedfordvPirates
March NottinghamvDoncasterLeedsvRotherham
         
         
23, 24, 25 NottinghamvBristol LeedsvBedford
March  L WelshvDoncasterPiratesvRotherham
         
         
30, 31 March DoncastervL Welsh RotherhamvPirates
or 1 April BristolvNottinghamBedfordvLeeds
         
         
13, 14, 15  DoncastervNottinghamPiratesvBedford
April L WelshvBristol RotherhamvLeeds
         
         
21 April 3pmNottinghamvL Welsh BedfordvRotherham
  BristolvDoncasterLeedsvPirates
     
  Pool C
     
9, 10, 11 EshervL Scottish
March MoseleyvPlymouth
     
     
16, 17, 18  L ScottishvMoseley
March PlymouthvEsher
     
     
23, 24, 25 PlymouthvL Scottish
March  MoseleyvEsher
     
     
30, 31 March L ScottishvPlymouth
or 1 April EshervMoseley
     
     
13, 14, 15  MoseleyvL Scottish
April EshervPlymouth
     
     
21 April 3pmL ScottishvEsher
  PlymouthvMoseley

  

Semi Finals weekends of 5th & 12th May 

Finals WEDS 23rd & WEDS 30th May

 

Dates and times will be updated as soon as they are announced by the clubs.


If rumours are true then this could be the last time we encounter this end of season format. It has been suggested that next season will see the bottom team facing automatic relegation and only the top four going through to play for promotion. The shortfall in the fixture list will be made up with further games in the unloved and barely attended B&I Cup. With the RFU’s track record on making decisions Dragons’ Den suggests that you don’t hold your breath waiting for news on this possible development.

 

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Play Off Fixtures Confirmed
Discussion started by The Dragon\'s Den , 25/02/2012 16:54
The Dragon\'s Den
25/02/2012 16:54
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DanFW3
25/02/2012 18:26
RFU site gives the matches as played on the relevant Saturdays but methinks the ground-sharers may not be able to achieve this so only Doncaster at home in our group seems a certain Saturday fixture. I wonder if Bristol will go for Friday nights? Do we have ODP for our home fixtures?

nld
25/02/2012 23:50
We definitely have ODP for all the home games at the group stage of the play-offs. Fixtures will take until middle to late next week to confirm as SKY and RFU will need to have their say.

Bristol away is most likely to be a Friday eve or Sunday game as the Saturday is the final day of the 6N. Nottingham away has to be on the Saturday at 3pm to meet league rules. Notts County have a home game that afternoon also due to kick off at 3pm.... A repeat of last season's chaos at Meadow Lane?

nld
27/02/2012 16:47
Doncaster away match confirmed as Sat 31st March @ 2.30pm.

nld
28/02/2012 08:47
Bristol away confirmed Sunday 18th March @ 3pm.

TC08
28/02/2012 09:08
Quote:
nld
Bristol away confirmed Sunday 18th March @ 3pm.

That's handy. Somewhere to break the journey on the way back from celebrating our GS win the night before!

Dragons' Den
28/02/2012 14:11
Half a dozen dates and times still to be announced but latest fixture list for all play off games can be viewed at [www.rugbynetwork.net]

Will be updated when all final details announced.

LW games: [www.london-welsh.co.uk]

DanFW3
28/02/2012 15:17
The Notts v Welsh game is shown as 21 4 2012 @ 3pm and is suspect as Notts County v Bury kicks off at the same time on the same pitch. I suspect the rugby fixture will move

Crug Mawr
28/02/2012 15:30
The issue is that the final round of matches are meant to be played at the same time. Or so I thought.

Dockman
28/02/2012 16:06
And on the official LW website the Notts v LW game shows "Kick-off time tba".

nld
28/02/2012 16:07
Has to be a 3pm ko. Same problem last season so the football game kicked off earlier, half hour between matches to clear stadium and let in the next 'crowd', LW team got changed in the gym, pitch had both sets of markings, absolute chaos.

Match eventually started at about 3.15.

DanFW3
28/02/2012 16:34
I spoke to the Notts County FC just before my last post here and they seemed oblivious of the clash, let alone a possible shift of the soccer game to earlier - I don't know how away supporters from Bury FC will take to a lunchtime ko. This was foreseeable and the RFU should be sharper off the blocks in contingency planning where ground shares could present clashes.

nld
28/02/2012 17:06
Sorry Dan, I don't see how this is down to the RFU. The rules regarding the final game of the play-offs are clearly set out in the Championship regulations and Nottingham (and therefore Notts County) would have known at the start of the season that there was a 50/50 chance of staging a rugby game at 3pm that day. The football match could always have been scheduled for another time just in case Nottingham had to use Meadow Lane.

Nottingham faffed and fussed last season before realising that the ko time could not be altered so they are well and truly aware of the situation.

If Nottingham RFC choose to be tenants in a football stadium and Notts County choose to take the rent & other income then they have to accept that in return they may need to put up with occasional inconveniences.

Interestingly (or possibly not) Nottingham are showing the venue for all their home play-off matches as 'TBC'. We might even strike it lucky and avoid a visit to Meadow Lane!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:02:28:17:07:55 by nld.

DanFW3
28/02/2012 20:22
There's always the Forest ground

nld
29/02/2012 16:43
Bristol @ ODP moved to Sunday 15th

[www.london-welsh.co.uk]

DanFW3
29/02/2012 23:15
The centenary of Titanic sinking - but which of is Titanic and which the iceberg (which came off better but didn't survive the summer un all probability)?

nld
02/03/2012 00:08
Football and rugby double header at Nottingham. Hope they have learnt a few lessons from last season's debacle.

[www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk]

TC08
02/03/2012 10:15
Any plans for block booking some advanmnce tickets for Bristol?

And to provide access to some coming back from over the Bridge?

DanFW3
02/03/2012 21:50
Wow, Bristol are already charging Premiership ticket prices - admittedly on the west stand, my preference - and need taking down a notch or two. A decent number of Welsh supporters would help as I suspect we'll be outnumbered.

Nottingham are selling tickets for two stands, which seems a bit adventurous unless either they expect a huge carry-over of soccer supporters from the game against Bury FC or somehow by 21 April they're still in there with a serious chance and it's them v us for one of the semi slots. Perhaps we can strike a deal with Bury folk to back London Welsh.

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