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
Doncaster
v
Bristol
Rotherham
v
Bedford
March
L Welsh
v
Nottingham
Pirates
v
Leeds
16, 17, 18
Bristol
v
L Welsh
Bedford
v
Pirates
March
Nottingham
v
Doncaster
Leeds
v
Rotherham
23, 24, 25
Nottingham
v
Bristol
Leeds
v
Bedford
March
L Welsh
v
Doncaster
Pirates
v
Rotherham
30, 31 March
Doncaster
v
L Welsh
Rotherham
v
Pirates
or 1 April
Bristol
v
Nottingham
Bedford
v
Leeds
13, 14, 15
Doncaster
v
Nottingham
Pirates
v
Bedford
April
L Welsh
v
Bristol
Rotherham
v
Leeds
21 April 3pm
Nottingham
v
L Welsh
Bedford
v
Rotherham
Bristol
v
Doncaster
Leeds
v
Pirates
Pool C
9, 10, 11
Esher
v
L Scottish
March
Moseley
v
Plymouth
16, 17, 18
L Scottish
v
Moseley
March
Plymouth
v
Esher
23, 24, 25
Plymouth
v
L Scottish
March
Moseley
v
Esher
30, 31 March
L Scottish
v
Plymouth
or 1 April
Esher
v
Moseley
13, 14, 15
Moseley
v
L Scottish
April
Esher
v
Plymouth
21 April 3pm
L Scottish
v
Esher
Plymouth
v
Moseley
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.
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?
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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)?
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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