By Peter Creek
March 7 2007

Formerly known as the Serpentine club, Waterloo have been in existence since 1882, having played at Blundellsands, on the outskirts of Liverpool, for the last 123 years. Currently propping up ND1 they appear destined to return to Division 2 after only one season in the second tier of English rugby.

On Sunday they face the daunting task of playing Leeds at Headingley Carnegie with the memory of a sound drubbing in the first fixture between the sides back in November still haunting them. There is clear daylight between the “Drummers” and the teams above them in the drop-zone. With time running out Waterloo need to win this game. Having only won three games all season this would appear to be a tall order. Two of those games were won against Cornish Pirates and Exeter Chiefs which will give Waterloo the faintest of hopes against the Tykes.

 

We are now into the last quarter of the season. Statisticians from across the division are predicting results and working out the permutations for the final league table. Interestingly no-one is predicting a win for Waterloo this weekend. Leeds have only slipped three times this season. Against the lower teams they can appear to struggle before sneaking a bonus point late on in the game. For them this match must deliver five points. If one thing is certain for Leeds it is that they hold the key to their future firmly in their hands. No matter what anyone else does if they win all six remaining fixtures they will be promoted.

 

Coach Stuart Lancaster has got his squad into a good habit of only looking at the next match in front of them. When they do that this week they will know that Waterloo are another potential “banana skin”. They may also reflect on the twelve tries that they ran in at Blundellsands back in early November. Tykes certainly have the psychological advantage going into this game. In February they won all three of their league fixtures, the last two away from home. During that month Leeds  experimented with their halfback and threequarter combinations with some very positive results. Leigh Hinton has acquitted himself well at no 10. At the same time Richard Welding has looked totally at home in the 15 shirt. John Hepworth is consistently the most incisive centre and “new boys” Tom Biggs & Andre Snyman are playing themselves into form.

 

The forwards have not given the coaching staff many sleepless nights this season. New and old players have knitted together into an effective unit and the addition of loan signing Telae Pelu has strengthened  a lineout that was already much improved over last season. The pack now have strength in depth with every position covered by at least two players.

 

And so we come back to Sunday. Over eighty minutes any result is possible. The most likely outcome is a comfortable win for Leeds Tykes and I take them to win by twenty points.

 

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