London Welsh
Birmingham & Solihull v London Welsh - Match Preview
By Mark W-J
December 9 2009
One quirk of London Welsh’s season to-date is that we have beaten all of the teams above us in the league table who have visited ODP (Bedford, Pirates & Nottingham), yet both home defeats have come against sides in the bottom four (Doncaster & Plymouth). The one exception to this pattern is Birmingham & Solihull, who were in 11th place when they visited in September and were beaten 37-12.
At that time, the Bees had a single point to their name as a result of the previous weekend’s 36-40 home defeat by Bristol. They currently stand on -13 points following a fifteen point penalty for going into Administration in October, leaving them 33 points adrift of 11th-placed Doncaster, and on Sunday they lost the return fixture with Bristol 28-0 at the Memorial Stadium. It’s the second time that they’ve been ‘nilled’ this term, and their average margin of defeat has been about 40-13 with five tries conceded per match. However, Bristol needed a second-half penalty try to seal their bonus point, and stand-in coach Eugene Martin is desperate to record his first win in charge while Russell Earnshaw is in South Africa with England Sevens.
Sadly the British & Irish Cup didn’t offer any respite, Bees conceding 50 points to both Rotherham (52-10, seven tries to one) and Cardiff (51-20, eight tries to two). As a result, they have the worst points difference of the 24 teams and are one of only two sides without a point after two rounds (the other is the Scottish Development squad, ‘Gael Force’). Welsh, on the other hand, have the best points difference in the competition, and are one of only two teams with a maximum 10 points, along with Ulster.
As a result of the financial upheaval, many of the players who appeared at ODP have moved-on, and B&S have consequently used 43 players – eighteen of whom have made two starts or fewer - in twelve rounds of league fixtures. Incredibly, fly-half Mark Woodrow who left for Viadana after just two matches, is still the second-highest points scorer with 31. Only two players – loosehead Matt Long and lock Alex Davidson – have appeared in all twelve league games: curiously, both have started eleven times and came off the bench against London Welsh.
Full-back Simon Hunt is top scorer for the Bees with 44 points, and he is also joint-top of the try-scoring charts alongside blindside Chris Brightwell, who scored three times in five games before leaving for Bedford in November. Brightwell is the only forward to have scored for the Bees this season, whereas Tom Brown, Dan George, Dorian Williams and Jon Mills have all crossed the whitewash for Welsh.
Attendances are generally up on last season’s average across the whole division; partly because Bristol have replaced Leeds; partly because four of the five relegated clubs had the lowest gates in the division last year; and partly, so some people would have us believe, because of the increased level of competition in The Championship. Sadly for Bees, however, it seems that the good people of the West Midlands just don’t seem to care much for the sport of rugby union. Although their current average of 729 is up a third on last season’s 546 (contrary to the argument that people prefer to pay to watch a winning team) only one other club is averaging less than 1,200 to-date – and that’s their near neighbours, Moseley. Our own crowds are up about 50% on last season, but there’s been a steady decline since those balmy September afternoons, and Bedford and Pirates – who traditionally bring larger followings than most – have both already visited ODP.
This weekend gives Welsh a golden opportunity to record their first ‘double’ of the season. Last week’s game against Nottingham wasn’t a great spectacle, but having not beaten the Green & Whites at home for almost four years, we’ll gladly take the four points, thank you very much. It’s strange to report that despite four consecutive defeats they still sit in third place in the league table, albeit 14 points behind Bristol. Yet with the play-offs to look forward to you still wouldn’t bet on the promotion battle being narrowed down to two clubs just yet. The only real certainty is that Bees won’t be involved in the Top 8 come the spring. We’ll wish them well – but reserve the right to withhold our best wishes until Sunday.
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Looking forward to the updates (please!).
Jonathan Fisher comes in from London Irish and Guy Mercer from Bath while James Buckland who played last week against Nottingham has the hooker position. James Buckland and Matt Garvey also play. Ed Lewis-Pratt is kept at full back. Full squad is:
1. Michael Holford
2. James Buckland
3. Lorne Ward
4. Matt Garvey
5. Matt Corker
6. Jonathan Fisher
7. Guy Mercer
8. Jonathan Mills
9. Ben Stevenson
10. Aled Thomas
11. Errie Claassens
12. Simon Whatling
13. Neil Starling
14. Paul Sampson
15. Ed Lewis-Pratt
Replacements:
16. Chris Whitehead
17. Dorian Williams
18. Mike Powell
19. Nick Runciman
21. Gordon Ross
22. Paul Mackey
so tries to Jon Fisher (WQ) and Guy Mercer?
No20 is Runciman
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009:12:12:15:18:01 by Blackheath Welsh.
Bees 6-20 LW
Conv kick
6-22
Two yellow carded 1 Bees and 1 LW
Pen give at kick off
Bees 6-27 LW (Mackey)
Conv kick
6-29
Final whistle
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:12:12:18:40:26 by Blackheath Welsh.
Well done to the team for a bonus point win. Now bring on Rotherham. PADDYTAF
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