Having said that their season has been littered with defeats by teams that they could reasonably have been expected to beat. Leeds, on the other hand, have only lost at Clifton Lane since that narrow defeat. Blues fans must wish that their team could put together such a consistent run of results. The ability to "win ugly" has deserted the Blues this season, leaving their fans frustrated and dreaming of what might have been.

By way of a contrast the Tykes thrill and exasperate their fans with a mixture of scintillating rugby, schoolboy errors and last minute tries to seal the bonus point. This latter habit sending the faithful home happy but perplexed. Tykes start games well, have a poor patch in the middle and then come good right at the death. Stuart Lancaster sees this as a positive attribute showing that his team never give up. I see it slightly differently - if the team plays good rugby for a quarter of the match then it is only a matter of time before they turn that into half or threequarters and put a good side like Bedford to the sword, scoring a hatful of tries in the process.

February is a tough month for Leeds with the Pirates and Knights following Bedford in quick succession. Last weekend the Tykes failed to despatch a spirited Sedgley Park team by a big enough margin to silence their critics, giving hope to the chasing clubs that they are about to stumble in the race for the title. The reality is that Titans will be snapping at their heels if they fail to beat Bedford. However Tykes have shown that they have the appetite for a big game. They also have the players to win big games. Stuart Lancaster now has the luxury of being able to rest key players when he feels that they need it and competition for places in the starting lineup is intense. These two factors, coupled with a four point lead over Titans, put Leeds in an enviable position.

I expect Leeds to field a strong team against the Blues. No-one has beaten the Tykes at Headingley Carnegie since the opening day of the season. They will be out to avenge that October defeat in the Midlands. I expect a solid performance and a victory to Leeds by ten points.