Yorkshire Carnegie
Leeds To Break Headingley Duck?
Man of the Moment?
By Andy Brown
February 26 2010
Sunday sees the visit of Wasps to Headingley, with a battle that looks intriguingly poised to go either way. The rugby cognescenti will be fascinated by the match-up here, if not exactly frothing at the mouth at the thought of the quality of the rugby.
With Leeds beating by all accounts a woeful Sale team at the eighteenth time of asking, primarily through forward grit and determination, the Headingley faithful have suddenly got an awful lot happier over the last week. And Wasps abrasive display last week that nilled a still very hard-to-beat Saracens side, we can perhaps be forgiven for assuming the Headingley contest will be forwards dominated and minimalist when it comes to tries.
However, tries do not necessarily a spectacle make, and all who make it to LS6 for the slightly early kick-off will be fascinated by what the two teams will make of the sandy surface. Having taken Wasps down on their own turf earlier in the season, Leeds should be nothing if not confident of making it a contest, and by the same token, Wasps will want to restore their injured pride.
A fly in the ointment of course is the injury sustained by Andy Gomersall in his 200th Premiership appearance at Sale last week, which, although not as bad as first feared, it does mean he will take no part in the match on Sunday – other than perhaps a spot of cheerleading from the stands. (You know where we are with the drums Gommers – come and join us!). This gives the improving Scott Mathie a chance to stake his claim for a more permanent run in the number nine shirt, and as a result Joe Bedford also makes a rare appearance on the bench. The rest of the back line is pretty much the strongest we can field, and Rabeni and Fa'afli should be able to do a job together if they can just get a bit of passing done between them!
Forwards wise, the team more or less picks itself too, and with Andy Titterell's welcome news that he is to remain with us for the rest of the season, we can field a pretty formidable front row both from the start and from the bench. At Adams Park the Wasps pack was dominated by Leeds, and although they claim to have fixed the problems they had then, I personally want to see Leeds dominate again; good ball at scrum-time will give just the platform that our Scott Mathie can use to good effect.
Of course the elephant in the room is the shock announcement of Calum Clark's leaving us to go to Northampton. A talented lad, big and strong will go far with a club like Saints, and much as it pains me to say it, I think he probably does need a change of scenery to push his game on to the next level. He is there on the bench this weekend, and I have no doubt that when called upon he will give his all to ensure he can come to Headingley with his new club next season.
So, we have a confidence in the Leeds side, both on the training paddock and in the stands that we haven't had since last season when we were playing much lower grade opposition. I confess to being worried about this fixture. Home advantage should count for something, but this doesn't seem to have helped the players so far. Perhaps we're too quiet. We need everyone to shout and scream to ensure the 5000+ supporters that are there sound like four times as many. If we can build an intimidating atmosphere, Leeds might forget where they are and win it!
Wasps will do all they can to stop that happening (assuming they turn up at all ;) ), and as stated before, their nilling of Sarries should be a warning to Leeds' attacking players; they will need to do something pretty special to breach the insectoid barricades.
My prediction? I honestly don't know. Although at different ends of the Premiership table, and therefore with hugely different motivations, nevertheless these are two closely matched sides – even without Wasps losing players to international duty. I think it could go either way.
But whichever way it does go, there won't be a lot in it. Pass the defibrulator – therre may be an awful lot of heart stopping moments!
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26/02/2010 19:01
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it feels good to be able to say that, though. especially against a club we'd never beaten before this season. we've come a long way in the last few months.
IMHO they can do this.
All of you guessing attendance figures must reduce by 2.
Me and her in'doors can't be there .[family do y'now]
Will be there in spirit tho.
C'mon you Tykes roll some thunder on them insects.
We are not out of it yet!
Come on Leeds! Hopefully I will be able to stay awake having troughed my way through £15s worth of scoff!!
Zandra YaPoI
YaPoI - Yorkshire and Proud of It
'proficiscor in una'
Quote:yeldor
All of you guessing attendance figures must reduce by 2.
Me and her in'doors can't be there .[family do y'now]
.
Bl**dy hell man, can't you get somebody to go in your place, there are reputations at stake here!
When they score i will be heard from the south coast.
C'mon you Tykes.
Quote:yeldor
Have got our youngest to go he will be cheering them on.
When they score i will be heard from the south coast.
C'mon you Tykes.
Nice one Yeldor!
Quote:Mally
Will cheering you on from Tyneside - radio link anyone?
Good luck!
Hi Mally, how's things, I listened to your lot last night, didn't sound too good. If you get on to the Guinness Premiership site, and work your way through the fixtures, you will eventually find an audio link. Hopefully it will be Radio Leeds, 'cos I bet their commentary is biased. Thanks for the good wishes.
Don't forget to give us a ladylike bellow when we win!!
