By Mark W-J
December 8 2010

It's early December and the first stage of the Championship season is already two-thirds complete - so we now break for the opening two rounds of the British & Irish Cup.  Most of the Welsh & Irish teams have already played their first fixtures, meaning that we go into this weekend's meeting with Moseley already trailing Ulster by five points after their bonus-point win at Swansea in mid-October.

Last season, Moseley collected a solitary point from their cup campaign, and that was a try-bonus after scoring four tries in their opening fixture, a 38-27 home defeat to the Welsh. Despite collecting maximum points from our first three fixtures, we failed to qualify for the knockout stages after a narrow defeat in Ulster. To be fair to the RFU’s Competitions Committee, they appear to have reacted to our complaint that deciding the pool winner based upon the head-to-head record is inequitable given that teams don’t play each other home-and-away.  Unfortunately, the solution – to have two qualifiers from each pool and therefore an additional knockout round – is already drawing much criticism following the postponement of six Championship fixtures in the last two weeks.  Moseley’s game at home to Bedford – originally scheduled for last Saturday – has been rearranged to take place in the middle of this week, which suggests that the Red & Blacks won’t be putting too much emphasis on a successful cup campaign this year, either.

Two years ago, of course, they famously beat Leeds 23-18 at Twickenham to claim the National Trophy.  This year, however, they appear to be embroiled in a relegation battle with our two clubs’ near neighbours, Esher and Birmingham Solihull, which suggests that league points against the Blues would be a greater priority. Plymouth’s 27-0 win over the Bees last weekend has closed the gap between themselves and 8th placed Bristol to just four points while moving them six points clear of Moseley and Esher.  Last year they struggled with the play-off format, winning just two of their six fixtures in the relegation pool, although their eight bonus points (four losing bonuses and four try bonuses) hinted that they were capable of playing a competitive and entertaining brand of rugby.

So far this season, however. just seventeen points have been collected from fourteen games, with only a single bonus point gained.  Their three wins include a home-and-away double over Doncaster, something that we’ve never achieved in the Knights’ six years at this level, as well as draws with Pirates (26-26) and Bristol (13-13).  That their solitary bonus point was earned from scoring four tries in that first meeting with the Pirates – against whom we scored a solitary try in two matches – should be a warning that, given the chance, Moseley are more than capable of cracking the meanest of defences.

Unfortunately for the visiting fans, however, the Pirates got their revenge in Penzance last month with a 50-7 win – the second 40+ point drubbing of the season so far.  The first, in case anyone had forgotten, was our 68-22 win at Billesley Common in October, in which we ran-in ten tries, four of them for Josh Drauniniu who was described by respected Midlands rugby correspondent, Brian Dick, as looking like ‘the love child of Usain Bolt and William 'The Refrigerator' Perry.’  Since then, the Red & Blacks have strengthened their midfield with the signing of former Esher and Doncaster centre, Bevon Armitage.  For the last 20 minutes against Plymouth, our centre pairing was his former partner at Doncaster, Hudson Tonga’uiha, and his little brother, Guy.  Could make for an interesting clash on Saturday…

League crowds at ODP are down about 7% on last season, with an average of 1,235 for our seven home games to-date.  Our two home ties in the cup last season drew a similar average, although it should be pointed out that Bedford traditionally bring a strong following, and the visit of Llanelli after an absence of over 10 years was a notable attraction in the fixture list.  Moseley’s have struggled to attract big crowds to their new home at Billesley, and the current season’s average of 781 is down almost 25% on last year.  Travelling support may be a bit thin on the ground this weekend given the inclement conditions, not helped by the recollection of a last-minute postponement exactly two years ago, when a sudden downpour at around midday left standing water on the playing surface.  The referee, following the letter of the law, had to wait for both captains to inspect the pitch before coming to a decision, but the visiting fans were somewhat miffed at being told upon their arrival that the game had been called-off.  The rearranged meeting, at Esher in May, saw 13 tries and 87 points, Welsh running out 50-37 winners, by seven tries to six – it’d be nice to have something similar to keep us warm on the duckboards on Saturday.

And finally… belated congratulations to Paul Sampson, whose try at Birmingham three weeks ago made him London Welsh’s leading scorer in the history of league rugby.  Since making his debut on 9th December 2006 against Newbury, ‘Sammo’ has made 114 appearances - 96 of them in the league – and has now scored 50 tries for the club.  His score against Plymouth a fortnight ago was his 38th in the league, putting him two clear of Andy Currier, who scored 36 in his 57 appearances.  Despite his reputation as being injury-prone, Paul missed only two league games in two years from 2007-09, finishing as top try scorer in both of those seasons, and his ten tries last term made him the first London Welshman to break into double-figures in three consecutive league seasons.