London Welsh
London Welsh v Rotherham - Preview
By Mark W-J
October 13 2011
In 1987, two new competitions were launched which changed the face of rugby union - on both the international and domestic stage - forever. On 22nd May, New Zealand beat Italy in the opening game of the inaugural World Cup, while September saw the birth of league rugby in England; you could argue that these two events were the key drivers behind the dawn of the professional era within a decade.
The intervening years have not been particularly kind to Wales or London Welsh. The national side’s third-place finish in New Zealand has been followed by a series of embarrassing failures, while the club was ill-prepared for league rugby, with the hangover from the centenary celebrations in 1985-86 being blamed for the start of a slump which saw us drop to level five in the league pyramid just eight years after we’d contested a Twickenham final with Bath. But 24 years of hurt never stopped us dreaming, and as Wales anticipate a semi-final against France in what is being billed as ‘the biggest game in our history’, London Welsh sit proudly at the top of the Championship, our highest placing ever in league rugby. And as has been discussed on Dragons’ Den this week, the club are not only taking pride in the ‘Welsh’ aspect of our name (sorry, ‘brand’), but also the ‘London’ element, as Harlequins, Ealing and Richmond are all top of their respective divisions over the top four levels of English rugby.
It’s a shame that events 12,000 miles away are drawing attention away from the domestic scene, because the London Welsh players deserve more recognition for their start to the season. Five wins from the opening six matches, including five bonus points; top points scorers (190); best points difference (+90); most tries scored (24); joint-top try-scorer (Ed Jackson with six); and second-fewest points (100) and tries (eight) conceded. But the five wins have come against sides who sit in the bottom half of the table; our only game against top-half opposition resulted in defeat at Bedford, who also inflicted a ‘home’ defeat in the 2nd XV fixture (aka B&I Cup) at Sunbury on Wednesday. This Saturday, for those who are still compos mentis after a 9-00am start, we welcome Rotherham to Old Deer Park. The Titans currently occupy sixth place in the table with three wins and a draw from their opening six fixtures. The three wins, however, have all come at home, with defeats at Plymouth (24-20) and London Scottish (16-11) and a 30-30 draw at Nottingham two weeks ago. The home side led 27-9 after 42 minutes at Meadow Lane, but Roth scored 14 points in the last two minutes to claim two points.
Rotherham haven’t won a league game away from home since the opening weekend of last season, when an 80th minute conversion from Juan Pablo Socino secured a 26-24 victory at Bristol - that’s sixteen away games without a win. Scottish fly-half Gary Law, who joined from Viadana in the summer, is currently top points scorer with 85, five behind Dan Mugford of London Scottish, while Tongan No.8 Semisi Taulava, another summer recruit from the Bees, is top try-scorer with four. The Titans also top the indiscipline table with five yellow cards; Welsh are one of four teams to have seen four players binned, although both clubs have managed to keep the full complement on the field in their last two league fixtures.
Saturday’s game will be the 25th league meeting, with Roth currently leading the series 15-9. Our first encounter was a friendly at ODP on 12th February 1994, when we were both down at Level Five, our visitors winning 18-17. That year they gained their fourth promotion in just seven years of league rugby, repeating the feat in each of the next two seasons (the second by virtue of a restructure of the leagues); as a consequence they rose from Level Seven (North-East One) to Level Two in just nine years. Promotion to the Premiership duly followed in 2000, and although they were relegated after just one year they finished top of National Two for the next two years, being denied promotion in 2002 due to their alleged failure to comply with the cartel’s entry requirements. The club came close to folding when they were relegated for a second time in 2004, but the arrival of South African DoR Andre Bester brought about a stunning revival in fortunes. From 2005-07 the squad featured a list of previously unheralded players who have gone on to be proven Championship regulars or even stars of the Premiership and international game: Anthony Carter (Doncaster and Moseley), Errie Claassens and David Strettle made-up the back three; Gareth Steenson (Pirates and Exeter) and Mike Whitehead competing for the fly-half shirt with Joe Bedford (the Gwent region) at scrum-half; Erik Lund (Leeds and Biarritz) at lock; and Hendre Fourie (Leeds, Sale and England) and Chris Hala’ufia (Quins, London Irish & Tonga) in the back row.
Bester returned for a second stint at the club last season, and while they managed to avoid the ignominy of the relegation play-offs to which they’d been consigned in 2009-10, they lost all six matches in Pool B, including an 80-19 demolition at Bedford. They certainly managed to right that particular wrong last month when they inflicted a first defeat of the season on Mike Rayer’s side, denying their visitors a bonus point in a 40-32 win, while two tries in the last five minutes ensured a bonus point of their own. You may have noticed that there’s a trend emerging here… Of the eleven tries the Titans have scored this season, nine have come in the second half, and six of the eight we’ve conceded have been scored in the second period - so make sure you pace yourself to get to the end of the second match of the day.
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Found a old LW forum and the following was posted after the home match against Roth in Feb 2007:
Quote:The Riddler
Botty, who ever your 11 is, he is more than welcome to spend some time at OPD. He flew on Saturday and reminded me much of the great Irish winger Simon Geoghan who wriggled out of all tackles and was a real problem to the opposing defence.
That wing was none other than Errie Claassens who joined us a lttle over two years later.
I wouldn't say facing us is like facing 15 forwards. 13 maybe....but subtlety is not a huge part of our game plan.
We've gone full time this year, so there has been a noticeable difference in fitness levels and we've got a bit more squad depth, so we can launch some good players from the bench in the last half hour.
We're still a work in progress though after another big turnover of players in the off-season, and our gameplan is undoubtedly more effective at home (for those who haven't made the trip Clifton Lane is probably the narrowest pitch in senior rugby...) so we're still looking for a winning formula on the road.
I think everybody is fit though, so hopefully we'll do better than last year!
Replacements: 16. Vili Ma’asi*, 17. Billy Moss, 18. Martin Purdy, 19. Lee Beach, 20. Rob Lewis, 21. Alex Davies, 22. Hudson Tonga’uiha*.
* Denotes full international
[www.london-welsh.co.uk]
That said, Roth have stacked the bench, so unless we are more than 15 points adrift going into the second half we'd be in with a chance.
Information thanks to the Kent & Public Transport Correspondent.
From King's Cross, take the Piccadilly Line to Hammersmith, changing there to the District Line to Richmond, where, by the way, the side exit to the right as you come off the platform involves a step-free pedestrian route to the ground avoiding the station concourse and its taxi rank.
From Clapham Junction (where there may be - presumably - bus replacement services on the direct route to Richmond), minor delays between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction owing to an operating incident - whatever that is - at Clapham Junction have now cleared, and it would work to take a London Overground from Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction and then London Overground to Richmond or Kew Gardens, depending on which walk to Old Deer Park you prefer: I think Richmond gives a shorter walk.
Or you could continue into London to Victoria and take the District Line to Richmond, or into Waterloo, cross the Thames on foot or by tube to Embankment and take the District Line to Richmond.
Lyn Jones' programme notes stated that he didn't know much about the way Rotherham played. He should have read this thread! Mark's preview predicted second half tries - they scored four. We talked about the players being big and powerful - they certainly were. Rotherhamtillidie posted that if Rotherham were within 15 points at half time then the replacements would be good enough to secure a win - they were and they did.
Second loss of the season, both from games against the only top six teams that we have played. Friday evening at Bristol should be another interesting test!
Roth went into it very worried about your rush defence and I believe basically copied it rushing your outside centre.
I had a wonderful day at your club, great weather, good banter with the welsh fans and a win. Very good beer / food, and it was perfect sitting outside after the game socialising with players, fans and club officials.
If the game plan was based on the Rotherham of recent years rather than the side they are this season then no wonder LW came unstuck!
ODP is or should be a fortress; and the boys need to eat, sleep and drink it!
As a side point, It was nice to see the new standing area on the side opposite the main stand, a good improvement I though.
A quick look at the stats would tell anybody that we have been at our best in the last 20 minutes this season, noticeably so against Bedford and Nottingham, two sides who last year ran us off our feet.
What concernes me, but, must really concern Kelvin and whoever else is funding our club. This current team are not good enough to win this league unless of course there is a massive improvement from all concerned.
On another post there has been comments about the members being told where they must drink after the game. As i understand it, i believe Kelvin asked some members if they could combinely help towards the funding of the club by drinking in the main bar in the club house after the game. If i was Kelvin then i would also be asking the same question. Why oh why should all of the main funding come from just one or a few benefactors. I am also guilty of drinking elsewhere within the bounds of ODP, although this is not something i have done this season. surely no one can blame Kelvin for asking the membership to support him as well as the club at the most difficult time in the clubs history. PADDYTAF
The comment in the programme is a little alarming - "To be honest this is the first time I have come across Rotherham and I am relying on the player's experiences of playing against them over the years to help design our defence and attack". I am disappointed that we have people in senior positions in the club who have media commitments which could be considered to detract from their club commitments.
In terms of funding, it has been said often enough on other threads, but why isn’t there an investment in our off the field activities, including community engagement and initiatives to increase the supporter base of individuals and those entities who will invest in the club?
The side with which I am best acquainted has worked with its business club, which it manages itself to broaden the base of it’s funding from a small number of backers to include a much larger group putting in a minimum sum each. All local businesses. As far as I am aware the LW Business Club is not run by the club, it is purely badged as LW, and doesn’t generate funding for LW.
Does the club have a database? The club has me as a supporter and in my corporate guise. Have I been asked to upgrade my membership to become a Patron? Or as a business have I been asked to contribute more? No I haven’t some supporters feel they are being asked to put in more and more, to be honest I haven’t been asked.
Oh and I have never had a drink in a Bowls club, be it ODP or elsewhere, so I don’t know what I am missing there.
They claimed he was Maa Nonu's brother which I ridiculed but to my surprise....
[www.rotherhamrugby.co.uk]
I thought he had a terrible first 40mins but improved enough to score late on .... not sure he's the most nimble centre but he is abig lump !
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