London Welsh
London Welsh v Gloucester Preview
By Mark W-J
September 27 2012
London Welsh confounded the critics again last Friday night, with a 29-19 win at Sale giving them back-to-back victories over opposition who will be representing the Aviva Premiership clubs in the Heineken Cup this season. For about 18 hours, up until mid-afternoon on Saturday, we even sat proudly in sixth position, albeit by virtue of having played one game more than the teams around us.
This Sunday the Exiles entertain Gloucester at Stadiwm Kassam, in a clash of two of the form sides in the division. Welsh are one of only three teams - along with Harlequins and Northampton, currently first and second in the table - who have won both of their last two games, while the Cherry & Whites are the only other team to remain unbeaten in the last fortnight, with last weekend’s victory over Wasps following on from a draw at Sixways seven days previously. They are, however, on a three-game unbeaten run following a 40-31 win at London Irish in round two, while Quins and Northampton each have a 100% record after four rounds. We have met Gloucester on three previous occasions in competitive fixtures, all in the RFU Knockout Cup, and on each time the visitors have emerged victorious. The first was in the inaugural year of cup competition, when Glaws won 9-4 at ODP in the quarter-finals en route to claiming the silverware in a highly fractious (some said disturbingly violent) final against Moseley at Twickenham. Peculiarly, our first ever game of cup rugby, two rounds earlier, was at Oxford on a Sunday afternoon. Plus ҫa change, and all that… Eleven years later, on 22nd January, 1983, we recorded our biggest ever win at Kingsholm with a 14-3 third round win, with tries from Bob Ackerman, Clive Rees and Ian George, while Clive Griffiths’ record-breaking side lost a 4th Round Tetley’s Bitter Cup match at ODP on 3rd January, 1998 by a 34-18 margin which tells only half the story. We’ve never met in the league due to the fact that Gloucester are one of four clubs to have spent the entire 25 years of league rugby in the top tier, although no supporters on either side should need reminding that we won a pre-season friendly at Kingsholm just thirteen months ago, with Gordon Ross’ conversion of Rob Lewis’ last-minute try securing a 24-23 victory.
Many supporters of rival Premiership clubs have made reference to the importance of winning your own ‘mini-league’, and even after only four rounds it’s clear to see how these are developing. It’s not too dissimilar to the situation in the Championship, where the four semi-finalists in each of the three seasons have been permed from six clubs. Exeter and Worcester have each spent only one season in the newly-branded second tier competition, each winning promotion at the first attempt, but Bedford, Bristol, Cornish Pirates and London Welsh have, between them, contested the knockout stages ten times in three years. Below them, the likes of Nottingham, Doncaster and Rotherham invariably qualify for the top eight, while Plymouth, Moseley, Bees and Esher have, more often than not, been scrapping to avoid the dreaded drop. The Premiership table is already taking shape, with last season’s top four - Quins, Saints, Leicester and Saracens - occupying the same positions after just two rounds of the season. Bath, Exeter, Gloucester and Wasps (strictly in alphabetical order) currently occupy the mid-table places, while Welsh, Worcester, Irish and Sale, the four clubs who failed to win in the opening two rounds, are expected to be involved in the relegation dogfight. Even that represents progress of sorts for the Welsh, as we were supposed to have been cast adrift even at this early stage of the season. Picking up an away win at one of our supposed rivals last week, on top of the win over upwardly mobile Chiefs, has put a real spring in the step of everyone associated with the club, and given us the belief that survival is possible, although with Worcester entertaining Irish on Friday night any breathing space we currently enjoy could be quickly wiped out before we take to the field on Sunday.
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Ross and Hills stop Andy Powell in his tracks
in the win at Sale
In the opening three rounds of Premiership fixtures, it had taken, on average, fewer than 14 minutes for London Welsh had conceded two converted tries, and you don’t need an RFU coaching badge to recognise that this isn’t conducive to winning matches. We did turn it around against Exeter, of course, and on Friday night at Sale it was the Exiles who led 13-0 after barely ten minutes, with a penalty from Gordon Ross inside the opening 90 seconds being followed just two minutes later by a converted try from skipper Jon Mills. The (admittedly biased) commentary team from Radio Manchester seemed sure that the visitors would tire following their first half blitz, especially once a concerted period of attack from the Sharks around the hour mark eventually produced a try for winger Tom Brady after the Welsh defence had repelled countless forward drives. But, even with only a five day turnaround following the win over the Chiefs, the Welsh held firm, and they still had the physical and mental fortitude to snatch the losing bonus point from their hosts with the very last play.
Gloucester Academy graduate Freddie Burns
Welsh and Gloucester have each scored seven tries so far this season, which puts them joint 7th in the attacking stats, ahead of both Bath and Saracens on five apiece. We have, however, conceded more tries than any other club (fifteen) with our line being crossed a total of five times in the opening 20 minutes of each half. Gloucester, by comparison, have scored all of their tries in the latter 20 minutes of each half. The Gloucester back division is arguably the most potent in the league, with fearless youngsters such as Freddie Burns, Jonny May, Henry Trinder and Charlie Sharples bringing out the best in the likes of James Simpson-Daniel, now the Premiership’s fifth-highest try scorer. Many people have suggested that England would benefit from seeing these guys in the white shirt, but the Kingsholm faithful would no doubt prefer that they are kept as far away from the national squad as possible, for fear of having all of their attacking instinct sucked out of them.
The fearless Jonny May
This weekend also pits the new Gloucester coach, Nigel Davies, against another former Welsh regional boss following last week’s victory over Dai Young’s Wasps. That win took his new charges up to sixth place in the table, climbing above the Wycombe-based side and fierce local rivals, Bath. Davies joined from the Scarlets in the summer following four years as Head Coach, and he’s joined a club who have been threatening to become a force in the domestic game for the best part of a decade, but who, for one reason or another, have never quite taken that final step up to the top table. In 2001-02 it had been announced that the Premiership Champions would be the winners of an eight-team play-off which would follow-on from the regular league season. However, following a public outcry it was decided halfway through the season that the team finishing top after 22 games would receive the trophy; the play-offs continued regardless, and Gloucester duly beat Bristol in front of 27,000 spectators at Twickenham in early June, while Leicester - who had lost at home to Bristol in the first round of the play-offs after topping the league - were crowned champions. Twelve months later, the Cherry & Whites finished top of the pile, fifteen points clear of second-placed Wasps, but it was Warren Gatland’s side who took the silverware, beating Glaws 39-3 in the final to become the first club to win the title via the play-offs. They also finished the 2007-08 season in pole position, only for Wasps to steal the crown once again. The Anglo-Welsh cup offered some solace, a 34-7 thrashing of Newcastle in the 2010-11 final at Franklin’s Gardens - their third consecutive final appearance - providing some hard-earned silverware after demoralising defeats to the Blues (50-12 in 2008-09) and Northampton (30-24 in 2009-10). They are the third most successful club in the history of the cup in its various guises with five wins, behind Bath (ten) and Leicester (seven).
Under Bryan Redpath the Cherry & Whites lost their last six games last season - the former Scotland scrum-half’s losing streak now extends to ten matches, including four this season at Sale - and they only once managed a three game unbeaten streak in the entire 2011-12 campaign. For Welsh, ODP was never much of a fortress - it has always been a favourite of visiting supporters, and we somehow made the place too welcoming, unlike the Pirates, for example, who manage to provide great hospitality while still demonstrating their authority on the field. With Gloucester actually being closer than Richmond to Oxford we can expect some raucous travelling support on Sunday, but the Welsh thrived on their travels last season, winning at every ground except the Memorial Stadium, where we silenced the locals for long periods on both visits. We might not be the loudest supporters in the league, but you can rest assured that London Welsh are not going to go quietly.
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Corker and Hills (along with Robshaw) topped the AP tackle count figures last weekend and Ross & Freddie Burns (together with Steve Shingler) were equal highest points scorers.
[www.premiershiprugby.com]
Replacements: 16. Dan George, 17. Tom Bristow, 18. Arthur Joly, 19. Kirill Kulemin*, Alfie To’oala*, 21. Nick Runciman, 22. Ryan Davis, 23. Phil MacKenzie*.
* Denotes full international
Gloucester Rugby:
Rob Cook; Jonny May, Mike Tindall, Billy Twelvetrees, James Simpson-Daniel; Freddie Burns, Dan Robson; Nick Wood, Huia Edmonds, Rupert Harden; Tom Savage, Jim Hamilton (capt); Peter Buxton, Andy Hazell, Sione Kalamafoni
Replacements:
Koree Britton, Dan Murphy, Shaun Knight, Will James, Akapusi Qera, Dave Lewis, Henry Trinder, Martyn Thomas
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"
Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts (4th Premiership game)
Quote:nld
Nobody picked up on who the ref will be this Sunday?
Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts (4th Premiership game)
indeed, there are few referees of his calibre
Quote:nld
Nobody picked up on who the ref will be this Sunday?
Referee: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts (4th Premiership game)
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FFS, I thought we'd escaped him.
PADDYTAF.
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"
Is this a variation on "A Boy Named Sue" and instead of taking it out on his old man for 'giving him that awful name' he's taking his ire out on anything with a welsh top on?
I tell ya, life ain't easy for a ref named Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts.... (with apologies to The Man In Black)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:09:29:00:05:31 by sportbilly42.
Even opposition supporters in the Championship used to comment on how much he didn't like us.
Brains: Smouth, Blacks, IPA, SA, Oxfordshire ales: Pride of Oxford, Churchill, Wychwood, Brakspear
all at £3.30
Fair analysis?
Sportinglife gives attendance at 4,548. Oxford Mail reported that earlier in the week 4,500 tickets had been sold. Either Sportinglife have got it wrong or someone was telling porkies.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:09:30:18:55:14 by londonbound.
Great entertainment. Ref was just as we anticipated. Gloucester crowd with their ignorant eye ore chants do their club an immense disservice. Plebs to quote someone else in a position of some importance. Burns is a very fine player.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:10:01:11:31:01 by X~Pat.
It was a good game, we could have won, but too many errors & not clinical enough when in sight of the line, etc.
Again, not over critical of the team - bags of effort, commitment, passion. We were again competitive. We got our first bonus point. I'm sure there will be other games when we 'nick it' towards the end. May end up in bottom 4, but its not going to be the the foregone conclusion the press would have us believe.
You are a much better side than some give you credit for. Hope you do stay, up though the support base has to get bigger. 4,500 or so and 3,000 at least must have come from Gloucester.
I thought over the 80 it was close. The second half could have gone either way, but Glaws were the more clinical in the last 10 mins.
As I said earlier, not saying the referee was the cause of us losing yesterday. Its just that we have some experience with him - including 17 mins of injury time in a game with no major injuries or stoppages! Needless to say it was a game we eventually lost (away to Newbury) having been reasonably ahead at the end of normal time.
Quote:Odd way of going for a bp when Glos kick it out with time up 15 metres from the Welsh line! Still you probably know more about this game than I. Didn't think Verd was referring to nicking this game, but maybe some others later in the season. And it was a decent effort in the last quarter, no tiring in the last 30 minutes after all.Gloucester BAZ
I think you'll find that at the end, Gloucester were going for a bonus point. Not sure how you were going to 'nick it'. London Welsh hung on for a point and well done for that. Your favourite Ref? also gave Burns 10 minutes, or did you miss that?
You are a much better side than some give you credit for. Hope you do stay, up though the support base has to get bigger. 4,500 or so and 3,000 at least must have come from Gloucester.
And the support base must grow, that's obvious. Doubt that we'll enlist Llyr ap Geraint etc though. Even if he did bin Burns (fair enough).
Quote:Verd
Its just that we have some experience with him - including 17 mins of injury time in a game with no major injuries or stoppages! Needless to say it was a game we eventually lost (away to Newbury) having been reasonably ahead at the end of normal time.
As a Newbury supporter I suppose I should have remembered that he was the ref! Gave us one of our few wins of the season.. in a season of misery.... It's a characteristic that does show itself in his reffing far too often for comfort . Is he really the best candidate for promotion to the Prem?
Is he better though than our other best friend GA-J of the RN ?
I was not greatly impressed by the referee whom we have indeed had before, without gaining any advantage from his alleged Welshness for which he may overdo the neutrality act. But then I never criticise the referee (unless it is that other bête noir of the Championship) partly as I don't know the offside rule after 40+ years as a spectator.
Gloucester - a nice bunch of folk, judging by those I met - had, to my eye, an impressive scrum half and a fast pace which threatened to overlap our wings; we still seem to have some vulnerability there though holding out most attacks. Given the opening missed kick and a yellow card for Scott, to lose 25-31 is an honourable result. But we are not scoring tries much and need to start doing so as you don't last long at this level if you don't (Department of the Bleeding Obvious).
Quote:DanFW3
But we are not scoring tries much and need to start doing so as you don't last long at this level if you don't (Department of the Bleeding Obvious).
One word - Saracens.
Bedford 98
Pirates 92
Bristol 85
Nottingham 82
L Welsh 79
Moseley 68
Donny 64
Esher 59
Roth 54
Leeds 53
Plymouth 53
L Scots 52
The rugby played by LW last season was effective (and ultimately successful) but probably the least expansive that I'd seen them play in many years.
For all the talk about the team having to move away from the 'traditional LW style' I think they actually did that a season ago. If my memory is correct then we saw a significant number of tries coming from individual breaks rather than flowing three-quarter moves.
Quote:Blackheath Welsh
Today's Priory real ales are:
Brains: Smouth, Blacks, IPA, SA, Oxfordshire ales: Pride of Oxford, Churchill, Wychwood, Brakspear
all at £3.30
Glad to see at one man has his priorities right.
Although having said that these Sunday matches are playing havoc with Monday mornings.
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