Yorkshire Carnegie
Leeds 34 Nottingham 19: A Solid Start
Biggsy scores (again)
By Andy Brown
September 1 2008
The first match of the season took place against Nottingham, a team that finished in third place just a whisker behind Exeter in the league last year, and many people’s dark horse pick for the title this year. There are arguments for and against this kind of test on the first day, but that was the fixture, so the Leeds team had to get on with it. This match report will be based around several different angles, and hopefully will convey what various different parties will have got out of the match.
The Reporter's Eye View
Leeds made a bright start from the off with superbly aggressive tackling forcing Nottingham back at every turn. With just 5 minutes on the clock, a scrum option taken for a penalty infringement gave the ideal platform for some hard-yard recycling, with Hendrie Fourie getting over from close range. Di Barnado added the extras to make it 7-0. This great start continued when a scrum awarded to Leeds at the restart allowed Alberto di Barnado to drill a super touchfinder to within 5 metres of the Nottingham line, and an excellent poaching effort from Rhys Oakley saw him touch down. Again extras added and points scored, making it 14-0 with just seven minutes gone.
Nottingham got on the scoreboard with a David Jackson penalty, nullified five minutes later by another from di Bernado, although not before a dubious offside call robbed Jonny Hepworth of a great worked try from the backs.
The rain started to come down at this point, and it seemed to rob Leeds of their flair, and a frustrating forty minutes ensued with a total of four penalties scored, three to Nottingham and one to Leeds. Pendlebury's sinbinning on 35 minutes didn't seem to affect anything, and with the second half continuing in the same vein, at 53 minutes on the stadium clock, the score was 20-12. A plethora of substitutions between 55 and 65 minutes saw any continuity that could have been gained go to waste, and it was only when Tom Biggs pounced on one of the many spills and chipped ahead did any dynamism resurface. With the Nottingham players trying to hold Biggsy back, it fell to Jonny Hepworth to kick ahead, gather the ball and sail in under the posts.
For those who thought Nottingham might tire, they were reminded of the pre-season hype over this Nottingham team when Luke Sherriff went over with two minutes left for play. Extras got, and score was 27-19.
With the last few breaths of the game still there, some blistering movement involving Di Bernado, Hinton and Hepworth, Tom Biggs stepped aside the desparate cover defence for a well deserved and well executed try to secure the bonus point. The conversion got, it was all over at 34-19.
A Coach's Eye View
Things that were clearly working well were the scrummaging, although the referee was not up to the job and failed to see the various nefarious tactics engaged in by the Nottingham front row, allowing the team into the game that would otherwise have been completely on the back foot. When Fosi Pola'amo came on there was no messing about and the scrum stayed rock solid.
The handling between all the players seemed to have remarkably improved since last season. The first Leeds knock-on happened in the 14th minute, something which would've been unbelievable last season. There is still some way to go to getting a slick, backs oriented running game going, with the wingers once again having to scream for what little possession they managed to achieve. The kicking option or bosh up the middle option is still a little too prevalent and therefore predictable.
The kicking from hand was not so hot. There were a number of times where the Nottingham full back was gifted possession, and only through great awareness and defence was he unable to convert more of this into attacking opportunities. More work required there.
The lineouts were, on the whole, dreadful. To be fair, both sides struggled, but Leeds really need to work hard on this area of the game - it's still important!
For the opposition, I offer this word of advice. Craig Hammond, the Nottingham skipper and blind-side, should really concentrate on leading his side and playing the game, not trying to referee and run touch as well. He became a laughing stock quite early on, and some of his antics were cringeworthy.
A View of the ELVs
This season the 13 global-trial ELVs are being used, and on the evidence of this match, they haven't made much difference. There are fewer touchfinder kicks these days thanks to the rule that penalises a kick taken within the 22 that has been passed there by a team-mate. These instances were the usual culprits that gifted the opposition possession.
The other noticeable difference was the glee with which the Nottingham forwards tried the rolling maul tactic close to the Leeds line, only to have it dragged down before it even started. The jury is still out on this one due to safety concerns, but if it stops certain tries from close in, then it may be worth continuing with.
The touch judges are now officially assistant referees, and a couple of times it was noticeable that the TJs did do some extra work, and on the whole I consider that a definite improvement.
A View of the Ref
As a qualified ref, I find myself getting more and more exasperated with the officiating seen at this supposedly high level. I am fully aware of a) how difficult the job is, and b) how much more there is to be seen from within the playing area than from the terraces, but there were many decisions taken in this match that left everyone mystified. The referee's apparent refusal to enforce the binding laws at scrum time is what largely kept the Nottingham forwards in the game, and the cynical play (admittedly by both sides) was not penalised nearly early enough. Referees in my view should not be afraid to brandish an early yellow card to keep everyone honest.
Good communication is also vital, yet the number of times players were asking variations on "what was that for?" was too many. If a player doesn't know what he's being pinged for, how can he even hope to stop doing it?
A Supporter's View
I was a bit nervous of this game as the season starter given all the pre-season build up, but I was able to relax just a short time into the game. There were one or two tense moments, but Nottingham never looked too much of a threat, and although they went to sleep for forty or fifty minutes, Leeds never looked like losing.
It was a good Leeds win, against opposition that are supposedly challengers this season for the championship. To achieve that lofty goal, both teams will have to play better than in this match, but if this is genuinely top-of-the-table standard, then Leeds shouldn't have too much to worry about.
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"A witty saying proves nothing."
- Voltaire (1694-1778)
NB will have us playing some awesome stuff!!
- a good read and an excellent take on the day
looking forward to the Premiership next Season already...!
Some say he has a Tykes flag with team signatures on.
Others say that he's doing the same to the Carnegie flag,
All we know is that he's called Leeds carnegie signed flag.
