One Last Hurrah!
An old pic of Lanny
By Peter Creek
April 27 2007
Plymouth Albion have been in the promotion hunt for most of the season. In a region where the people take their rugby seriously Albion have the potential to become a regional force in English rugby. They are developing the Brickfield Stadium so that one day it will be able to host premiership games.
This weekend they finish their fixtures with a home game against ND1 champions Leeds Tykes.
Fortunately Saturday 28th of April sees Tykes play their last fixture in National Division 1.If they want to be well remembered in the Southwest they will have to perform better than in their penultimate game against the Earth Titans. Albion came up to HC back in January. That day, after Leeds had made a great start, they spent much of the second half of the game camped in the Leeds 22. Tykes held out for the win on that occasion but, as we have found, ND1 is a tough old league and Albion will, most certainly, be out for revenge.
Plymouth have a robust pack with large uncompromising locks and the effervescent Argentinian back rower Federico Genoud who, the locals believe, is a more than adequate replacement for Martin Schusterman. Behind them, Ed Barnes has a huge boot which he uses to good effect. South African centre Regardt Van Eyk is also capable of causing damage. Their most potent weapon is their exocet-like French winger Nic Sesterat who has bagged no fewer than 27 tries this season. Backed by their highly vocal home support Plymouth will be a formidable proposition.
The season has been full of uncertainty for Leeds, up until the day they secured promotion at Otley 3 weeks ago. One thing is certain – they will not want to finish the season as they started it - with a defeat! Against Rotherham last time out some of the players looked tired. Most of them have played in excess of 25 games. Stuart Lancaster will want to ensure that his team finish on a winning note to carry their confidence over into the close season. Recently he has tried to keep a settled team but with the retirement of Andre Snyman he will have to re-jig his backs. Expect Andy Tuilagi to start, what could be his last game in a Tyke’s shirt, in the centre. Another possibility is to start with Mike Aspinall at 7 after his positive performance against the Titans.
So as the Leeds’ faithful away following pack their bags for the long trip down to Devon the coaching staff must get the team ready for one last hurrah. They can then relax for the summer whilst SL sorts out his squad for the coming season in the GP. Who will win? It will be a close match and I hope, for the sake of both sets of supporters, an open and exciting one. Having got the measure of Albion back in January I take Leeds to win by a single score.