Stand and Deliver!
Giving youth a chance
By Kim
September 18 2010
Leeds Carnegie is in the position the players are most familiar with in the Aviva Premieship –bottom. This weekend the Saracens are in town. Since the heroic efforts of last season the standards in the AP have moved onwards and upwards. The Leeds club has had a poor pre-season and has gifted wins to its first two opponents. This weekend's team sees a number of changes. Can Leeds stop the rot? Now is the time to stand and deliver.
There has been much discussion about the state of the Leeds squad. Did we bring in sufficient quality to move on from the level we were at last season? Have we solved the issues in key positions in the backline? Most of the quality additions appear to be in the pack where Steve Thompson and Dan Browne have joined along with Sean Hoeneck and a couple of tasty props. No surprises then that the pack is once again holding its own.
What was a surprise in the close season was the failure to add a seasoned number 10 to the squad. Instead there was an exchange of young fly-halves with Christian Lewis Pratt joining the club from the Saints. Last weekend there was an even bigger surprise when he had an assured first team debut in front of the shed at Kingsholm. That form plus injuries to others mean that Christian will play against the Saracens. We look to him to continue his excellent start in a Carnegie shirt.
Equally debated has been the best centre pairing that the management can put onto the field. Lachlan Mackay is injured so Scott Barrow resumes in the 12 shirt. Luther Burrell, despite his try at Gloucester, does not appear to meet all the requirements of a 13. This weekend sees the debut, in that position, of James Tincknell. Brought in from Wharfedale on a short term contract to see if he can make the step up from National Division 1 James has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak pre-season. Tomorrow the club’s fortunes could change in 80 minutes if this lad fulfils the potential he has already shown so far.
Last season at Headingley the Saracens were ambushed and turned over relatively easily. On Sunday they will know what to expect. The early skirmishes will all be up front. Both kickers will be crucial to their teams’ fortunes on the day. The Saracens squad looks very strong with Brits keeping the bench warm. The Leeds pack must once again deliver a platform for attack. The backs need to stop the Sarries from cutting through our frequently flaky defence and then convert any chances that come their way into points. Nothing less than a win will do. It is time to stand and deliver.
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It's time to see if our dandy highwaymen are too scared to mention.
Suffering on the Leeds and Yorkshire roller-coaster since 2001
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:18:08:38:46 by Timofe.
You two try writing a preview at 5.15 a.m. & then you can extract the urine.
Quote:Loosehead
why would I write a preview at 05:15 I am in bed.
...well fancy that!
![[:wor kid:]](/phorum-5.1.15/mods/smileys/images/13.gif "[:wor kid:]")
Ba
You should have watched London Irish or Bourgoin at home last season....
Quite a collection of poor 1st halves to pick from actually.
