Plymouth preview
Curtis Wilson in action
By Leemingtyke
January 29 2013
I don’t know about you but there’s not much in life that I dislike more than wasting my time. Actually there probably is one thing - wasting my money. Thanks to the combined efforts of the RFU and Plymouth Albion it turns out that this is exactly what I was doing on 6th Jan this year when I coughed up the £34 admission for me and my mrs to witness a game, that for reasons we are all well aware of, never happened. This Sunday at West Park we try again.
Plymouth will say that they don’t want this replay any more than we do. They will also say that the RFU investigation into the Headingley pitch wasn’t down to them as they didn’t contact the governing body until after the investigation had already been announced.
This may be true, however, whilst not privy to the exact content of their correspondence to the RFU you can bet your (increasingly worthless) Leeds Carnegie season ticket that it didn’t say “conditions weren’t ideal but it was the same for both sides and the result should stand.”
No, Plymouth saw an opportunity to get the points awarded to themselves and, rather than hold their hands up and admit that they were beaten fair and square over 80 minutes, they went for it.
Unfortunately for them it backfired and they now find themselves with another long trip up north (albeit at our expense) to face what I sincerely hope will be a fired up and, shall we say highly motivated, Leeds Carnegie side who will have 2 clear objectives.
First and foremost, recoup the 5 points the RFU saw fit to relieve us of after the original fixture.
Second, do as much damage to Plymouths’ points difference as possible, anything better than the original 18 point gap will do nicely.
After a good start to the season Plymouth are in danger of being dragged into the relegation battle. They recorded back to back victories against Aberavon in the B&I Cup before Christmas but a dip in league form means they haven’t tasted victory in the Championship since a 24-20 win over London Scottish back on 9th November, a losing streak that includes defeats against Cornish Pirates, Newcastle, Bristol and, of course, us in the game that never was. On Saturday they took on Moseley at Brickfields and, unfortunately for them, their poor form continued as they suffered a 6-9 reverse, Moseley kicking the winning penalty four minutes into injury time.
With the result of the original Plymouth game wiped from the records we also have to go back to November to find our last win in Championship rugby. The fantastic 24-13 victory at Rotherham preceded disastrous results against Bedford and Jersey. An improved defensive display at Bristol on Friday night wasn’t enough to avoid a close 12-9 defeat, a result which means that the race for the last play-off slot is now wide open. Ourselves, Bris and Cornish Pirates all within touching distance of each other.
The Bristol game saw a welcome return to action for Mike Myerscough and he will hopefully continue his return by playing some part on Sunday. With a try bonus point needed I would also like to see Curtis Wilson get a run out. His recent lack of game time is harsh for a man with 8 tries in 11 starts so for this season and the combined threat of Curtis on one wing and D Doc on the other would surely give us the best chance of recouping our missing 5 points.
As far as the play offs are concerned our destiny is still in our own hands and you can’t ask for any more than that.
The players shouldn’t need any motivating for this one. If they do then the forwards in particular should remember the Plymouth Head Coach’s claim that their scrum was so superior to ours that they would have undoubtedly gone on to win the game if it hadn’t gone uncontested!
Whilst the Plymouth pack may have got marginally the better of the opening skirmishes this was probably the result of our front eight being in shock after being asked to pack down against what appeared to be a Duran Duran tribute band. I doubt if a finer collection of mullets has been seen in one place since the Band Aid video. In any case, despite having at least 35 minutes of possession, the Mullets achieved precious little with it.
They may not have wanted this replay but, thanks in part to their actions, that’s what they’ve ended up with. Let’s make sure that their long journey home is spent pondering the wisdom of their decision to complain.
And one final thought – I sincerely hope that no player from either side sustains a serious injury in the needless replaying of this game.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:02:07:20:25:53 by Gelbel.
Here's hoping I can go and am not required in work!!!
Zandra YaPoI
YaPoI - Yorkshire and Proud of It
'proficiscor in una'
And its only Tuesday, five days of anticipation.
I am not sure the rumours that Plymouth are arriving by Megabus and staying in the Ibis Budget (backpackers) hotel are quite true.
I wasn't born in Yorkshire but I got here as soon as I could
I know what you're saying about Curtis Wilson Leeming, but, and this is IMHO, he can't tackle - at best he's a liability in defence. And when you've a team hungry like the wolf (see what I did there?) to prove a point, I'd not risk him.
Are we running a sweep on the time Don Barrow has a little rest?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:01:30:07:53:13 by Gelbel.
This is the match that replaces the one I thought I'd been to at Headingley a few weeks back - the one where the ref played on for a full 80mins on a flaky pitch, but the result didn't count ... not to be confused with the home match at Otley, where the ref played for 65mins on a frozen pitch, but the result did count.
This is the match that replaces the one where I turned up late and watched for an hour, but didn't see any scrummaging ... and not the one where I turned up early and watched for an hour, but didn't see any tackling.
Looking forward to it.
Regarding Curtis, when he played at otley he made some fantastic tackles maybe it's confidence or the fact the players have gotten bigger but he hasn't.I'd still want him on the pitch for his pace and try scoring ability, especially with Clegg throwing miss out passes to open the defense.
I'd play him for sure!
Up the Carnegie TYKES !
As to whether the Millennium Stadium pitch is equally bad is, of course, another question.
It's nice to have a neutrals perspective on this however, I would say the following
If the Ref thought the pitch was unsafe he should have abandoned the game. As the match was less than an hour old it would then have been automatically replayed with no complaints from this side (well, maybe a few but they would have been unfounded).
As for Plymouth setting their stall out to dominate the set peices, well, we set our stall out to throw the ball around but we don't go whingeing to the RFU if conditions dont allow it - like they didn't at your place last Friday night, perhaps you fancy a replay!!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:01:31:12:24:55 by leemingtyke.
Leeds has a chance to re-play and win again, it's up to them to perform on the day.
Quote:Bran
I'm with gray, the pitch was not and is not up to a full union game, as such there should be no games played there until the pitch is ready.
Leeds has a chance to re-play and win again, it's up to them to perform on the day.
I agree with Bran. OMG did I just type that? Shoot me somebody!
Quote:Bran
the pitch was not and is not up to a full union game, as such there should be no games played there until the pitch is ready.
I agree with that bit, but we only found that out when we tried to play on it.
We played the original Plymouth match to a conclusion and I think that result should stand.
The RFU have now opened the door for any captain who finds himself 15 points down on a muddy, slippy pitch with less than an hour gone to press the referee for abandonment and a replay.
Seriously though, Leeds rugby has treated the union side of things in contempt and that's a price they will pay for much longer than they can imagine.