No Ealing comedy.
Welcome return
By WW
October 2 2013
This weekend sees round 4 of the Rugby Championship. We have been to Donny, Cornwall and Bedford. This week all over Yorkshire people are getting out their A to Z or dusting down the satnav. Yes folks that rare beast is coming to LS6 on Friday night - a Leeds Carnegie home game!......
The season did not start well, with the defeat at the hands of Nottingham. Nil points. Since then we have picked up 9 points on the road. After 3 games we are 6th in the table:
| Team | W | D | L | BP | Pts | ||
| Rotherham Titans | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | ||
| London Welsh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | ||
| Bristol | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 | ||
| Cornish Pirates | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| London Scottish | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| Leeds Carnegie | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
Looking at the teams above us we might reasonably have expected Welsh and Bristol to be there but we now find that 3 other teams have made a good start to the season, pushing us down to 6th. The early indications are that this will be the most open Championship race for a long time. Only 4 teams can make the playoffs and Nottingham & Bedford are yet to find their feet this season. Bonus points, as they were last season, will play a big part in who gets into the playoffs.
On Friday night we are hosts to Ealing Trailfinders. Ealing have had a tough start to the season, losing all 3 games so far and conceding a whopping 152 points. They will, though, learn and adjust to the pace and demands of this league. We will all remember Jersy coming up to HC last season and running us close.
What we need on Friday is 5 points. J-Lo should field his strongest available team and go for the jugular. A bananaskin defeat, whilst not impossible, is not to be contemplated.
We have cover in every position now - Lozowski would start if I was selecting the team. Holmes and Doc along with our boy make the back 3 the most exciting in this league. Young Jonah certainly has an eye for the whitewash. Burden has started well at 12 with Griffin my first choice 13. Scrum half? Either!
J-Lo seems to know his best pack and with young Beck & Scott Freer still to come into the reckoning our forwards have to perform to keep their place in the side.
A win on Friday, along with a bp will enable us to go into the "cup break" with a lot of confidence. Is the rollercoaster ascending? I think it is.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:18:17:47:28 by Wildwillie .
Excellent preview WW, summing up what I am sure we all think, let's hope "banana skin" does not feature in the match report.
In the search for imaginative titles - now that Joe Ford has left and "Ford Focus" etc is denied us - thank God for Ealing!
Interesting decision for J-Lo in who to start at 10 (assuming Hughes is fully fit). IMHO it will be the man-management of keeping both these talented guys hungry and motivated that could decide the season. Now we have two "running" half-backs - targeted by the oppositions back-rowers for sure, there will be possible injuries so I hope they can both stay fit.
Team selection will be interesting, but don't see too many changes this week, except maybe Myerscough and Doc. back if they have both recovered.
COME ON LEEDS.
We've been through it all together.
Agree that our back 3, when in their proper positions, are the best in the league. McColl, Holmes and Doherty - the Carnegie holy trinity!
Hopefully they'll be too hot for Ealing to handle on Friday night.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:02:20:51:42 by leemingtyke.
I so hope Ealing don't smash the wheels off our little venture!
Zandra YaPoI
YaPoI - Yorkshire and Proud of It
'proficiscor in una'
The weather, at the moment, does not look to be conducive, to fast flowing rugby, greasy ball and all. Play it simple and we have the talent and ability to produce the required result.
Suffering on the Leeds and Yorkshire roller-coaster since 2001
Quote:Timofe
Hughes is injured.
Wasn't just meaning tonight Timofe, just to facilitate both him and Lozowski, Hughes is great in general play but his place kicking lets him down.
Putting Hughes at 12 or 13 could give us a Jonathan Davies like edge while making sure we keeping both 10's happy
Just a thought, happy to be shot down :-)
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:04:11:33:07 by Matt O'Connell.
Waiting for the good times ...
..and waiting ....
... and waiting ...
Big result but far from clinical. Lots still to sort out. First half felt really flat. Things speeded up when we changed 9. I lost count of the times we failed to catch the ball from KO. Scrum wasn't the dominant force I was expecting...
Nice to see everyone get on from the bench too. Welcome to first team rugby Jake Armstrong