Only 5 playing days before Christmas……

… But what happens in those 5 games will undoubtedly have a massive bearing on how things pan out at the business end of the season. With 5 games completed, the Championship table is beginning to take shape, as the clubs establish their best match day squads, and already there are a couple of different names near the top of the board.

London Welsh, Bristol, and Leeds were expected to be contesting the top end of the table and occupy three of the top four places, but Lee Blackett’s Rotherham, with only one defeat to London Welsh going against them, have proved to be the surprise package, and currently sit behind their conquerors, so far unbeaten, in second place.

Cornish Pirates, London Scottish and Plymouth are closely bunched behind these, and surprisingly,Bedford and Nottingham, with only one win apiece, loiter at the wrong end of the table.

However, even at this early stage of the season, Friday’s encounter between Ealing and Moseley, has the look of a relegation decider about it, indeed if Moseley come away from West London with a victory, the Fat Lady will probably start gargling in preparation for a speedy return to National One for the Trailfinders.

The focus for Leeds however is to maintain their challenge at the upper end of the ladder, and the 5 games leading up to the festive period not only represent a stern challenge, but will show how far the team have progressed under the coaching of Jimmy Lowes. London Welsh, with former Tykes favourites Gordon Ross, and Andy Titterell, bring their 100% record to LS6 this week, and they will not easily relinquish that. They also have a good record in recent games at Headingley, so Leeds will need to pull out all the stops to come away with a victory.

Next week, it’s Rotherham, again at home, and fans favourite Lee Blackett will be out to put one across his former club. He has made a great success of his first coaching job, and we wish him well, but not at Leeds’ expense. Interestingly,  Bristol visit London Welsh this weekend as well, so a couple of teams are going to lose a bit of ground.

Following this, it’s London Scottish, away, and then a visit from the Channel Islanders. Scottish have made a decent start, winning three of their first 5, and Jersey have won two, but if Leeds want to be jostling with the top teams, these are games that have to be won.

A trip to the Memorial stadium, featured live on Sky, sees in December, before a break from Championship rugby sees Leeds play their two B and I cup fixtures against Aberavon.

So five games of crucial importance, what can we expect. There are 25 points at stake; I doubt we’ll get all of them. I believe we should be capable of picking up the wins against Scottish, and Jersey, but the crucial games, obviously are the ones against the other top four teams. Win all of them, even narrowly, and we could be well set.

Home advantage tells me we will beat Welsh and Rotherham, but Bristol away will not be easy by any means. However, by the end of November, much will have changed, and some of the pressure may have just been relieved, and if it is, and Leeds can play the type of game they have shown they are capable of, then maybe a win is not out of the question.

All of the games are close to call, but my crystal ball tells me Leeds are capable of collecting 17 points from these games. Whether they will or not is a different matter, but if they do, then we will enjoy our Christmas lunch that little bit more, knowing that a play off place will be ours to lose. Exciting times ahead, and some good games to watch, so get along and support the team. Maybe we can cheer them to even more success.

Marching on Together