Awards season Part 1

We have just enjoyed a wonderful, open, Championship season. There have been winners and losers and London Welsh and Ealing Trailfinders will both be leaving us after just one season in this most competitive of divisions. It is now the season to dish out the accolades. First up - Coach of the Season!

I know that London Scottish fans will make a case for their man but our esteemed panel of judges have nominated just four coaches:

Andy Robinson

Justin Burnell

Jimmy Lowes

Lee Blackett

Twelve months ago Rotherham Titans fans might well have looked forward to the coming season with some trepidation. Lee Blackett, only recently finished as a player, was now head coach. He gambl, playing an expansive game, scoring tries for funed the club's fortunes by bringing in an inexperienced forwards coach in the form of Ed "The Biff" Williamson. The Titans won the double header against Moseley at Donny and the Titans were up and running. Running? They were flying! Lee had cobbled together a squad of old heads (Alfie To'oala ) and kids with something to prove. Add to that mixture the golden boot of Pablo Socino and Blackett's boys became a formidable outfit, scoring tries for fun and catapulting the club into the top four for the entire season. If Mr Blackett can deliver the same level of performance from his squad next season then he will undoubtedly come to the attention of one or two premiership chairmen.

To the surprise of most Leeds Carnegie fans the club appointed a rugby league man as head coach to replace the controversial Diccon Edwards. Jimmy Lowes had a glittering career as an RL hooker but had been helping Edwards last season. His early, jittery, bumbling interviews where he fessed up to not understanding scrums and lineouts did little to allay the fears of the long suffering Carnegie fans. Fortunately for Jimmy Tommy McGee and Dave Baldwin know a little bit about the dark arts. Eight months later Jimmy  has a twinkle in his eye as he looks back on a season of champagne rugby with some of the best  length of the field tries seen anywhere. Narrowly beaten in the play-off semis J-Lo will be looking forward to another tilt at the title next time around.

Justin Burnell is an experienced coach with a forwards bias. He played in the backrow and was forwards coach at Cardiff. In June last year he took on the difficult task of coaching the recently relegated London Welsh squad. The Exiles had lost a lot of players when they went down. Burnell made a few astute additions to his squad and adapted the style of play he knows best: a forwards dominated game with the backs coming into play  when the tight eight had subdued the opposition. It surprised many Championship clubs as the Exiles surged to the top of the league, dominating the first half of the season and then outmuscling and out thinking the other contenders to take the  one place in the premiership on offer. Job done.

Andy Robinson set the Bristol stall out from the outset, putting together a glittering squad. Bris, after a nervy start, were soon putting teams to the sword, running in hatsfull of tries and playing a very attractive style of rugby. After a narrow defeat at home to Leeds in December Robinson's team swept all before them, finishing the regular season as clear winners and favourites to get promoted. AR continued to strengthen his squad, with promotion in mind, no doubt but he could not halt the Exiles inexorable progress to the top flight and ultimately ended up with nothing.

Lowes and Blackett exceeded everyone's expectations in their first full season in their respective jobs. Robinson put out teams who, in my opinion, played the best rugby in the division. Burnell just did the necessary, got his side into the play-offs and then won promotion. In the words of one of our panel of dour Yorkshiremen " Yer get nowt fer coming second!" Therefore our "Coach of the Season" award goes to Justin Burnell and we wish him every success in next season's campaign.