Could Sunday be the Day?
impact last week
By apb
October 1 2005
Could Sunday be the day when we finally see the Leeds Tykes new look, lilly-white team gel into a match winning unit? Could Sunday be the day when passes go to hand, correct options are taken and composure in adversity is retained, resulting in a resounding win?
Possibly.
We've seen over the last few weeks (and indeed over the last few seasons) how Leeds are edging towards the correct performances. All the elements are there to make a success of the Premiership, the Cup, the Heineken Cup and anything else that it could so take our fancy to win.
The frustrating thing about being a fan of the Tykes of course, has been that they've been edging towards being a force in English rugby for a very long time without actually getting there. This year more than ever, the pundits pre-season have conspicuously NOT tipped the Tykes for a relegation struggle, and some have actually put the pre-season prediction as high as fourth in the Premiership. We can't go around saying we don't get the press anymore. The journos sat up and took notice of our previous seasons' exploits.
And then we go and throw away the first four games of the season, and suddenly (already!) the R word is being mentioned in the same breath as Leeds Tykes again. Its enough to make a grown fan cry!
Fear of losing is a killer of an emotion. It paralyses the brain and makes the committal of stupid mistakes more likely, not less. It is a very distructive thing to carry around. If you think back to last season, the Tykes league position was perilous and getting no better right up until the game against Leicester. At that point, there was a major crossroads. The team had nothing left to lose. Losing the game itself was irrelevant. So I believe they were able to go out on to that Headingley pitch and play free from that fear of losing, because (I imagine), there was nothing left to lose. And we all know the outcome!
Now this Powergen Cup is a prestigious tournament. Oh Yes. We won it - in modified form - last year and took the first piece of silverware back to Leeds. But everyone recognises it's a "nice to have". Its not the bread-and-butter of the game, and as a result, the pressure, to a certain extent, is off. There should be no fear of losing. Because - particularly now the cup is organised in a pool stage first - there are few consequences. We should expect the Tykes to perform like last season....
So that's that then! What about the match itself?
Phil Davies is sending out a Leeds side hardly changed from last week's. Rayno Gerber starts at tighthead as expected, with Gavin Kerr moving to loosehead - Mike Shelley is ill and won't be at the match. Chris Murphy and Andre Snyman are rested, with Stuart Hooper coming back into the side as captain for Murphy, and Rob Vickerman gets his chance at inside centre after impressing during the A league fixtures. Gordon Ross is given a go at fly-half, with de Marigny dropping to the bench. This should be seen as keeping both players on their toes, since I don't think de Marigny did anything much wrong last week, along with most of the other players that turned out against Leicester. If I have a criticism, it would be that the leadership on the pitch seemed a bit weak. That might just have been down to the knock that Balsh took shortly into the second half, but with Hoops now back on the field, I will be looking to see him being much more vocal on Sunday, organising the troops at every opportunity.
As for Llanelli, they've already named their squad, and we of course welcome Alix Popham back to Headingley. Sorry to see him go at the end of last season, I wish him very well for his time at the Scarlets, but Jordan Crane will hopefully keep him quiet on Sunday.
This game is also notable in that it reunites the two opposing scrum-halves that played test rugby in New Zealand. Justin Marshall and Dwayne Peel need no introductions, and it will be fascinating to see the battle started in July renewed at the beginning of October. Another Lion and former Tykes player Simon Easterby will play at six for the Scarlets, but I leave the description of rest of the team to more avid followers of Welsh "club" rugby than I.
What I expect to see on Sunday, though, is an English team in white, beating a Welsh team in red, and doing so with some aplomb. Llanelli have had almost as poor a start in the Celtic League this year as the Tykes' premiership campaign. Although both teams are recovering slightly, I would expect the (slightly) higher pace and intensity of the Premiership to stand the Tykes in better stead. My prediction would be for an English win - and hopefully that will be true in the Autumn and Six Nations as well!
Teams
| Leeds Tykes | Llanelli Scarlets | |
| Gavin Kerr | 1 | Iestyn Thomas |
| Gordon Bulloch | 2 | Aled Gravelle |
| Rayno Gerber | 3 | John Davies |
| Stuart Hooper (c) | 4 | Inoke Afeaki |
| Tom Palmer | 5 | Adam Jones |
| Jon Dunbar | 6 | Simon Easterby (C) |
| Richard Parks | 7 | Jonathan Mills |
| Jordan Crane | 8 | Alix Popham |
| Justin Marshall | 9 | Dwayne Peel |
| Gordon Ross | 10 | Gareth Bowen |
| Tom Biggs | 11 | Tal Selley |
| Rob Vickerman | 12 | Regan King |
| Chris Jones | 13 | Matthew J Watkins |
| David Rees | 14 | Dafydd James |
| Iain Balshaw (c) | 15 | Lee Byrne |
| James Isaacson | 16 | Ricky Davies |
| Rob Rawlinson | 17 | Craig Hawkins |
| Scott Morgan | 18 | Chris Wyatt |
| Nathan Thomas | 19 | Gavin Quinnell |
| Mark McMillan | 20 | Liam Davies |
| Tim Stimpson | 21 | Mike Hercus |
| Roland de Marigny | 22 | Darren Daniel |