Derby Match for Nice People
runny bottom?
By apb
October 6 2005
There are some amazingly passionate derby matches available to the discerning Premiership watching public these days. Bristol vs Bath has all the inveterate animosity of a Glasgow old firm game football (without any worries about violence I'm glad to say).
Then there's Leicester Tigers vs Northampton Saints which is guaranteed to be a stadium filler - and would be if either club had a stadium holding twice the numbers that they do. Again, passion and not a little animosity characterises these intra-midlands encounters.
So you'd think that the nearest thing the Premiership (or, in this case, the Powergen-Group-Stage-lets-let-the-Welsh-in-on-it-even-if-they-turn-out-to-be-much-better-than-we-thought Cup) has to the Wars of the Roses would be another one of that kidney. Yorkshire vs ermm...well...Cheshire. The Pennines are the only thing stopping these two tribes from going to war, right? Friday night in Stockport beckons, and both Sale and Leeds languish disconsolately at the bottom of the group, having been severely beaten by their rivals of last week. In Sale's case, partially due to putting out a severely weakened team, and Leeds' case, due to not playing very well, and - it has to be said - being surprised by a Llanelli team that played a lot better than I personally gave them credit for. So there's bound to be enough there to get animated about, right?
Nope.
The truth of the matter is that, by and large, Leeds and Sale fans seem to get on rather well, and apart obviously from wanting their respective teams to win matches, seem quite happy to wish each other well in the competitions they play a part in, even to the point of supporting each other in times of need (like last year - thanks Sale fans!)
But for me personally it is still a bit irksome that we've never beaten Sale, home or away or in any competition. And with the current form of the Tykes, an away win on Friday at Stockport is looking even more unlikely. Considering the team line-ups for a moment, we see that the Tykes - with the smallest squad in the Premiership by some margin, only 32 full-time professionals - are also struggling with injuries. Iain Balshaw has strained another eyelash, Tom Palmer is out with an abdominal strain that kept him out of England training this week, Jon Dunbar strained a hip last week, and Stuart Hooper and Roland de Marigny are both out for three weeks with shoulder trouble. And as if to rub salt into the wound, Tim Stimpson has had a dodgy curry or something and is down with food-poisoning.
With all those injuries, plus the continued absence of Chris Bell and Roland Reid, you may be forgiven for thinking that the first team would look a little lightweight. Lets just go through the names, shall we, and see where the problems are.
Fullback: David Doherty. Well we all know about the Doc's pace and character. He won't let us down easily. Next.
Wingers: David Rees and Tom Biggs. Rees may be knocking on a bit but he's still got the aggressiveness and elusiveness that he's always had. A yard or so of pace off his very best in his career, but still a very gifted and useful player to have. Biggsy always gives 100%, tackles way above his weight, and good to see he's had his hair cut so he should be even quicker! Haven't found the weak player yet. Maybe next one?
Outside centre: Andre Snyman. Legend. Speedster. Bruiser. Won't let us down.
Inside centre: Chris Jones. For me, he's been getting better and better, and dispite what several regular posters think, I think he's a man to look out for against his old club. Jonesy's tackling against Llanelli was very sound I thought, and his running lines were excellent. No gap there for me.
Flyhalf: Gordon Ross. International flyhalf (all right, it's only Scotland, but it still counts!), Goggsy's been kept on the bench these last few weeks by good play by Roland de Marigny, but Goggsy will be looking to return to the form of last year. He's still a player I rate highly when he gets in the groove. Next?
Scrum-half: Danny Care. Justin Marshall is rested this week, so "Intensive" gets his first start in the first team. In the times he's come on for Marshall, he's looked pretty good and solid, so I expect him to be able to link up with Goggsy without a problem.
Front row: Mike Shelley, Gordon Bulloch, Gavin Kerr: All three are seasoned players and would be first choice in most premiership teams. Still no problem for me. Next?
Locks: Scott Morgan, Chris Murphy: A classic link-up of one bruiser, one athlete and neither player will let anyone down on Friday.
Backrow:Nathan Thomas, Dan Hyde, Jordan Crane. Nathan Thomas has had precious little game-time this season, having been kept out of the running by Dunbar and Parks, but this is his chance to shine, and as a former Welsh international, he's had the ability in the past. We all know about Dan Hyde, and its good to see him back to fitness again, and Jordan Crane is about as exciting a prospect as you're likely to see in a number 8 shirt.
Now I don't know about you, dear reader, but that still looks to me like a pretty good team on paper.
Sure, the bench consists of some of the academy, with the first call up to first team action of Myall and Vasey (resist the temptation to make a "League of Gentlemen" joke!), and with Rob Vickerman also coming into the reckoning for only his second potential appearance, there's clearly some young blood there, but With Rawly, Rayno and Parksy on the bench, there's plenty of old heads for the second half impact.
This is not an A team. This is a good team. This is a team that can win. They just need that thing that the other Leeds teams this season seemed to be lacking, and that they had in spades at the end of last year: Belief.
Those of you going across the Pennines to support the Mighty Whites, will be discussing with the Sale fans what the outcome might be before the game. Looking at the Sale messageboard, they seem to think it'll be a walk in the (Edgeley) park. Let's sock it to them on Firday shall we? Lets give them something to be rivals about. Get the noise going, suspend your pessimism and cheer the guys on to the first of many victories this season.
Go Tykes!
Teams
| Sale Sharks | Leeds Tykes | |
| Lionel Faure | 1 | Mike Shelley |
| Sebastien Bruno | 2 | Gordon Bulloch |
| Stuart Turner | 3 | Gavin Kerr |
| Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe | 4 | Scott Morgan |
| Christian Day | 5 | Chris Murphy |
| John Carter | 6 | Nathan Thomas |
| Magnus Lund | 7 | Dan Hyde |
| Sebastien Chabal | 8 | Jordan Crane |
| Sililo Martens | 9 | Danny Care |
| Valentin Courrent | 10 | Gordon Ross |
| Steve Hanley | 11 | Tom Biggs |
| Robert Todd | 12 | Chris Jones |
| Mark Taylor | 13 | Andre Snyman |
| Oriol Ripol | 14 | David Rees |
| Jason Robinson | 15 | David Doherty |
| Andy Titterell | 16 | Rayno Gerber |
| Ben Coutts | 17 | Rob Rawlinson |
| Jason White | 18 | Kearnan Myall |
| Chris Jones | 19 | Richard Parks |
| Nathan Bonner Evans | 20 | Mark McMillan |
| Peter Anglesea | 21 | Rob Vickerman |
| Elvis Seveali'I | 22 | Richard Vasey |
| Daniel Larrechea | 23 | |
| Richard Wigglesworth | 24 | |
| Ben Foden | 25 |