Celebrate Good Times!
Cheered on?
By apb
February 10 2006
Friday night is the night where it all starts. Again. It'll be party time when Leeds Tykes go up against a stuttering Bristol team, and hopefully puts them to the sword. The good times are on their way!
A hopeful exhortation its true, but perhaps not so far fetched as we look at this game from the current experience. In the reverse fixture, however, nothing could have been further from our minds. The meeting at the Mem is officially the lowest ebb that Leeds reached in their 2005 matches, losing that match 32-6, and being described by the Yorkshire Post as "a rabble".
Rabble they most certainly are not at the moment. In fact, beating Cardiff 48-3 when last they played at Headingley should be what's ringing in their ears, and a hopefully ebullient Friday night crowd should do all they can to help them remember that masterful performance.
True, they stuttered after that with a 21-18 loss at Franklins Gardens, but there were three tries in that eighteen points, and, I'm told, but for some "different interpretations" by the officials, it was a match the Tykes should've won.
Whatever anyone says about Daryl Powell, and about coaches with their main background in rugby league, one has to admit that the Tykes rennaisance has coincided with his being named as the first team coach. The backs drop the ball less, they have tangibly different running lines, their distribution is good.
The forwards have power aplenty as well, and with a rejuvenated line-out (Gordon Bulloch seems to have sorted his particular problems out; was it just his throwing or were the rest of the forwards not getting the calls right?) and strong scrum, the Leeds team looks good in every facet of the game at the moment. It is perhaps one less poser for Phil Davies in his role as forwards selection guru that Gavin Kerr is in the starting XV for Scotland on Sunday; he had a belter against France, and were he available for Leeds this week it would take a brave man not to select him.
Bristol, by contrast, haven't had things their own way since they put us to the sword on that fateful day in October. Losses to Saints in both the league and the European Cup, and defeats also to Sale and Worcester in the league has seen their early season good league position suffer and are being dragged back down into the contendership for relegation come early May. They will be as keen as the Leeds faithful for a win on Friday.
Looking at the line-up, its hard to spot the famous names and the glamour match-ups. I consider this year's Bristol vintage to be somewhat like the Leeds team of 2001/2; the big phrase for Leeds at that time was "A star team, not a team of stars". Unfortunately, that was the year we finished twelfth...
Two names that do stand out though, are Messrs. Perry and Regan. Shaun Perry has had his praises sung by the Bristol faithful for many a long month now, and certainly the establishment has also sat up and taken notice, with a call-up to the England training squad this week. It was pretty clear he was never going to be in the 22 for Saturday's outing to Italy, but if nothing else it shows that the England set-up is thinking of him.
And then there's Mark Regan! What is there to say about the man that hasn't already been said? He seems to have that certain quality that says "talisman" whichever club he plays for, and he takes a genuine delight in playing the game and winning matches. One of the finest memories I have is of his parading around the Headingley pitch at half time in the 2003 Christmas match against Gloucester, carrying the Webb Ellis trophy aloft and showing the gathered public exactly what it meant to him to be a member of that glorious World Cup winning side.
Of course, when he first came to Leeds, he was credited with adding some bite and fire to the Leeds pack (which wasn't bad to start with!), and he seems to be having a similar effect back down in his (and my) town of birth.
Lest we forget, I will trot out the old chestnut that he (altogether now) has never lost to a former club, but hopefully Friday will see another little record broken by the Leeds boys. Whichever way it goes, I would expect the loudest cheer of the day to be reserved for Ronnie as he is announced in the team and as he enters the stadium.
No, perhaps the second-loudest. The loudest will be when Leeds' fourth try is scored, and the win is made certain. The Leeds style is one of entertaining rugby, coupled with an effective scrummaging pack, whilst retaining mobility. Good lineouts, good back line running and distribution. I can predict (and expect) nothing but a good win....
Teams
| Leeds Tykes | Bristol | |
| Kees Lensing | 1 | Dave Hilton |
| Gordon Bulloch | 2 | mark Regan |
| Rayno Gerber | 3 | Darren Crompton |
| Stuart Hooper (c) | 4 | Nathan Budgett |
| Tom Palmer | 5 | Gareth Llewellyn |
| Scott Morgan | 6 | Matt Salter (c) |
| Richard Parks | 7 | Joe El Abd |
| Nathan Thomas | 8 | Geraint Lewis |
| Justin Marshall | 9 | Shaun Perry |
| Roland De Marigny | 10 | Jason Strange |
| Tom Biggs | 11 | David Lemi |
| Chris Bell | 12 | Sam Cox |
| Chris Jones | 13 | Rob Higgitt |
| Andre Snyman | 14 | Lee Robinson |
| David Doherty | 15 | Bernardo Stortini |
| Mike Shelley | 16 | Alex Clarke |
| Rob Rawlinson | 17 | Saul Nelson |
| Jon Dunbar | 18 | Mariano Sambucetti |
| Dan Hyde | 19 | Dan Ward-Smith |
| Mark McMillan | 20 | Greg Nocholls |
| David Rees | 21 | Mark Denney |
| Andy Craig | 22 | Tommy Hayes |
Referee:Dave Pearson