New Year Blues

By Ben Harman
November 21 2002

With only 3 games left to be played in the Zurich Premiership this year, the season is rapidly approaching a watershed. Hark back to January 1st 1999, West Hartlepool were languishing at the bottom of the table having won only one game out of 14 with only two points to show for their efforts.

By the end of the season they were to be relegated having managed to gain only 5 subsequent points.

On the first day of the new Millennium things were Blue in Bedford. They had played 9 games and lost them all. Although the Falcons above them had won just one game so far that season the gap between 12th and 11th was to prove too wide for the Bedford men to bridge. They finished the season with only 3 points to their name and were duly relegated.

As the nation awoke bleary eyed to the first day of 2001 it was Rotherham who were rooted to the bottom of the table where they would stay until relegation beckoned in May.

This year the pattern was similar with Leeds and Wasps sharing the distinction of the bottom rung. Leeds' points difference was a hefty -149 which gave Wasps the edge to sit 11th in the table. By May it was clear that Leeds would be relegated - barring some sort of catastrophe, natural disaster or chicanery by the RFU. So the pattern is clear, if you are at the bottom of the heap at New Year, things are looking bad.

Irish and Bristol are the current bottom feeders with 13 points apiece, so who's going to be bringing up the rear as we consign this years unwanted Christmas jumpers to the darkest recesses of the bottom drawer?

Irish entertain the Tigers at Mad Stad this weekend; the Craic heads have only won once in Reading in their last eight attempts (can't remember who that was against!) and are unlikely to reverse this trend against a resurgent Leicster team missing seven star players to internationals.

After this they have the dubious pleasure of a trip to Castle Grim where a Gloucester team welcoming their internationals back will be likely to give the men in green a hard ride.

The final game of the year will see the Falcons making the trip down Reading way, when the Irish will have to play their best rugby to beat a Falcons team desperate to draw clear out of the mire themselves.

Spare a thought for the enigmatic Showgirls. A trip to local rivals Bath this weekend could prove tricky for the Bristol boys who will be without their Argentinian playmakers Gus and Phil.

Having begun to find their feet and recently re-signing head coach Michael Foley, Bath are defending well and looking more like a professional outfit than at any time in the last 18 months.

Then it's up to Kingston Park to face a Falcons team buoyed by the return of Wilko from the trenches of the autumn campaign and with new signings in the bag. Points will be hard to find for the Westcountymen in the north east.

Their final game of the season is back at home to the Sharks whose away form can be indifferent, but equally when sporting a full complement of internationals can pack quite a bite.

As for Saracens, currently uncomfortably ensconced in 8th position a mere five points from the drop zone, there is no need to panic.

With home fixtures against Newcastle and Leeds and a jaunt across London to the Stoop to look forward to before we bid farewell to another Annus Horiblis for Nigel Wray, things could be worse.

Even the most pessimistic Fez head would concede that we are likely to pick up at least another 4 points this year leaving us with 22, which could well be 9 clear of the team looking relegation in the face as we welcome in 2003.