Will the Fat Lady Sing? - Leeds Preview

By BrianC
April 12 2006

Only three years ago we doomed Bristol to relegation by beating them 41 - 21 on the last day of the 02/03 season at the Madejski. Next Saturday could very well see us sealing the fate of another club as we take on a struggling Leeds side.

Things do not look good for the Tykes. With only three games to go they are ten points adrift of their nearest opposition, Newcastle. Perhaps their last realistic chance of avoiding the drop was spent last Friday when they went down 13 - 17 at home to fellow strugglers Saracens. As someone on the Tykes site wryly observed in the wake of that defeat. The fat lady isn't singing yet but she's warmed up and about to enter the stage. Last season Leeds also appeared to be down and out however they staged a remarkable recovery in the latter rounds. Given the size of the gap and lack of remaining games survival this time round looks to be too tall an order.

It is difficult to put your finger on what has gone wrong in Yorkshire this season. At the start of the campaign their prospects looked good. Some people even suggested that they were dark horses for the title. Our first game of the season was against them. They played their 'home' fixture against us at Twickenham. The bookies had Leeds as clear favourites going into this game. In the event we won 11 - 27, picking up a try bonus point along the way. To put it mildly Leeds start to the season was abysmal. They lost their first seven games and, despite some good performances in the middle of the season, haven't really recovered from that.

Whilst this author remains very much in favour of automatic promotion and relegation it is always sad to see any club drop. Should this fate befall Tykes I will be particularly saddened to lose them from the Premiership. Trips to Leeds are always enjoyable, the facilities excellent and the supporters friendly. Leeds came up to the top flight five years ago. In that time they have done a good job of developing an audience in an area that is more readily associated with the round ball game. In their first season the average gate at Headingley was just over 4.1k thus far this season their average is just over 6k.

As both Bristol and Harlequins have proved in recent years relegation need not necessarily be fatal. Indeed there are voices amongst both sets of supporters who argue that relegation, along with it the chance to regroup and to rediscover their soul, has actually been good for their clubs. On the other side of the coin is Rotherham. They pretty well imploded after their last eviction from the premiership in 2004 and barely survived at all. It will be a long time, if ever, before they countenance Premiership rugby again. One can only hope at this stage that Leeds backers keep the faith and that we see them back in the Premiership, rejuvenated, before long.

Will the fat lady be singing for Leeds on Sunday? My guess is that she will. This London Irish side, even allowing for the ghastly injury list, is just too good. We are still pushing for both a play off place and Heineken Cup rugby next season so have everything to play for. It could well end up being an emotional day for Tykes supporters.