Week 13 - Mind the gap!

The gap between the top eight and the bottom four clubs is now a small but precarious chasm after London Scottish lost to Doncaster at the Athletic Ground on Saturday.

Man of the match, James Kellard’s two second half tries sparked an Exiles revival to pull them level at 20-20; Scottish had been 17-0 down after 27 minutes. But with seven minutes to go, winger Ben Toft’s try in the corner gave the visitors the points and lifted the Knights 14 points clear of the relegation zone.

Fellow relegation dodgers Moseley bagged a bonus point win against injury-hit Esher at Molesey Road on Saturday, in a game that was much closer than the 14-29 scoreline suggests.

What separated two closely matched teams was Esher’s tally of dropped passes and their inability to hold onto the ball in contact.

Ed Jackson - prolific try scorer 

At Meadow Lane on Friday night, Nottingham moved into the top four for the first time this season by virtue of a 26-10 win over London Welsh. The Green and Whites had James Arlidge to thank, as the former Japanese international was metronomic with the boot, contributing six penalties and a drop goal. The Exiles were never in the game and a late try by Ed Jackson converted by Gordon Ross was nowhere near enough for a losing bonus point.

However, Welsh coach Lyn Jones announced the signing of former Wasps’ Heineken Cup winner, loosehead Tom French, in a move to strengthen the besieged Exiles’ front row.

Tom French - formerly with Wasps

Bristol travelled to Brickfields on Saturday where two late tries consolidated their place at the head of the Championship table. Pete Drewett’s Albion are showing signs of improvement and were still in the game at 3-11 until the 79^th minute, when they conceded a penalty try following a series of scrums close to their line. Although Bristol are now three points clear of the pack, coach Liam Middleton was disappointed not to secure the bonus point.

Bristol could have been further out in front had Rotherham been able to kick on from a 10-0 lead against Bedford at Goldington Road on Saturday. Rotherham coach Andre Bester was rather too vocal with his opinion that referee Matt Carley was inconsistent at scrum time, and was invited to sit out the second half away from the technical area.

Tries from Sam Walsh and Sasha Harding, both converted by James Pritchard, put the Blues ahead 14-13 at the break. Bedford replied to a converted try from flanker Robin Copeland - who is attracting Premiership attention – and a Garry Law penalty, with a try from hooker Chris Locke and a conversion and a penalty from Pritchard. Leading by a point late in the game, the Blues breathed a sigh of relief as they watched Law’s penalty attempt drift wide. This moves Bedford into second place, two points ahead of London Welsh.

Finally, at Headingly on Sunday, Leeds exacted revenge for their 52-10 thrashing at the Mennaye Field back in September. Leeds deservedly finished 14-13 ahead in a game not short of controversy. Leeds wingman Michael Stephenson was sent to the sin bin, and the Pirates were awarded a penalty try, after he was adjudged to have tackled David Doherty early. In the second half, referee Dean Richards over-ruled his assistants and nullified a 35-metre penalty attempt from Joe Ford.

However Stephenson had the last word when he crashed over in the corner to win it for Leeds.

This result leaves the Pirates in fifth place with 43 points, and resurgent Leeds in seventh, 13 points adrift of the leaders. For full details of results and the Championship table, click here: http://clubs.rfu.com/Fixtures/MatchByDivision.aspx?DivID=130433319

This weekend sees a return to British and Irish Cup action. Join me next week to see how the Championship clubs got on.

Championship round up- week 12

With nine outings remaining in the first round of the Championship, the fourteen point gap between the eight promotion hopefuls and the four teams fighting to avoid relegation, is beginning to look significant.        

Mike Schmid

For Esher, desperate to avoid bottom spot, their drab weekend began on Friday night at Molesey Road. Coach Mike Schmid felt that referee Llyr ApGeraint Roberts’s inconsistency with his cards cost his side dearly in a home game he saw as winnable. However, Nottingham had secured the bonus point and never looked like relinquishing a 28-0 lead before plucky Esher began to claw their way back into the game. A spirited comeback still left the home side on the wrong end of a 22-34 defeat, but 11^th placed Moseley’s home against Doncaster cut them further adrift at the foot of the table. However, the last 30 minutes will encourage Esher - who beat Oxford University 32-20 in their final warm up game before the Varsity Match - when they take on Moseley at home next weekend.

At Billesley Common on Saturday it took a try from skipper Andy Reay in the 76^th minute, converted by Brad Davies, to give Moseley victory by 17-15. The Knights had led by 15-10 for most of the second half until Reay finished off a half-break by replacement Ryan de la Harpe to add to Michael Ellery’s classy score from 50 metres in the 10th minute.

Andre Bester, Titans coach

It was the second consecutive defeat for new coach Peter Drewett as Plymouth went down to Rotherham at Clifton Lane On Saturday. Rotherham extended their run of home wins to six games and recorded their eighth league win but failed to maintain the pace they set in the opening 20 minutes in which they raced to a 14 point lead. Titans coach Andre Bester felt that they should have secured the bonus point by half time but slowed their pace to that of the visitors.

With Bristol at home next week and the short trip across the Tamar to face the Pirates on Christmas Eve, it might be Christmas Day in the work house for Albion and Drewett, as they struggle to move any closer to the leading eight.

The game of the weekend took place at the Old deer Park where second-placed London Welsh kept Bedford Blues in third slot with a 25-24 win in what Exiles coach Lyn Jones described as a great game by two good sides. However, Welsh allowed Bedford to recover from a 19-7 lead established through tries from Guillermo Roan, Hudson Tonga’uiha, and Joe Ajuna. Alex Davies added two conversions and a penalty. However the Blues examination of the Exiles’ weakness at the scrum resulted in a 33^rd minute penalty try to add to James Pritchard’s 18^th minute score which he converted. Two second half penalties from the reliable Davies in reply to Josh Bassett converted try was enough to see them home and sent them to the top of the class for a day.

On Sunday Bristol re-claimed top spot by exacting revenge over Leeds, ending their seven match winning run, with a 33-19 reversal at the Memorial Stadium in a game they controlled from the start. Too see the tries, click here: http://www.bristolrugby.co.uk/news/7407/video-bristol-rugby-vs-leeds-carnegie/

Finally, at the Mennaye on Sunday, the Cornish Pirates emphasised the emerging gulf between the top eight and the bottom four, with a comprehensive six try bonus point win over visitors London Scottish. Jamie Sole, son of Scottish legend David (not the singer) made his debut for the Exiles. For match highlights, click here: http://cornish-pirates.com/pirates_tv/eye_player.htm

So, after round 13, click here to see how the Championship table looks: http://clubs.rfu.com/Fixtures/MatchByDivision.aspx?DivID=130433319

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND UP - round 11 - 30th Movember

Unquestionably the story of the week is the sudden departure of Graham Dawe from Plymouth Albion.

Graham Dawe - five England caps but discarded by Plymouth

Dawe, 51, had coached Albion for 12 years and only hung up his boots last season closing the door on a career that won him five England caps and a lengthy spell as first-choice hooker at Bath.

Although Albion are third from bottom in the Championship, Dawe - a farmer from Bude - steered the club from the foot of the former National Three South to the second tier of English club rugby.

Dawe had voiced concerns over plans for the Cornish Pirates proposed ground share with round ball neighbours Plymouth Argyle, should the Pirates achieve promotion to the Premiership.

However, Dawe’s magic wand, which had made silk purses out of many a sow’s ear over the years, had failed to produce results of late and Plymouth have turned to Peter Drewett for a new approach and a fresh start.

Ironically, Drewett, 52, a former England Students coach and Sports Science lecturer at Exeter University, was himself discarded mid-season by Exeter Chiefs in ’09, following perceived under-achievement during their penultimate Premiership campaign.

Peter Drewett - from Exeter to Plymouth

Neither Drewett not Dawe were available for comment, but while Dawe is left to ponder what to do next, the road ahead is fairly clear for Drewett: ensure that Albion finish in the top eight and avoid a relegation dogfight.

A 9-24 home defeat by high-fliers London Welsh, would suggest that Drewett has his work cut-out, and with two yellow cards, perhaps his first goal will be to keep 15 men on the turf for 80 minutes.

The shock result of round 12 was Doncaster’s comfortable 36-21 win over the Cornish Pirates at Castle Park. The Knights, who scored two tries in the first twenty minutes, took their opportunities well to establish a 30-14 half-time lead, which they never looked like relinquishing.

Leeds made it seven wins on the bounce with a 25-19 win in a game dominated by the boot. Thankfully for them, it was Joe Ford’s boot that accumulated three drop goals, three penalties and a conversion.

Bedford moved into top stop – if only on alphabetical order – following their 41-13 demolition of bottom-huggers Esher at Goldington Road. The Blues players, coaches and fans celebrated the wonderful event of Movember with a gala party following Saturday’s game.

The “Mo” has become the badge for men’s health, and the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men. 

The home side scored six tries, including one from Paul Tupai, playing his 100^th game for the club.

Bristol share the top spot with Bedford on 43 points after a hard-fought victory at Richmond Athletic Ground. Tries from Rhys Lawrence and Fautua Otto sealed the victory but the visitors were made to work hard to penetrate tireless Exiles’ defence.

With London Scottish lying in eighth place on 19 points, this underlines the competitiveness of the division. However, with Doncaster one place above them on 32, the top eight clubs are distancing themselves from the relegation zone and it’s beginning to look like an uphill struggle for the bottom four come the play-offs.

Finally, Moseley remain second from bottom following a 62-20 thumping by Nottingham at Meadow Lane.

For the championship table, click here

London Welsh 18 London Scottish 16

Old Deer Park Saturday 19^th November, 2011.

It took a Scotsman to silence the lone piper in the gathering gloom at the Old Deer Park on Saturday.

Gordon Ross, the London Welsh fly-half with 25 Scottish caps, slotted an 86^th minute penalty to wipe out the lead that London Scottish had held since the second minute of stoppage time.

When these two illustrious clubs first met 126 years ago it was London Welsh’s inaugural outing, and the Scottish Exiles took the honours.

John Dawes unveils the memorial to Harry Bowcott

Underlining their fine rugby pedigree, a tribute was unveiled in memory of Harry Bowcott by John Dawes in the clubhouse before kick-off. Bowcott, who died in 2004 aged 97, won eight caps for Wales, and represented the Lions 20 times including five tests.

It looked as though the visitors would upset the form-book when James Brown’s second successful kick from just inside the Welsh half put the visitors in front for the first time in the 84^th minute.

But when the Scottish went off their feet at a ruck, Mr Carley, who had been consistent at the breakdown all afternoon, had no hesitation in awarding the home side the penalty.

Poised to win it - Gordon Ross steadies the ship

Ross duly obliged from head-on to the posts on the visitors’ 10 metre line, and the Scottish were left to ponder how they had managed to throw away a game that they eventually convinced themselves they could win.

For London Welsh, who threatened to dominate the match and looked by far the sharper of the two, it was a reprieve that they didn’t entirely deserve.

Welsh would have been eyeing a bonus point from this fixture and, when Tongan hooker Vili Ma’asi drove over from close range in the sixth minute, it looked on the cards.

Mr Carley points Agustin Posio in the direction of the sin bin

A minute earlier Scottish fullback Augustin Gosio had been sin-binned for punching the ball away to prevent Welsh exploiting a three-man overlap.

However, problems at the set piece and a catalogue of handling errors meant that London Welsh were unable to pull away. Conceding a total of seven penalties and three free kicks at the scrum - where Lewis Thiede gave American Shawn Pittman a torrid time - didn’t help.

The lineout wasn’t much better, although the home side nicked a wayward Scottish throw that led to their second try in the 42^nd minute. From this, man-of-the-match Joe Ajuwa muscled his way over in the corner for an unconverted score to give the Welsh a 12-3 half-time lead.

Four minutes earlier, Brown had kicked his first penalty for the visitors following yet another collapsed scrum.

Then in the 45^th minute, David Howells spoiled another London Welsh overlap by intercepting Simon Whatling’s pass to gallop the length of the pitch. Brown converted to bring the Scottish within two points.

Silent at last!

Ross was on target again with the boot in the 50th minute and that was that, until Brown struck twice to snatch the lead, albeit briefly before Ross hushed the bagpiper.

Victory was duly celebrated later in the clubhouse, as delighted and slightly inebriated Welsh voices worked through Max Boyce’s back catalogue, showing that the fine traditions of Exiles rugby are undiminished by the professional era.

Elsewhere, Bristol went back to the top of the table after a 37-33 win over the Cornish Pirates, and Esher picked up their first league point of the season – a losing bonus point at home to Leeds.

Click here for a full round up of Championship results and the league table

Full round-up next week!

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP 9/11/11

You could throw a blanket over the top five clubs in the Championship, but one team is beginning to put a little daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.

The daylight may be in the shape of a single point, but the Cornish Pirates - who have only lost once (at home to Bedford) - are beginning to look like serious Premiership contenders.

Rotherham - who had only lost twice before Sunday - were made to look very ordinary by the pace and precision of the Pirates who won by 30-13 at the Mennaye Field. In particular, Jonny Bentley - back from injury - gave the Pirates momentum and was instrumental in their first two tries. His pace and game management will give back rows a lot to think about in the coming months. Click here for highlights of the match.

The surprise result of the weekend was at Billesley Common where Bristol suffered their second consecutive defeat on the road, going down 33-27 to Moseley. Both sides managed three tries but Liam Middleton’s men failed to execute the basics and were patchy in defence. The much-vaunted Bristol backs were nullified by the home side, forcing them to turn to the forwards for inspiration. None came.

This was Moseley’s first Championship win in six matches, and delighted Kevin Maggs, the former Irish International and Bristol centre.

Interestingly, Moseley did not make a single substitution - with a bit of luck this may start a new trend.

This result knocks Bristol off the top spot, but more worrying for Middleton must the 71 points they have leaked in the last two weeks.

Bedford remain three points behind the leaders with a comfortable 38-21 win against Plymouth Albion at Brickfields.

The home side trailed 28-7 at the break but managed to stage a mini-comeback when the visitors relaxed in the third period. Tries from Aaron Carpenter and Tyson Lewis reduced the Blues’ lead, but fly-half Jake Sharp settled the visitors’ nerves with a converted try in the 72^nd minute.

In a dour game at Headingly, Leeds beat in-form Nottingham 22-19 to make it five wins in a row. A late drop goal from Joe Ford clinched it for Leeds. For the very few highlights of this game, click here.

Despite conceding a penalty try, 20 penalties, three yellow cards and finishing the game with 13 men, London Welsh even managed to deny Doncaster a losing bonus point at Castle Park.

This dogged away win brought the Welsh to within two points of the leaders and their 15 unanswered second half points owed a lot to determination and Doncaster’s high error count.

Finally, to Richmond where London Scottish beat bottom-placed Esher 32-17 in a bad-tempered affair. Esher, who conceded a penalty try, had no answer to the Exiles’ dominant scrum. That, combined with a ten point yellow card keeps them rooted to the bottom.

This weekend the Championship has a break for cup action, so look out for a profile of one of the top teams and their coach in next week’s Championship spotlight.

For details of the current Championship league table, click here: 

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP 2/11/11

Another pulsating weekend of Championship rugby leaves only 15 points between the leaders and the 9^th placed team in the division.

In a topsy-turvy round of matches, no clear pattern of rightful succession to the Premiership court is emerging, but any team in the top half could be the heir apparent.

Bristol still top the division despite a 44-6 rout away at Rotherham, who continue to humble league leaders.

ROTHERHAM 44, BRISTOL 6

Rotherham, who have already beaten Bedford and London Welsh, led by 22-6 at the break but pulled away in the second half with tries by Robin Copeland and Shane Monahan (2). Liam Middleton’s team could only muster two Matty James penalties in reply.

Garry Law was prolific with the boot and his 24 points and helped to ensure that the second period was largely one-way traffic.

Middleton, whose Bristol side was impressive against London Welsh last Friday, conceded that their performance was unacceptable.

BEDFORD 28, LEEDS 45

In the surprise result of the weekend, Leeds battled to overcome Bedford in a pulsating match away from home.

Bedford coach Mike Rayer was quoted in The Rugby Paper: “We ended up having our asses kicked on our own patch and that hurts.”

What must have hurt all the more was that Leeds were hardly in the game for the first 20 minutes, had two players yellow-carded and saw Bedford pick up the four try bonus point before them. That they still came away with a win speaks volumes. Leeds’ five tries came from Ford, Steve McColl (2) Iain Thornley – on loan from Sale – and Robbie Shaw.

Coach Diccon Edwards cited good discipline and a strong team ethic in the face of the early Bedford onslaught as the foundation for their success.

PLYMOUTH ALBION 21, MOSELEY 20

Arriving at Brickfields 35 minutes before kick-off didn’t seem to hinder Moseley who started the stronger of these bottom-four placed teams.

A try by Anthony Carter after four minutes, converted by winger Ollie Thomas gave them the perfect start.

Chevvy Pennycook’s try shortly before the break was converted by Thomas to give the visitors a 14-8 interval lead.

Plymouth’s James Love had kept the home side in touch with a penalty and a fine individual try just before the half-time whistle.

Love and Thomas each kicked two penalties before the decisive penalty try was awarded in the 73^rd minute that settled the outcome in Plymouth’s favour.

Moseley coach, the former Irish International centre Kevin Maggs had no complaints about the decision, and was happy with referee Michael Tutty’s game.

Plymouth’s Graham Dawe – never one to get too excited about referees’ decisions – said: “ It was a good call, but I probably wouldn’t have given it myself”. Graham Dawe refereeing – now that would be a thing!

LONDON WELSH 17, CORNISH PIRATES 17

Despite grounds that fall well short of a welcome mat into the Premiership, both these teams have serious aspirations of dining at rugby’s top table.

The critical factor in this encounter was the sin-binning of Pirates’ flanker Chris Morgan, who departed deep into the last quarter for not releasing. (Richie McCaw, please take note!)

However, with the Cornishmen leading 17-8 and very much in control, it was the visitors who were by far the more disappointed at the outcome.

In a pulsating and sometimes error-strewn match, the Pirates build a 14-point lead that should have been the springboard for victory. First half tries by Jonny Bentley and winger Grant Pointer were converted by Rob Cook in reply to an unconverted Rob Lewis try for the Welsh.

Cook stretched the lead with a penalty in the 62^nd minute, but Exiles’ replacement fly half Alex Davies chipped over two kicks to keep the home side in touch and then leveled the match by landing a monster from over forty yards in the 73^rd minute.

Exiles head coach Lyn Jones expressed his relief with his side’s two points and felt pleased that they had managed to restrict the Pirates so effectively. For the Pirates it was two points gone west – or perhaps east.

ESHER 20, DONCASTER 29

Having said how difficult it is to predict the final status of teams in this division, one thing looks pretty clear: on the evidence of this performance, Esher will be scrapping for survival and not promotion, come the play-offs.

A four-try bonus point win for the visitors owed more than a little to Esher’s cat-flap defence, and left director of rugby Mike Schmid with plenty to work on  - an hour’s tackling practice for starters.

Although they were first on the scoreboard through a Doncaster error, punished by Canadian Philip Mackenzie, there was little else for the small home crowd to cheer until Robin Boot crossed in the 75^th minute.

By then, with tries for the Knights from Michael Keating (2), Latu Maka’afi and ex-Esher winger Douglas Flockhart, it was all over bar the shouting

And with only 837 in attendance, that probably didn’t disturb the locals too much.

NOTTINGHAM 33 LONDON SCOTTISH 31

Another belter of a game.

London Scottish, have recently been boosted by the on-loan London Irish pairing of Guy Armitage (brother of Delon and Steffon) and David Sasi, a talented No8, in addition to Elliot Daly, on loan from Wasps.

Despite these classy new inclusions the Green and Whites led 23-6 at the break, but a second half fightback led to a pulsating final quarter.

Pressure from the visitors forced Nottingham into a huge third quarter error count that resulted in a try by Agustin Gosio, converted by James Brown and a debut try from Armitage. This was followed by a penalty by Brown that briefly gave the visitors the lead.

However, No8 Alex Shaw rounded off a 30 metre forward drive with a try that not only gave Nottingham the win but a bonus point.

…AND FINALLY…

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK:                         Leeds away win at Bedford

LOW POINT OF THE WEEK:                                    Leeds 16 penalties and 2 yellow cards                                                                  at Bedford

AVERAGE PENALTIES CONCEDED:             8.5

TOTAL VISITS TO SIN BIN:                       6

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE:                          1816  

TOP TRY SCORER:                                    Ed Jackson (L. Welsh) 8

TOP POINTS SCORER:                              James Love (P. Albion) 145

ONE TO WATCH THIS WEKEND:               

If you’re looking for fireworks, forgot the 5^th November and watch Leeds Carnegie take on Nottingham at Headingly on Sunday

Well that’s all for this week. It’s all bubbling up quite nicely in the Championship.

WHAT IS THE CHAMPIONSHIP?

CHAMPIONSHIP OVERVIEW

Let’s start with a question: when is a league not a league? Give up? When it mutates into a knockout competition.

It’s a bit like a game of Pass the Parcel – you think you’ve won something only to discover there are several more layers and anyone can still win it.

It could only happen in Rugby.

Can you imagine the reaction if the FA proposed that, at the conclusion of home and away league fixtures, its second tier would be divided into two groups who would play for promotion or survival? Not only that, the top two thirds would be split into two further leagues, then there would be a semi-final and then a final and all of these outcomes would be decided on the basis of home and away matches. There’d be uproar.

So it was hardly surprising that, when this was proposed three years ago next week, there was considerable consternation.

But despite the necessity for five League One clubs to be relegated to National Division Two, six League One clubs supported it. These were: Coventry, Doncaster, Exeter, London Welsh, Nottingham, and Plymouth Albion.

One critic was Geoff Irvine of Bedford, Chairman of First Division Rugby Limited (FDR) who said that it would be “financial suicide”.

What the RFU proposed was that the leading Division One clubs (those finishing 2^nd to 11^th in National League One) would become “founder members” if they agreed to turn professional. They would be joined by the relegated

Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) club which would give them a regular league season of 22 fixtures.

TWO PROFESSIONAL LEAGUES ARE BETTER THAN ONE.

The RFU’s thinking was that two professional leagues, rather than one, would give the competitive structure in England a broader base and allow for sustainable movement between the two leagues. The alternative was to ring-fence the top tier so that, in effect, Division One would become the top level of what the RFU rather patronizingly refers to as “community rugby”.

In the light of recent in-fighting, one could create a credible case for suggesting that the Championship initiative was the last time that the RFU came up with anything remotely constructive.

The sweetener was that the Championship would receive £2.3m per annum from the RFU, £1m from the PRL and a decent slice of the RFU’s TV deal with Sky.

At the time, there was huge financial disparity in funding between the PRL and the FDR. In 1998, not long after the dawn of the professional era, the ratio of direct RFU funding between the leagues was 2:1 (£500k to £250k each club respectively). This rose to 5:1 in 2008 (£13m split between the PRL, while the FDR received a modest £168k club). Include TV revenues and other sponsorship deals, and this became nearer a massive 10:1 disparity.

However, despite Mr Irvine’s reservations, it went ahead in 2009 and is currently in its third season.

IS IT A SUCCESS?

Whilst many consider that the new format enhances the competition, it is not to everyone’s liking.

The main complaint, which this season’s changes should go some way to mitigating, is that results in the regular season count for nothing come the day of reckoning.

If you finish 8^th, you have still got a chance of winning the league and gaining promotion to the Premiership. However, you will have to win your mini league – which includes the club who topped the regular season league – to progress to the knockout stages.

Of more concern to many was the situation at the bottom. Moseley prop Nathan Williams summed it up in the Birmingham Sunday Mercury in February 2010:

“If you finish eighth you can get promoted and if you finish ninth you can get relegated, that doesn’t make much sense. It just goes away from the traditional principle of win the league and you go up and finish bottom and you go down.

“I am all for play-offs to win a championship, like the top four play off in the Premiership. But I don’t like to think of a relegation place being decided that way. You could win nearly half your fixtures and still go down – that’s a very harsh reality.”

At that stage of the first Championship season, despite having won 10 of their matches - while neighbours Birmingham had won none - Moseley had to beat top placed Bristol to avoid finding themselves in the same boat as Birmingham: the dog-fight to avoid relegation.

The other concern was that it allowed little time for clubs to recruit strengthened squads for the coming season.

“I don’t think it’s a very good system because you are talking another six weeks before you can even begin planning for the following season,” said Williams.

“The best of the crop is going to be signed up by then and you are going to have the boys who are left over.”

However, when Exeter was promoted to the Premiership after that first season, they dispelled that worry by finishing mid-table at the first attempt with very little external enhancement of their squad.

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW?

The current format for this three-staged competition is as follows:

In the promotion phase, the top two clubs at the end of the regular season will start the play-off on three points. The third and fourth placed clubs will start on two points. The fifth and sixth placed clubs will start on one. The remaining two clubs will start on none.

As before, the top eight clubs will be divided into two pools: 1^st, 4^th, 5^th and 8^th comprise Play-off Group A, while 2^nd 3^rd, 6^th and 7^th enter Group B. The two highest placed clubs go through to a two-legged semi-final and the winners to a home and away final.

At the bottom, the four clubs fighting for survival will carry over 1 point for each win in the regular season.

CONSTRAINTS

But there still are a couple of other levels of paper to unwrap from this parcel before we get to the prize.

A salary cap limits free-spending benefactors from unleveling the playing field. Perhaps more significantly, only clubs that meet the PRL’s minimum requirements – in terms of facilities – will be allowed to join the top tier.

This wasn’t an issue in the first season when finalists Bristol somehow managed to persuade the authorities that their set-up was adequate for top tier rugby; many would dispute this. And fellow finalists Exeter had no problem, as they had just spend £14m on their new ground, Sandy Park, leaving them around £2m out of pocket from the sale of the County Ground.

Of the current crop of contenders for promotion in 2012, it is likely that only Leeds, Bristol and Nottingham would currently meet the PRL’s criteria. There was some holding of breath last season when the Cornish Pirates – whose facilities most certainly would not – challenged Worcester for promotion.

AIM OF THIS BLOG…

While I’m sure that none of this is hot news to the well-informed rugby supporter, it serves as a background to the origins and current state of play in the Championship.

Over the coming weeks, this blog will aim to provide news and analysis of events and developments in this fiercely competitive and exciting league.

Every other week, there will be a spotlight on one of the clubs who currently make up this division. I hope to bring you an interesting in-sight and to provide information not readily available elsewhere.

With a bit of luck, I will be able to cover some of the matches and include my reports within the following week’s blog.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY

With a third of the first phase league matches completed, Bristol has their nose in front with 33 points, five ahead of the Cornish Pirates.

However, although Leeds – surprisingly languishing in 8^th place at present - have only won four of their eight matches, it would be wrong to discount anyone in the top eight slots as eventual winners, for this is the most open Championship since its inception.

For details of forthcoming fixtures, please follow this link http://clubs.rfu.com/Fixtures/MatchByDivision.aspx?DivID=130433319 and if you want to check on what’s happened already, click here: http://clubs.rfu.com/Fixtures/MatchByDivision.aspx?DivID=130433319.

Thanks for reading this and please feel free to leave a comment.

More next week – enjoy your rugby!