CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP - WEEK 17

Results from the second tier of England Rugby’s professional structure continue to be as difficult to predict as an English winter, writes Richard Grainger.

With only four rounds remaining in Stage One, it is still a mathematical possibility than all bar one of the 12 clubs could make the promotion play-offs. Although Esher are adrift at the bottom with only ten points, their recent run of form, aided by the return from injury of key players, would suggest that they will not enter the relegation scrap as whipping boys.

They could consider themselves unlucky not to take five points from a nine-try thriller against fourth placed Cornish Pirates at Molesey Road on Saturday. However, they did enough to grab both a try and a losing bonus point despite going down 30-36.

Mike Schmid - pleased with progress

Mark Atkinson had an off day with the boot and had the ball bounced kindly for winger Charlie Walker in the last minute, Esher would have achieved the win that head coach Mike Schmid believed they deserved. However, Schmid is happy that his side is competing now and this performance emphasizes how far they have come since Christmas.

For the first time this season, all but one Championship clashes kicked off at the traditionally appointed time for rugby - Saturday afternoon. Nottingham were scheduled to host Doncaster at Meadow Lane on Sunday but the game was called off at 2.15 due to a frozen pitch. Ironically, Meadow Lane is one of three grounds that currently meet most of Premiership Rugby’s criteria.

Will Helu -  opened the scoring for Bristol

The formbook received its first reversal at the Old Deer Park, where London Welsh brought Bristol’s seven-match Championship winning run to an abrupt end. The visitors were first on the scoreboard when Tongan international Will Helu finished a move initiated by a line break and a sublime offload from Jack Tovey –  to see, click here

Saul Nelson scores the deciding try for the Exiles

However, Bristol were never in the ascendancy as London Welsh displayed the form that had made them Premiership contenders until they were ravaged by injuries. Their last Championship win was against Bedford on 3^rd December. Saul Nelson who had moved from Bristol to join the Exiles was delighted to bag the decisive score, but Bristol were so far off the pace that they were did well to leave with a losing bonus point. They had Matty James’s two late penalties to thank for that.

The formbook was further upturned at Brickfields where Plymouth achieved their first five point win of the season against an erratic Leeds Carnegie.

Diccon Edwards’ outfit made another strong start but missed the three loan players who had returned to their clubs – in particular, George Ford. Two tries from hooker Gareth Evans, and a try a-piece from Paul Roberts and Wayne Sprangle were enough to see Albion home with the bonus point.

Leeds’ poor discipline proved costly again. Flanker Ryan Burrows was yellow-carded before the interval and Albion took full advantage to draw level. When Leeds were reduced to 14 for the second time with replacement Craig Hampson in the bin, Evans scored his second try to seal the victory. Joe Ford’s penalty got the losing bonus point for Carnegie with the last kick of the game.

Bedford will still fancy their chances in the play-offs having reduced the gap behind Bristol to seven points with a seven try thrashing of London Scottish at Goldington Road.

Josh Bassett - top Championship try scorer

The Championship’s top try scorer, Josh Bassett scored a hat-trick and Darryl Veenendaal bagged a pair to add to fine individual efforts from Jake Sharp and Don Barrell. This heavy defeat will almost certainly leave the Exiles in the wrong third of the table unless they can extract close to maximum points from their final four fixtures.

Finally, in another nine try thriller, Rotherham managed to hang on to claim five points despite a late Moseley surge, which earned them a try bonus point. The small crowd at Clifton Lane were treated to a fine display of open rugby but were disappointed that the Titans could not build on a 33-17 half time lead.

To see how all this leaves the Championship, click here: .

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP, WEEK 16

Moseley and Leeds accumulated 74 points at Billesley Common last Saturday in a post-Christmas cracker from which both teams took a try bonus point, writes Richard Grainger.

However, It was the visitors who took maximum points with six tries, all converted by Tommy Bell to seal a pulsating 32-42 win, orchestrated by loan-star George Ford at fly-half.

George Ford, on loan to Leeds from Leicester

Ford, brother of Joe and son of former England defensive coach Mike, is the youngest player to take part in a professional club match and is the current IRB Young Player of the Year. On loan from Leicester, Ford scored the try that notched up the bonus point for the visitors and was instrumental in three others. Unfortunately for Leeds, Ford’s immediate commitment will be to help the England U20s win their Six Nations.

Leeds kicked on from a 21-20 interval lead but Moseley were never out of contention and contributed to an enthralling game.

Rob O'Donnell

Rotherham lost at Clifton Lane for the first time this season on Saturday having threatened to eclipse London Welsh in the first quarter. Dominant up front in the early stages with a try from prop Rob O’Donnell and a penalty try, they failed to stretch their lead when Robin Copeland spilled the ball with the line at his mercy.

The Exiles fought back from a 20-10 half time deficit as their pack gained the initiative and denied the home side possession at source. Prop Shawn Pitman didn’t let a broken nose slow him down and was singled out for a special mention by coach Lyn Jones.

Joseph Ajuwa on the rampage

Trailing by two points with six minutes to go, Alex Davies kicked his second penalty of the half to add to Joseph Ajuwa’s try to put the Exiles ahead for the first time. They finished strongly and banished the ghost of their defeat to Moseley last week.

Second-placed Bedford struggled to live with Doncaster at Castle Park on Saturday except when they had a two-man advantage either side of half-time. The Knights had built a well-deserved 13-0 lead with a Michael Keating try and two David McIlwaine penalties before the Blues replied with an injury time try from Don Barrell, converted by James Pritchard. Bedford’s discipline was little better, and conceding 15 penalties and two yellow cards allowed the home side to pull away and earn a bonus point 33-12 win.

At Richmond on Saturday, Plymouth Albion responded to caretaker coach Nat Saumi’s half time admonitions to bounce back from a 21-0 deficit. Saumi, who took over after Pete Drewett’s short reign ended abruptly at Brickfields last week, was pleased with his side’s second half performance but had to be content with a losing bonus point as Albion went down 21-17.

On Sunday the Cornish Pirates returned to winning ways at the Mennaye Field with a 26-24 win over Nottingham. Rob Cook put the Pirates ahead for the first time with a penalty in the dying minutes. The visitors had threatened to run away with the game, leading 3-17 towards the interval but poor discipline earned them two yellow cards and reduced them to 13 at one stage. To watch the highlights, click here .

Finally, on Sunday a crowd of more than four and a half thousand at the Memorial Stadium watched Bristol crush any hopes that Esher may have held that their recent run of form could see them topple the league leaders.

Bristol ran out comfortable 27-7 winners, and although they couldn’t secure the bonus point, tries from Josh Ovens, Fatua Otto and George Watkins helped to reinforce their domination of the division, and leaves them 11 points clear of Bedford. To see the tries, click here

So, after 17 rounds, this leaves the Championship looking  like this:

WEEK 15 CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND UP

Pete Drewett - brief stay at Plymouth

During the week when most of us were contemplating resolutions and festive excesses, Pete Drewett was left to ponder his rugby future having resigned as Director of Rugby at Plymouth Albion, writes Richard Grainger.

Drewett, the former Head Coach at Exeter Chiefs, and his assistant Phil Greening had been at the helm at Brickfields for less than a month, having replaced Graham Dawe at the end of November.

“The club has lost the support of a financial backer”, said a club spokesman, “in all the circumstances, Pete Drewett [and Phil Greening] did not feel able to stay with the club. We tried our best to keep the coaching team in place. We will maintain contact to explore options.” Whether this may mean the return of Drewett and Greening is unclear as neither Drewett nor anyone from Albion would comment further.

John Roberts, assistant coach under both Dawe and Drewett, and Nat Saumi will take over the coaching duties in the short term.

Ironically, evidence of Drewett and Greening’s positive impact during their brief tenure came in the form of the 18-6 win over visitors Doncaster Knights on Friday evening.

A lethargic performance from Doncaster in atrocious conditions at Brickfields led to Plymouth’s fifth home win of the season – the same as second-placed Bedford; however Albion have yet to win away and remain second from the foot of the table.

Playing with a strong wind behind them in the first period, two tries from Tyson Lewis, one converted by James Love who also added a penalty, gave them a 15-3 half time lead. The Knights could only muster two David McIlwaine penalties in reply and, despite the elements, Plymouth finished the stronger.

Also on Friday evening, Bristol ran out winners at Meadow Lane and their 24-35 bonus point defeat of Nottingham leaves them seven points clear of Bedford at the top.

James Merriman opened the scoring with a try for the visitors and Jon Goodridge exploited weak tackling to add a second immediately after the restart. Bristol led 6-13 at the interval, and Ruki Tipuna and Sean Marsden touched down in the second period to seal the win and secure the bonus point. However, Joe Duffy scored twice for the home side to provide respectability. Follow this link to view the Bristol tries:

A late penalty try allowed Moseley to snatch victory at the Old Deer Park on Saturday. Joe Ajuwa’s seventh Championship try of the season had earlier given London Welsh the lead, but the Exiles failed to take their chances and turn pressure into points, losing 7-10.

Andre Bester

Esher surprised everybody on New Year’s Eve by spoiling Rotherham’s party with a comfortable 24-12 win at Molesey Road. Rotherham head coach Andre Bester was magnanimous in defeat, “We did make some mistakes but even if we were on form, we would have found it hard to win against this side”.

With their first win of the season under their belts, coach Mike Schmid will be looking forward to this weekend’s trip to Bristol and, although already consigned to a place in the relegation play-offs, Esher will be beginning to believe that then can stay up.

On New Year’s Day, Bedford added to London Welsh’s miserable weekend with an emphatic 32-13 home win over the Cornish Pirates.

And finally, Leeds is one of the two Championship grounds currently deemed fit to grace the Premiership. It is a fine place to watch rugby, but on the evidence of a scrappy New Year’s Day encounter with London Scottish, it will be some time before visitors from the top flight arrive at Headingley.

Tommy Bell - on song with the boot

Tommy Bell, who was the only Leeds player on the scoreboard with a try, a conversion and four penalties, won it for Leeds with the final kick of the game from the left touchline.

Torrential rain prior to kick off meant that each side was content to put the ball in the air and invite the other to make a mistake. The Exiles played the conditions rather better and thoroughly deserved their 11-3 lead after 32 minutes.

All the Exiles points – a try and four penalties - came from fly half Dan Mugford. When Exiles’ flanker Anthony Andrews suffered a dislocated knee, a long break ensued and this seemed to galvanise the home side who went on to win 19-17.

Leeds incur the referee's disfavour!

Scottish had looked the better team until they faded in the last five minutes and conceded costly penalties. For highlights of the game, click here: 

All this leaves the Championship looking like this:

WEEK 14 CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND UP

Pat Sanderson 

Pat Sanderson, commentating for Sky Sports at the Memorial Stadium last Friday night said, “You don’t see passages of play that good, that often".

Bristol had just shunted the Bedford pack some 30 metres up field from a lineout for Jack Tovey to release Fautua Otto who finished the move beneath the posts for the home side’s second try.

Unsurprisingly, Sanderson singled out two-try Otto as Sky Sports’ man of the match; however, as is often the case, it was the Bristol forwards who put down the foundations for a decisive win that took the west-country side seven points clear of the chasing pack.

Tristan Roberts of Bristol

James Merriman and Tristan Roberts were also outstanding and Bristol - who played the conditions much better than the visitors - thoroughly deserved to complete the double over second-placed Bedford.

Bristol can look forward to Friday night’s clash against Nottingham at Meadow Lane with confidence following this performance. “We’ve put the Bedford game behind us now”, said veteran lock Roy Winters. “We’re expecting a really tough test.”

On Christmas Eve, the Cornish Pirates notched up a bonus point win against their neighbours from the other side of the Tamar. For highlights, click here: 

Poor discipline from Pete Drewitt’s men, which culminated in a second yellow for Gareth Evans, contributed to their 33-12 defeat. Although Albion are already virtually consigned to the relegation dogfight, signs are emerging however, that they have the ability to avoid the drop.

The Pirates travel to Goldington Road to take on Bedford on New Year’s Day, while Plymouth are at home to Doncaster on Friday, kicking off at 7.45.

Also on Christmas Eve, a Dave McCall try and four penalties and a conversion from Garry Law were enough to see Rotherham home against Nottingham 19-11. The visitors managed a try from No8 Alex Shaw, and a penalty each from Kieran Hallett and James Arlidge. This was the Titans’ seventh win in a row and they retain their unbeaten home record. They travel to Molesey Road to take on an emergent Esher on New Year’s Eve.

Esher’s Boxing Day 13-13 draw at the Old Deer Park ended a 14 match losing streak. They could have taken all four points had Mark Atkinson’s injury time penalty attempt not faded short of the bar. Esher, who were down to 13 men at one stage in the first half, were only 5-3 behind at the break. The Exiles were far from their best and tries from Hudson Tonag’uiha and Vili Ma’asi and a Gordon Ross penalty matched a try from Esher’s Stuart Mackie, converted by Atkinson who also added a penalty.

London Scottish displayed no Christmas hangover symptoms recording a comprehensive 16-29 win over Moseley at Billesley Common on Boxing Day.

With a strong wind behind them, the visitors raced to a 23-0 lead, and held on to move above their hosts into ninth place in the Championship. However, they are still 15 points adrift and a relegation scrap looks inevitable for both clubs. The Exiles’ backs have clearly benefitted from coaching sessions from Scotland backs coach Gregor Townsend. The result was two slick tries from Ben MacDougall and Willie Lipp. They take on Leeds on New Year’s Day while Moseley travel to London Welsh.

Finally, Leeds coach Diccon Edwards felt that a 9-9 draw at Castle Park was two points gained rather than two points lost but was unhappy with the levels of his players’ performance.

It took a massive defensive effort in the last five minutes to deny Doncaster victory in this Yorkshire derby. Three David McIlwaine penalties for the home side and two penalties for Leeds from Tommy Ball and a Joe Ford drop goal left things level after 80 minutes. For highlights, click here 

All this leaves the Championship table looking like this: