Saracens team to face Leicester Tigers

Posted on May 11, 2012 in Premiership, Saracens

All eyes are on Welford Road on Saturday as Saracens face Leicester Tigers in the semi-finals of the Aviva Premiership.

In team news ahead of the game, Charlie Hodgson returns to start at fly half with Owen Farrell named at centre for the knockout clash. Will Fraser returns to the starting line-up while Matt Stevens and Carlos Nieto swap places with the England prop starting and Nieto among the replacements.

Chris Wyles moves to the wing with James Short on the bench along with the likes of John Smit, Richard Wigglesworth and Hugh Vyvyan.

Justin Melck has been ruled out after suffering a knee injury in the final minute of the match against Exeter Chiefs last weekend. The flanker underwent surgery on a damaged ACL on Thursday and is set to be ruled out for up to nine months.

“It’s a massive match,” explained Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall. “We’ve had a very good week of preparation but we know it is going to be a very tough game and we will have to be at our best to get the result we want.

“Leicester have a phenomenal semi final record but we have had some excellent performances in recent weeks with wins against London Irish, Newcastle Falcons and Exeter Chiefs so we are really looking forward to the match.”

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Semi-final Attention Turns From the ‘Mennaye’ To The ‘Mem’

Posted on May 11, 2012 in Bristol, Cornish Pirates

Following last Monday’s RFU Championship first leg semi-final match played at the Mennaye Field, Penzance, which saw the Cornish Pirates defeat Bristol Rugby 45-24, the attention now turns to the second leg, scheduled for Sunday at the Memorial Stadium, Bristol (ko 12.45pm).

The Pirates will carry a healthy 21 points lead into this return encounter, but they will be mindful that their job is not yet complete. This is, in effect, only half-time, and in the knowledge that Bristol have an unbeaten record at home in the Championship this season, it will also be noted that they have also registered some hefty victories along the way.

Recording such an emphatic result in the first leg certainly drew extra attention to the Pirates, and to the Championship competition in general, as nobody but nobody would have predicted a 45-24 outcome. Besides ‘Sky’ television, who had their best ever ratings for the Championship for this game, national press coverage was also unprecedented, not forgetting also that supporters of Newcastle Falcons quite understandably followed the match with added interest, as they will again this coming weekend.

For Sunday’s game Kyle Marriott continues at No. 8 for the Cornish Pirates, having been a second half replacement on Monday for the injured Ben Maidment, and lock Matt Smith is named on the bench. The full selection is as follows:-

Cornish Pirates: R. Cook, G. Pointer, S. Hill, A. Suniula, D. Doherty, C. Thomas, G. Cattle (capt), K. Marriott, P. Burgess, C. Morgan, I. Nimmo, L. McGlone, A. Paver, D. Ward, C. Rimmer.

Replacements: R. Storer, R. Elloway, R. Brits, M. Smith, D. Ewers, T. Kessell, M. Evans.

England call up Vilk and Williams for Marriott London Sevens

Posted on May 11, 2012 in England Sevens

England have called newcomer Jeff Williams and former captain Andy Vilk into their squad for this weekend’s Marriott London Sevens.

Head coach Ben Ryan had needed to make one change for the final leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series after former England U20 wing Mark Odejobi fractured a bone in his foot last weekend.

But half back John Brake is suffering from concussion caused by a blow to the head in the Glasgow final against New Zealand, so both the powerful Vilk and France-based Williams join the group.

England face France (12:42), the USA (16:00) and Samoa (19:28) in tomorrow’s Pool B matches with Fiji or Wales their potential opponents if they reach the quarter finals.

Former Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks centre Vilk, 30, captained England Sevens in 2007-08 before moving to Treviso and has been playing under Neil Back at Rugby Lions this season.

Williams, 23, is a centre with RC Chateaurenard in the Federale 1 division in France this season who previously played for the Hamiltons club and the Sharks Academy in South Africa.

“We’re lucky to be able to call on two quality players who’ve spent a lot of time with the squad,” said England head coach Ben Ryan.

“Andy’s very experienced with more than 30 tournaments under his belt at this level while Jeff’s got a good pedigree, has impressed us in training and by the way he’s fitted into our group so well.

“We feel we’re on an upward curve at the moment and we played some great rugby in Glasgow so we’re eager to finish on a high on what should be a fantastic occasion at Twickenham.”

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London Welsh claim Premiership eligibility “satisfied”.

Posted on May 11, 2012 in emb, London Welsh

By MARTYN WINTERS. The board of London Welsh have issued a statement claiming they would be “eligible for promotion”  to the Aviva Premiership if they win the championship.

Even though Welsh have never played in the Premiership, they have experienced a revival in their fortunes under the guidance of former Ospreys coach Lyn Jones and now look to return to the former glory days when the likes of JPR Williams played for them and they were one of the most feared sides in Europe.

Speculation that the Exiles are looking at a ground share with Quins at the Twickenham Stoop is gaining ground in the media, but both parties are remaining tight lipped. Harlequins are the only Premiership “London” club to actually play in the Greater London area, with London Irish, Saracens and Wasps sharing football grounds near the capital (respectively Reading, Watford and High Wycombe) and it seems more likely that Welsh would seek a similar arrangement outside the GLA.

Bleddyn Phillips (pictured), Chairman of the club, says the Exiles have co-operated fully with the consultants appointed by the RFU and Premiership Rugby and have given them every assistance to conduct an audit on the two grounds they are considering for use next season in the event of them winning the Championship.

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Nottingham pay tribute to “Captain Fantastic”

Posted on May 11, 2012 in Championship, Nottingham

Nottingham Rugby’s most decorated captain is leaving the club for the opportunity of a life-time in Hong Kong.

After a decade-long career with the Green and Whites, skippering the side a record 227 times, Craig Hammond has accepted a job as player-coach of Hong Kong Scottish.

Until the 33-year-old lock got a phone call out of the blue from the Oriental rugby hot-bed, he was considering a contract extension to stay with Nottingham and was busy planning his testimonial year with the RFU Championship club.

But when invited to tour the facilities of the Premiership club in the City-State last week, Hammond simply couldn’t resists taking the bold step into management and penned a two-year deal with the outfit.

Having recently guided Midlands One East club Ilkeston to Derbyshire Cup glory, the New Zealander clearly indicated that he was thinking hard about life after playing.

“It’s been an emotional decision to come to, leaving a club, a city and people that have been so good to me for so long for an exciting chance to further my career in an amazing place like Hong Kong,” said Hammond, who will be relocating with his wife and three children in June.

“Sure, I could see myself playing at Nottingham for a few more seasons, but this opportunity is just too good to knock back.

“I’ll be mentored in coaching at a high level, working with both the Hong Kong Rugby Union and an ambitious side like Scottish.

I’ve just turned 33 so it’s a perfect time to transition from playing to coaching, which is what I’ve always wanted.”

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London Welsh and Bedford Blues team News

Posted on May 11, 2012 in Bedford, Championship, London Welsh

London Welsh welcome Bedford Blues to Old Deer Park for the 2nd leg of their Championship semi-final knowing that anything less than a ten-point defeat will be good enough to take the Exiles through to the final.

Hudson Tonga’uiha’s try and eight points from the boot of full back Alex Davies gave Welsh a 13-3 win at Goldington Road seven days ago, with James Pritchard replying for the Blues.

The Exiles’ win made it two wins a piece between the sides this season.

The sides’ previous meeting at Old Deer Park saw the home side run out 25-24 winners in December. The Blues, though, nearly snatched victory with the last kick of the game, only for Jamie Lennard’s drop goal to slip wide.

Bedford’s only visit to Old Deer Park in 2010/11 also produced another tight affair, with Gordon Ross’ 79th minute penalty giving the Exiles a 25-22 win.

The 2009/10 season also produced another home win for Welsh over the Blues, 28-17, thanks to tries from Errie Claassens (2) and Paul Sampson.

Bedford’s last win at Old Deer Park came in September 2008 when they came out on top 32-23.

London Welsh:

15. Alex Davies, 14. Nick Scott, 13. James Lewis, 12. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 11. Joe Ajuwa, 10. Seb Jewell, 9. Jack Moates, 1. Billy Moss, 2. Dan George, 3. James Tideswell, 4. Adam Brown, 5. Matt Corker, 6. Jon Mills ©, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Ed Jackson.

Replacements: 16. Vili Ma’asi*, 17. Shawn Pittman*, 18. Greg Bateman, 19. Gary Johnson, 20. Lee Beach, 21. Rob Lewis, 22. Simon Whatling.

* Denotes full international

Bedford Blues have named the starting XV which will take on London Welsh in Sunday’s all important second leg of the RFU Championship Semi-Final.

Having lost 3-13 at Goldington Road last Friday, the Blues know that they have it all to do as they visit Old Deer Park needing to overturn a ten point deficit to reach the final of the Championship play offs.

Bedford Blues Director of Rugby Mike Rayer is picking from an almost fully fit squad but does make six changes from the team which started last week. Jamie Lennard replaces Jake Sharp – who took a knock last Friday – at fly half while Neil Cochrane, Phil Boulton, Gregor Gillanders, Sacha Harding and Jon Fisher all start up front in place of Chris Locke, Ben Cooper, Alex Rae, Darren Fox and Don Barrell while Ian Vass comes on to the replacements bench.

Bedford:

15. James Pritchard (c), 14. Ollie Dodge, 13. Brendan Burke, 12. Henry Staff, 11. Josh Bassett, 10. Jamie Lennard, 9. Luke Baldwin, 1. Ricky Reeves, 2. Neil Cochrane, 3. Phil Boulton, 4. Paul Tupai, 5. Mike Howard, 6. Gregor Gillanders, 7. Sacha Harding, 8. Jon Fisher

Replacements: 16. Chris Locke, 17. Sam Walsh, 18. Alex Rae, 19. Don Barrell, 20. Darren Fox, 21. Darryl Veenendaal, 22. Ian Vass