Bristol vs Llanelli

Posted on Jan 21, 2011 in Rugby News

Bristol Rugby home to Llanelli RFC on Sunday 23rd January at 3.00 pm.
21st January 2011 published by Bristol Rugby

Bristol Rugby are at home to Llanelli RFC looking to repeat their first win of this season’s British and Irish Cup competition.

Bristol Head Coach Paul Hull has stuck largely with the squad that preformed well at Esher, last Friday.

The starting back line remains the same as last week. Richard Bolt and Nicky Little are on the bench.

Roy Winters starts in the second row with Mariano Sambucetti reverting to the bench. James Merriman replaces Jamie Miller, who joins the replacements.

The replacements bench shows a four/three forwards/backs split.

Bristol Rugby team to play at home to Llanelli RFC on Sunday 23rd January at 3.00pm

Jack Tovey, Anthony Elliott, Ed Barnes, Junior Fatialofa, George Watkins, Adrian Jarvis, Robbie Shaw; Mark Irish, Ross Johnston, Darren Crompton, Darren Barry, Roy Winters, Iain Grieve (C), James Merriman, Dan Montagu.

Replacements :
Ollie Hayes, Wayne Thompson, Mariano Sambucetti, Jamie Miller, Richard Bolt, Jack Adams and Nicky Little.

Albion hand teen duo a chance

Posted on Jan 21, 2011 in Rugby News

Plymouth Albion will hand teenage hooker Rupert Freestone his debut in Saturday’s British & Irish Cup match against Worcester Warriors at Sixways (3pm).

Freestone’s chance comes due to injuries to fellow hookers Gareth Evans and Gavin O’Meara.

The 19-year-old, who has been gaining league experience on-loan at Tavistock this season, will line-up in a youthful front-row, alongside 21-year-old loosehead prop George Porter and 22-year-old tighthead David Morton.

Another teenage forward, Sam Matavesi, is also included in Albion’s starting team.

Flanker Matavesi, who only turned 19 last week, will be making only his second start for the club. His first came in Plymouth’s opening British & Irish Cup match against Leinster in December.

With 20-year-old backs Tom Kessell and Mark Lee also in their team, Albion will have plenty of young West Country talent on show at Sixways on Saturday.

The trip to Worcester will be Albion’s third consecutive away match in the British & Irish Cup, with the club having also face tough trips to holders Cornish Pirates and Leinster.

But Albion will finally have a home game on Tuesday when they play Newport in a re-arranged match at Brickfields (kick-off 7.45pm).

Graham Dawe’s side, who currently sit eighth in the Championship table, will then face an important league game away at sixth-placed Doncaster on Saturday, January 29.

Albion’s team to face Worcester: M Lee, F McLoughlin, B Mercer, K Fisilau, C Mitchell, K Hallett (capt), T Kessell, G Porter, R Freestone, D Morton, R Copeland, T Hotson, W Sprangle, S Matavesi, S Hocking. Reps: R Cushion, A Davies, S Tu’ipulotu, R Hopkins, A Carpenter, T Skelding, S-M Stephen.

Seveali’i: Irish Must Build on Ospreys Win

Posted on Jan 18, 2011 in Rugby News

Everyone has been talking about London Irish’s losing streak, as the club slipped from first to seventh in the Aviva Premiership and crashed out of Europe early. However last Sunday saw Irish produce a shock 24-12 win over the fancied Ospreys, which knocked the Welsh team out of the competition. As much as it broke Ospreys hearts it has raised Irish spirits as they broke a ten match losing streak that stretched back over two months. The question now isn’t when Irish will start winning, but whether they’ll keep on winning.

Irish centre Elvis Seveali’i, a former Samoan international and former Ospreys player, says that finally winning a game has been really good for the team.

“We’ve been so close to winning games, it was good to get a good result against a good team.”

When asked if he thought they had done anything against the Ospreys that they didn’t do against other teams (apart from winning) Elvis replied; “Probably not a lot different, I’d say a little bit of luck came our way, probably sort of at the same time maybe they were unlucky.

They camped on our line a couple of times and were very close to scoring. I thought we defended really well. At times we were sort of letting them through in previous games but at the end of this game we held strong.

A lot of individuals stepped up in the game. Matt Garvey I thought played really well.”

This weekend sees Irish travel to Limerick to face European giants Munster in the final round of Heineken Cup pool matches. Munster like the Ospreys saw themselves failing to reach the Heineken Cup quarter finals. While out of the competition, Munster have a proud home record in Europe, having a very good chance of qualifying for the Amlin Cup and of course will want to exact revenge on a London Irish team that defeated them in Reading back in October.

Were Irish confident ahead of such a tough match?

“Well we’re a confident side, we’ve always been a confident side. Going into Munster, obviously they’re another great team and we’re looking forward to it. Against the Ospreys we had nothing to lose, and as a team we just focused on our performance. When you perform well the win comes about quite easily. We’re just gonna go there and just try and build on our performance from last week and see how it goes.”

Whether they win or not, a good performance over there should get Irish back into good habits again, which they need to if they are to revive their Premiership campaign – the only competition they are left in. Although in seventh place, Irish are only three points behind Harlequins in fourth place.

Elvis finally added “we put everything together against the Ospreys and we’ve got to build on that” – if they do do that then the race to win the Aviva Premiership will got a whole lot more interesting. Irish got to the final in 2009 and could be dark horses again. As unlikely as it is, a win at Munster  would be the ideal way to kick start a winning streak and make all the top teams sit up and take notice.

Albion add youngsters to Cup squad

Posted on Jan 14, 2011 in Rugby News

PLYMOUTH Albion add youngsters Rupert Freestone, Sam Matavesi and Max Venables to their squad to take on the Cornish Pirates at Mennaye Field in the British & Irish Cup (2pm).

Sunday’s meeting will be the second time in five days the two West Country sides have clashed.

The teams played out a tight game at Brickfields on Wednesday in the Championship. The Pirates narrowly won 10-6 in a match that produced only one try.

It was the second time this season the Pirates had beaten Albion and chairman of rugby Graham Dawe would like to try and improve on that record on Sunday at Mennaye Field, where Chris Stirling’s side are still unbeaten this term.

"We are 2-0 down to them in the series and we will be looking to make it 2-1," said the former England international.

"They are always particularly strong at home. An away win at the Pirates is a big ask, but we will be giving it a go.

"We will need to adapt to the conditions and tweak a few things to keep them guessing."

Promotion play-off chasing Albion, who have some vital league games coming up, have made a few changes to their squad that played against the Pirates on Wednesday.

Freestone, Matavesi, Venables, Fionn McLoughlin, Steve Johns and fit-again Robin Copeland are added to the party, while Alex Davies, Sione Tu’ipulotu and Rory Watts-Jones drop out. They will not finalise their team until tomorrow.

Teeenage front-row forward Freestone will be hoping to make his first-team debut for Albion.

He has impressed this season while on loan at Tavistock in Western Counties West.
Mataves is another teenage forward, who like Freestone, played junior rugby for Cornwall. Matavesi made his first start for the club in Albion’s last cup match against Leinster in December.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old Venables, son of former Albion captain Dave, will be hoping to make only his second appearance in an Plymouth shirt. His first came as a replacement against Gael Force in last year’s British & Irish Cup.
Albion (from): R Cushion, K Fisilau, K Hallett, S Johns, T Kessell, M Lee, F McLoughlin, B Mercer, C Mitchell, M Venables, A Carpenter, D Collier, R Copeland, G Evans, R Freestone, S Hocking, R Hopkins, T Hotson, S Matavesi, D Morton, G O’Meara, G Porter, T Skelding, W Sprangle, S-M Stephen.

Team News: Esher V’s Bristol Rugby

Posted on Jan 14, 2011 in Rugby News

Bristol Rugby away to Esher on Friday 14th January at 7.45 pm.

Bristol Rugby travel to Esher today looking for their first win in this season’s British and Irish Cup competition.

Bristol Head Coach Paul Hull has stuck largely with the squad that performed well at Nottingham last Sunday and that were unlucky to leave Meadow Lane with only a losing bonus point.

In the back, Ed Barnes partners Junior Fatialofa in the centre with Jack Adams dropping to the bench and Robbie Shaw starts at scrum half.

In the forwards there is a new front row with Mark Irish and the veteran England international Darren Crompton the starting props and Ross Johnston at hooker.

Darren Barry starts in the second row with Mariano Sambucetti allowing Club Captain Roy Winters an evening on the bench.

The replacements bench shows a five/two forward/backs split.

Bristol Rugby team to play away to Esher on Friday 14th January at 7.45 pm.

Jack Tovey, Anthony Elliott, Ed Barnes, Junior Fatialofa, George Watkins, Adrian Jarvis, Robbie Shaw; Mark Irish, Ross Johnston, Darren Crompton, Darren Barry, Mariano Sambucetti, Iain Grieve (C), Jamie Miller, Dan Montagu.

Replacements :
David Blaney, Mako Vunipola, Wayne Thompson, Roy Winters, Jonathan Brandling-Harris, Sam Alford and Jack Adams.