Premiership Round 5 Fixtures and Preview

Posted on Sep 29, 2010 in English Rugby, Premiership

ROUND 5 FIXTURES

Some good contests this week in the English Premiership – I can see Leicester slipping up at Sarries, and Bath giving Gloucester a mullering, but the game of the weekend for me is the Exeter Chiefs visit to Northampton. This will prove what they’re really made of, with their sternest test yet. The Saints were undefeated until last week and I sense an upset here – the character and resolve of the Chiefs is really putting a few noses out of joint – definitely worth a watch. 

Friday 1st October
Sale Sharks v London Wasps (Edgeley Park, 7.45pm).
Bath Rugby v Gloucester Rugby (Recreation Ground, 8.05pm).

Saturday 2nd October
Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons (Twickenham Stoop, 3pm)
London Irish v Leeds Carnegie (Madejski Stadium, 3pm).
Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs (Franklin’s Gardens, 3pm)

Sunday 3rd October
Saracens v Leicester Tigers (Vicarage Road, 4.30pm).

Sharks vs Wasps
Sale Sharks’ last five games have all been won by the home side on the day. Sale have won their last two games at Edgeley Park.
London Wasps have won just one of their four matches of Aviva Premiership Rugby so far: 37-30 over Leicester in round two. Wasps have lost both away games they have played this season.
The Sharks have won three of their last four encounters with Wasps, whilst the Londoners have not won at Edgeley Park since a 27-25 victory on 25 March 2005.

Bath vs Gloucester
Bath Rugby have won seven of their last eight regular season games in the Premiership. Bath have been victorious in their last eight Premiership matches at The Rec, whilst another win would set a new Bath record for successive home Premiership victories.
Gloucester Rugby’s four games so far have all been won by the home side on the day. Gloucester’s only away win in the Premiership since 4 October 2009 was 23-22 at relegated Worcester on 8 May.
Bath’s 24-8 victory at the Rec in their most recent meeting with Gloucester ended a four game losing run against their local rivals. Gloucester have won just once in 13 previous visits to The Rec in the Premiership: 21-17 on 13 September 2008.

Quins vs Falcons
Harlequins opened their winning account in Aviva Premiership Rugby in style on Saturday with a maximum point victory over promoted Exeter Chiefs at the Twickenham Stoop. Quins’ only defeat in their last ten Premiership encounters at The Stoop was to Northampton on 11 September.
Newcastle Falcons have won just one game so far: 29-17 at home to London Wasps on 10 September. The Falcons have won only once on their travels in the Premiership since early January: 32-30 at Sale on 23 April.
Harlequins are unbeaten in their last four clashes with Newcastle in all competitions, whilst the Falcons have not won at The Stoop since a 20-18 victory on 30 September 2000.

Irish vs Leeds
It’s top meets bottom in Aviva Premiership Rugby. London Irish have suffered just one reversal so far this season: 13-20 at Bath in round two. The Exiles’ record in their last six Premiership games at Madejski Stadium is a less than impressive won three, lost three.
Leeds Carnegie have lost their last five Premiership matches since their victory over Worcester at Headingley Carnegie on 25 April. Leeds return to the site of their most recent away victory, 23-13 at Madejski Stadium on 18 April.
The Leeds victory in April ended a five game losing run against London Irish, whilst the Yorkshiremen’s record at Madejski Stadium is a creditable won 3, lost 4.

Saints vs Chiefs
Northampton Saints’ 100% winning record in Aviva Premiership Rugby was shot down at Saracens on Sunday. The Saints have suffered just two defeats at Franklin’s Gardens in any competition since February 2009, both to Saracens in April and May 2010.
Exeter Chiefs four games so far have all been won by the home side on the day. The Chiefs’ most recent away victory was 29-10 at Bristol in the 2nd leg of last season’s Championship final.
The two teams have met on three previous occasions all in season 2007/08, where the Saints won all three encounters: two in National One, at Exeter and at Northampton, and one at Twickenham in the final of the National Trophy.

Saracens vs Tigers
Saracens ended Northampton’s 100% winning record in Aviva Premiership Rugby with their 24-17 victory at a rainy Vicarage Road on Sunday afternoon. Sarries have won their last four home games since Bath visited Vicarage Road on 28 February.
Leicester Tigers have tallied try bonus points in their last three matches, but have slipped to successive defeats on the road.
The two teams last met in last season’s Premiership final at Twickenham, whilst the home side has not won in this encounter since Leicester were victorious 46-16 at Welford Road on 21 March 2009. Tigers have won on their last two visits to Vicarage Road, whilst their overall record at the venue is a very even won 7, drawn 1, lost 7.

Slemen looks for character from Esher

Posted on Sep 29, 2010 in Rugby News

Captain, Dave Slemen has called for a reaction from his Esher side when they take on London Welsh in Friday’s big derby showdown at Molesey Road.

Championship newcomers Esher have suffered three heavy defeats after starting the season with impressive victories over Moseley and Bristol.

And Slemen admits he was disappointed with the attitude in Friday’s 40-13 defeat at Nottingham that followed reverses against Bedford and Worcester.

Now he wants Esher to front up against the powerful Exiles, who destroyed Rotherham in a six-try demolition last weekend to climb to third in the table.

Slemen said: “We have a great rivalry with London Welsh and I am looking for a big reaction in what will be a massive game.

“I had wanted to see a reaction at Nottingham after the Worcester defeat but I didn’t see it. Now I want to see one on Friday.

“One area we certainly must improve on is our discipline. It killed us at Nottingham, where we gave away 16 penalties.

“To me, defence is all about attitude and it is not good enough. For parts it was very good at Nottingham but it’s no good being fine 80 or 90 per cent of the time and then start slipping off tackles for the rest. You just can’t switch off at this level.

“We must show more urgency and not accept being second best against any side.”

Esher scored a late try through Dave Millard at Meadow Lane but Slemen admits his Surrey side are still not showing the patience need to break down quality sides.

He added: “Our coach Mike Schmid has talked about being more patient and that’s an area we must improve on. It’s no good going through five or six phases and then throwing out a 50-50 pass.”

But Slemen insists Esher have the capability to spring a shock against a full-time Welsh side that includes former Scotland fly-half Gordon Ross and flying wings Josh Drauniniu and Paul Sampson.

He said: “We respect Welsh but we feel if we put it together we can beat any team, as we showed against Bristol.

“But we need to show that we deserve to be in this league and show we are desperate to play for each other.

“But we are all looking forward to Friday night. It’s a big test but there should be a good crowd and our expectations are high.”

Greening warns Welsh against complacency

Posted on Sep 17, 2010 in Championship, English Rugby, Welsh Rugby

London Welsh head coach Phil Greening has warned his players against complacency ahead of the Exiles’ trip to Plymouth Albion, who are still searching for their first Championship win of the season.

Welsh travel to the south coast on the back of a bonus-point win over Birmingham & Solihull, which moves the Dragons up to fifth in the table. That followed a below-par performance at the Cornish Pirates and Greening is keen to continue the upward curve on Saturday.

Plymouth are without a win in three, but their last outing at Brickfields saw them push promotion favourites Worcester Warriors all the way before eventually going down 26-19.

London Welsh head coach Phil Greening said: “Plymouth are a very physical well drilled side – a typical Graham Dawe team. It will be another tough Championship game and I’m expecting a bit of a backlash from them after their recent results.

“Their position in the table is not a true reflection and we know they are going to be a very different animal at home. Any team coached by Dawe’s is going to be very physical and very up for it.

“For us, it’s hugely important that we keep the momentum of last weekend going. We are always trying to improve and raise standards; we got some way there against Birmingham & Solihull, but we didn’t completely hit those standards.

“Training this week has been really good, really competitive. Getting back on the horse and getting that win under our belts against Birmingham & Solihull, after the Pirates defeat, was crucial and the boys have been really upbeat about it this week.

“Having said that, we’ve been working hard on our decision making, both in attack and defence, tidying up individual mistakes, our set piece could be tightened up and our discipline – we have away far too many penalties and free kicks against Birmingham & Solihull.”

London Welsh 26- man squad v Plymouth Albion – kick off 3pm at Brickfields

Lee Beach, Marc Breeze, Errie Claassens, Matt Corker, Josh Drauniniu, Liam Gibson, Michaels Hills, Michael Holford, Wiasea Luveniyali, Paul Mackey, Jonathan Mills, Saul Nelson, Shawn Pittman, Mike Powell, Martin Purdy, Gordon Ross, Nick Runciman, Ben Russell, Paul Sampson, Doninic Shabbo, Ben Stevenson, Epi Taione, Hudson Tonga’uiha, Lorne Ward, Simon Whatling, Dan Williams.

Kennedy and Mapusua return for Gloucester clash

Posted on Sep 17, 2010 in English Rugby, Premiership

London Irish head coach Toby Booth has recalled the international duo of Nick Kennedy and Seilala Mapusua to the starting line up for this Sunday’s match against Gloucester Rugby Club at Madejski Stadium, kick off 3pm.

Kennedy returns to the second row where he will team up with Bob Casey while the in form Kieran Roche moves to the back row in place of Steffon Armitage.

In the backs, 2009 PRA Players’ Player of the Year Mapusua will form a centre partnership with Daniel Bowden and academy star Jonathon Joseph retains his place on the wing after scoring his first Premiership try for the Exiles last weekend.

Speaking about the match, Booth said: “We have had a good start to the season and belief in the squad is very high at the moment.

“Defensively we were excellent last week and after the bonus point win against Saracens at the London Double Header we are in a strong position for our first match in front of our home fans.

“We are all looking forward to be back playing at Madejski Stadium for what I am expecting to be an entertaining afternoon of rugby.”

London Irish: 15. Delon Armitage*; 14. Topsy Ojo*; 13. Seilala Mapusua *; 12. Daniel Bowden; 11. Jonathon Joseph; 10. Ryan Lamb; 9. Paul Hodgson*; 1. Clarke Dermody* (captain); 2. James Buckland; 3. Faan Rautenbach*; 4. Nick Kennedy*; 5. Bob Casey*; 6. Kieran Roche; 7. Declan Danaher ; 8. George Stowers*.

Replacements: 16. David Paice; 17. Max Lahiff; 18. Alex Corbisiero; 19. Matt Garvey; 20. Jonathon Fisher;  21. Sailosi Tagicakibau*; 22. Chris Malone; 23. Darren Allinson.

*Denotes international

Head Coach: Toby Booth
Attack Coach: Mike Catt
Defence Coach: Dave Ellis

London Irish and Trend Micro strike major sponsorship deal

Posted on Sep 16, 2010 in Championship, English Rugby

Richard Marsh, Commercial Director at London Irish said: “We are delighted to have secured a major new partnership with Trend Micro. They are a highly ambitious, major player within online security and have an ethos of continually striving for further success, this dovetails perfectly with London Irish. We are looking forward to developing our relationship further over the coming season and reaping the rewards both on and off the pitch.”

This is Trend Micro’s first commercial partnership in UK sport and they believe that supporting London Irish and its 2010/11 ambitions will provide a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of their brand amongst a high social demographic. Rugby union is a sport with soaring popularity and this collaboration will help create awareness amongst rugby fans, sports enthusiasts and the general public across all business sectors.

Anthony O’Mara, SVP of EMEA at Trend Micro added: “We have been considering an investment in UK sport for some time and believe that with London Irish we have found a club that shares our core values and our collaboration will deliver great benefits for both parties. The partnership is an important part of a bigger education campaign, aimed at raising awareness around the importance of online security in making the internet an enjoyable and safer place for people of all ages.”

Trend Micro has recently launched Titanium Maximum strength, security software that provides a completely new way to protect every consumer. Apart from faster response to threat, the software helps parents keep their children safe from cyber criminals and inappropriate content when they go online and can fight spam and other unsolicited commercial e-mail.