Exiles name squad for clash against Saints

Posted on Nov 26, 2010 in Rugby News

London Irish is boosted by the return of fullback Delon Armitage for this weekend’s clash against Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night.

Other changes to the starting line-up see Romanian international, Paulica Ion coming in as tighthead prop and James Buckland as hooker.

Toby Booth, London Irish head coach said: “Despite the short turnaround we’ve prepared well and have strong belief in our ability to challenge whenever and wherever we play. The players are looking forward to the game.”

He adds: “Delon’s return is our gain and England’s loss this weekend – he’s a fantastic player.”

Team
15. Delon Armitage*; 14. Topsy Ojo*; 13. Elvis Seveali’i*; 12. Daniel Bowden; 11. Jonathan Joseph; 10. Ryan Lamb; 9. Paul Hodgson*; 1. Clarke Dermody (c)*; 2. James Buckland; 3. Paulica Ion*; 4. Nick Kennedy*; 5. Bob Casey*; 6. Kieran Roche; 7. Steffon Armitage*; 8. Chris Hala’ufia*.

Replacements
16. David Paice*; 17. Alex Corbisiero; 18. Faan Rautenbach*; 19. Matt Garvey; 20. Richard Thorpe; 21. Marcus Watson; 22. Chris Malone; 23. Darren Allinson.

* Denotes international

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

Blues plan a day to remember

Posted on Nov 12, 2010 in Rugby News

The Blues start the second half of the Championship season with a tricky home tie against Rotherham on Saturday afternoon.

The Titans and Worcester Warriors are the only teams in the league to have picked up wins against Bedford, but the Blues are on a good run of form and looking forward to the clash.

Bedford were made to work for their win against Birmingham & Solihull Bees last weekend, but they picked up a bonus point win thanks to a hat-trick of tries from Duncan Taylor and one for Edd Thrower.

The Blues are almost back to a fully fit squad with Ben Lewitt being the only long-term casualty who is expected to be back in action soon. Robin Boot is fit and has joined Shelford on a short-term loan to pick up some valuable game time following his recovery from an arm injury.

Servicemen and women as well as emergency service workers have been invited to attend the game free of charge and the Blues hope that plenty of people come along to make their voices heard.

Looking ahead to the 4.30pm kick-off, Blues Director of Rugby Mike Rayer said: “We were given a good run for our money last weekend and I think that it was a timely reminder to the lads that nothing in this league can be taken for granted.

“We are fully aware of the challenge that Rotherham pose and the boys have been working hard all week to be prepared for this fixture.

“A few players really stepped up to the plate last weekend and that has been reflected in our selection for the visit of Rotherham. We’ve made some tough choices, but I believe that we have the quality throughout the 22 to cause plenty of problems.”

Rayer makes several changes to the team that started against the Bees with Ollie Dodge, Myles Dorrian, Sam Walsh, Dan Richmond, Paul Tupai and Gregor Gillanders coming in for Handre Schmidt, Jake Sharp, Laurence Ovens, Chris Locke, Mike Howard and Sean Tomes respectively while Dan Seal and Nick Walshe come in on the bench.

Starting line-up:

15. Edd Thrower
14. Ollie Dodge
13. Brendan Burke
12. Ian Vass
11. Duncan Taylor
10. Myles Dorrian
9. Will Chudley

1. Sam Walsh
2. Dan Richmond (c)
3. Phil Boulton
4. Paul Tupai
5. Alex Rae
6. Gregor Gillanders
7. Sacha Harding
8. Chris Goodman

Replacements: 16. Chris Locke, 17. Dan Seal, 18. Mike Howard, 19. Sean Tomes, 20. Darryl Veenendaal, 21. Nick Walshe, 22. Tom Bedford.

Welshman Paul Pook steps down from Irish coaching staff

Posted on Oct 4, 2010 in Rugby News

The Irish Rugby Football Union has announced that the Ireland Team Strength and Conditioning Coach Paul Pook has decided to step down from the position due to personal reasons.

The Welsh native joined the Ireland coaching staff in 2008 with a renowned CV in the area of sports science and specifically rugby fitness having worked with the

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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.

Ulster squad named for Edinburgh match

Posted on Sep 16, 2010 in Irish Rugby, Scottish Rugby

Ulster Coach Brian McLaughlin has named his starting XV and replacements for this Friday’s Magners League match against Edinburgh at Ravenhill (ko 8.05pm).
There are four changes of personnel to the back line from the team that defeated Aironi last weekend at the Stadio Zaffanella.

Jamie Smith replaces Adam D’Arcy at full-back, USA Eagle Paul Emerick and Andrew Trimble, who returns from injury, replace Tommy Seymour and David McIlwaine on the wings, while Ian Whitten partners Darren Cave in the centre, replacing Paddy Wallace who is rested as part of the IRFU Player Management Programme.
Up front, injury to Declan Fitzpatrick means there is a positional change as Tom Court switches to the loosehead berth and Bryan Young is drafted in while Andi Kyriacou is named at hooker.

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