Championship Play-off results

Posted on Apr 16, 2012 in Championship

Wins for both second placed teams means next week’s Championship promotion play-off games are dead rubbers with all four semi-final spots being decided.

Pool A

Bristol’s forward dominated win at London Welsh puts them back at the top of Pool A, leading the Exiles by just two points, which means the West Country side have now qualified for the next round. Despite being 20 points adrift at one stage, London Welsh fought back and late tries from Ma’asi and Tonga’uiha secured the solitary bonus point that puts them into the semi-finals. It was Bristol’s pack that saw them through, with two penalty tries – one from a collapsed scrum and the other from a maul – securing the victory that sees Bristol through to the semi-final alongside the Welsh, who will be marking their third successive appearance.

Pool B

Cornish Pirates’ one point win over top of the table, Championship Pool B rivals, Bedford had no effect over the placings, but clarified who progresses to the next round with Leeds Carnegie no longer having even a mathematical chance of doing so, despite a 21-18 win away in the Yorkshire Derby against Rotherham Titans.

 

Pool C

Esher’s stunning win against Plymouth continues their interest in Championship survival, with London Scottish required to secure a point in a final game that could have been scripted. Next week’s game at the Richmond Athletic Ground will see Esher going for maximum points and attempting to deny Scottish that point in order to complete an unlikely escape from relegation. Director of Rugby, Mike Schmid said Esher had thrown themselves a lifeline: “If we can play like we did against Plymouth, there’s a chance. It’s a huge game.”

Esher Rugby’s Schmid’s call to arms

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 in Championship, English Rugby, Esher

By MARK BENGOECHEA

MIKE SCHMID has called for his Esher players to produce one final fling against Plymouth on Saturday to keep alive their remote chances of Championship survival.

Esher need to win their last two play-off games against Plymouth and London Scottish to stand any chance of avoiding relegation into National One.

Four successive play-off defeats leaves Esher a distant nine points adrift of Scottish, who travel to Moseley at the weekend.

Esher chief Schmid admits Esher’s chances of survival are remote but has called for his team to play without fear against Plymouth in their final home game.

He said: “There’s no point in worrying about ifs and buts and what is happening elsewhere. We have just got to go out and play because we owe ourselves and our supporters a good performance.

“We must stand up and play the game the way it’s meant to be played. All we can do is focus on winning and on playing the way we know we can.

“We must bring our heads and our hearts to the game and just go out and get a result. If we do that then there is a chance we can take it to the final game of the season.

“We have to play as hard as we can and hope Moseley do us a favour against Scottish at the same time. But that is not in our control so we must just focus on what is.

“All we can do is make sure we get the processes right and if we do that, the outcome comes too.”

Esher beat Plymouth 41-17 at home in February only to slip to an 18-11 defeat in the play-offs just three weeks later.

Schmid admitted his side paid the price for some poor decision-making in the West Country compounded by some ill-discipline that handed Plymouth the initiative.

Schmid added: “We gave them a lot of kickable penalties at Plymouth and you can’t afford to do that.

“We had the momentum early on but often wasted good field position and wasted opportunities. It was a poor performance.

“But these are all things in our control and if we match their physicality, we can put them under pressure on Saturday.”

Esher will be without top try scorer Phil Mackenzie for the final two games as the Canadian international needs an operation on a groin injury.

Mackenzie said: “It’s been troubling me since November. I’ve tried to play on and do what’s best for Esher but it’s just got to the point where I can’t play with it any more. “

But Esher are be boosted by the return of hooker Stu Mackie following a knee op while Quins duo Seb Stegmann and Charlie Walker are also available.

15 Jonny Hylton

14 Seb Stegmann

13 Tom Cheeseman

12 Arran Cruickshanks

11 Tom Loizides

10 Mark Atkinson

9 Clive Stuart-Smith

1 Dave Millard

2 Kevin Corrigan

3 Ingacio Elosu

4 Paul Barker

5 Matt Symons

6 Ian Kench

7 Sam Stitcher (Capt.)

8 Peter Synnott

Replacements

16 James Campbell

17 Ollie Mines

18 Perry Parker

19 Tom Alexander

20 Nicky Little

21 Luke Daniels

22 Patrick O’Grady

Schmid warning to Esher

Posted on Mar 23, 2012 in Championship, English Rugby, Esher, Moseley

MIKE SCHMID has warned his Esher side that they will be relegated from the Championship unless they sort out their indiscipline.

Esher travel to Moseley on Saturday rooted to the foot of the relegation play-off group after successive defeats by London Scottish and Plymouth.

But it was last Friday’s 18-11 reverse in Devon that angered Schmid as Esher gave away a series of needless penalties to hand Plymouth the initiative.

That leaves Esher four points adrift of Plymouth with four play-off games remaining and the spectre of National One rugby looming on the horizon.

Director of Rugby Schmid fumed: “We talked all week about not giving away soft penalties in the middle third of the park but at Plymouth we had eight.

“Yet we’ve given only one try away in two games so we have to have more confidence in our defence than that to risk silly penalties.

“It’s an individual putting his needs in front of the team. It’s happened too much in the last two weeks, when the games are always going to be tight and we know Plymouth have a goal kicker who kicks everything within 50.

“It’s not going to be a great video session for those boys that were taking penalties because it’s personal accountability.

“I can tell them, their team-mates can tell them but until they actually listen and do it properly it’s going to keep hurting us.

“It’s the silly controllable penalties we have got to lose. You are always going to get one or two calls you question but it’s the ones when the players are putting his needs in front of the team, not listening to the referee or not working hard enough to get off the floor. Those are the things we have to work harder on.”

But Schmid insists his players have the character to bounce back and find the form that saw them win their last three games of the regular season.

He said: “There were some fantastic points in the game. We were down to 14 when Mike MacFarlane was in the sin-bin and we came out and defended admirably for the first 10 minutes of the second half and I really thought we were going to kick on. But our indiscipline just cost us.

“With every game it gets harder. We are going to have to win at least two more, probably three out of four.

“Now we are going away to Moseley, which is arguably the hardest place to go during the play-offs. It’s going to be very tough but we to fight as hard as we possibly can.

“But Moseley started 0-2 in the play-offs last year then beat us back to back to virtually save their season so it’s very, very doable.

Moseley are a good side but we have got to make sure the game is played at the pace we want it to be played at.

“Everything’s got to be on the line now, each and every week. We have four games left to prove we deserve to be a Championship rugby team and the boys have got to stand up and prove that.”

Schmid also admits Esher must sort out the lineout problems that also contributed to their defeat at Plymouth. He said: “Our lineout was a huge issue.

“It’s been the strongest part of our game all year but for the last two weeks it hasn’t. Against Scottish it was average and against Plymouth it was below par. So that’s an area of the game we have got to fix.

“We have got to rebuild very quickly, learn from our mistakes at Plymouth and really try and shift the mood so we have 100 per cent focus on Moseley.

“Also at times we are trying to win the game in the opening minute. We went for the high-risk stuff rather than building pressure.

“Rugby generally comes down to who does the basics best, who wins scrum and lineout, who makes least handling mistakes, just doing the basic skills.

“Our attack never got going. We defended admirably throughout the game and I thought it was a very good defensive performance. But with that kind of defensive performance we have got to score some points but we weren’t able to build up momentum.

“Guys got more and more frustrated as the game went on and we lost focus on actually what makes us a good team. We have to make sure our leaders out there are keeping us on track the whole game and we just stay focused.”

Esher could be boosted by the return of lock James Inglis and scrum-half Jamie Mackenzie after injury for the trip to the Midlands.

15 Luke Daniels
14 Sebastian Stegmann
13 Thomas Cheeseman
12 Arran Cruickshanks
11 Philip Mackenzie
10 Mark Atkinson
9 Jamie Mackenzie
1 Dave Millard
2 James Campbell
3 Ignacio Elosu
4 Ian Kench
5 James Inglis
6 Tom Alexander
7 Sam Stitcher (Capt.)
8 Michael Macfarlane

Replacements
16 Nick Mayhew
17 Paul Barker
18 Peter Synnott
19 Kevin Corrigan
20 Nicky Little
21 Jonathan Hylton
22 Clive Stuart Smith

Esher seeking historic treble

Posted on Feb 24, 2012 in Championship, English Rugby, Esher

FLYING winger Phil Mackenzie has called for Esher to step up the pressure as they aim to create Championship history at Molesey Road on Saturday.

They face fellow relegation strugglers Plymouth hunting three successive wins for the first time since the restructuring of the English leagues.

Mike Schmid’s side followed up the crucial derby win over London Scottish with a stunning 24-22 triumph at Leeds on Sunday.

Now they are gunning for the hat-trick against Plymouth to set them up perfectly for next month’s relegation play-offs.

Canada star Mackenzie, who scored his 10th try in the last 12 games and fourth in the last three, insists bottom-side Esher must keep up the momentum as they aim to complete the great escape.

Mackenzie, 25, said: “It was great to get such a good win against a very good team and it’s one of the most memorable since I’ve been at Esher. We were ecstatic afterwards.

“Now we must build on those two wins by backing it up against Plymouth. To win three in a row would be massive in terms of confidence ahead of the play-offs and we can’t afford to take a step backwards.

“Everyone is fully committed and we’ve got some stability in the squad now. But when people are injured, others are stepping up.”

Esher have won three and drawn one of their last seven league games, a remarkable turnaround in fortunes after 14 successive defeats.

Their three league wins so far gives them three points to take into the relegation play-offs, where they will face London Scottish, who have won five, while Moseley and Plymouth currently have six victories.

The form of Mackenzie, who enjoyed a superb World Cup with Canada, has been one of the main factors in Esher’s resurgence.

Mackenzie, a centre who is equally at home on the wing, added: “I’m happy with my form and if I keep scoring, even happier. I’m not too fussed where I play.”

Director of Rugby Schmid said: “Phil’s a very talented, hard-working boy and an exceptional try scorer. He’s certainly hitting form at the right time for us.”

Schmid was delighted with the victory at Headingley but insists the players will not get carried away. He said: “We’re not getting too excited or ahead of ourselves.

“We always said when we got the core of the side back we would be competitive in this league but the boys know that there is still a lot of work to do.”

Esher could be boosted by the return of dynamic prop Will Collier after a back problem against Leeds.

Schmid also has three other dual-registered Harlequins stars, Nic Mayhew, Seb Stegmann and Rob Buchanan, available.

However, Mackenzie’s younger brother Jamie misses out with a calf injury whilst lock Tom Alexander has failed to shrug off an ankle problem.

15 Luke Daniels

14 Sebastian Stegman

13 Thomas Cheeseman

12 Arran Cruickshanks

11 Philip Mackenzie

10 Mark Atkinson

9 Clive Stuart-Smith

1 Nick Mayhew

2 James Campbell

3 Ignacio Elosu

4 Ian Kench

5 James Inglis

6 Sam Stitcher

7 Peter Synnott

8 Michael Macfarlane

Replacements

16 William Collier (FR)

17 Robert Buchanan (FR)

18 Matthew Symons

19 Shawn Renwick

20 Nicky Little

21 Jonathan Hylton

22 Patrick O’Grady

Mixed emotions for Davies ahead of Brickfields return

Posted on Nov 24, 2011 in Championship, English Rugby, London Welsh, London Welsh

Alex Davies will be back on very familiar ground when London Welsh travel to Plymouth Albion on Saturday.

The Exiles fly half will make his first return to Brickfields since trading Plymouth for Old Deer Park in the summer, having more than left his mark at Albion during his three years at the club.

Davies broke one record and equalled another during the 2010/11 season, on his way to racking up 236 points in 25 Championship appearances.
He kicked a record-breaking seven penalties in Plymouth’s 35-24 relegation play-off victory over Birmingham & Solihull Bees, having earlier in the season equalled the club’s record for most points in a league match by scoring 26 points against the same opposition at Damson Park.

He unluckily fell just short of the Chris Atkinson’s 256 point record for the most league points scored in a season.

“There will be mixed emotions – I had three enjoyable years there,” said Davies.

“It’s always good to go back, I love Plymouth. Graham Dawe found me and the club did a lot for my career.

“Graham has been an excellent servant to Plymouth. People not involved in the club will not know they work he did – he did the work of about six people. He was grounds-man, director of rugby, coach – he did so much stuff. He will be missed.

“He did a lot for me and I’ve got a lot to thank him for. I was just playing National League rugby with Waterloo in Liverpool and he’s put me where I m now. I’ve got a lot to thank Plymouth for.”

Davies began his career at Sale Sharks Academy, where he spent two years before joining Waterloo RFC in National League One. He joined Plymouth Albion in 2008, although a hernia operation restricted him to just 12 appearances in his debut season.

In 2009/10 his haul of 87 Championship points saw him voted Most Promising Young Player by the club’s supporters.

“My first year I didn’t really get too much game time, I was playing a lot of second team rugby and Warriors rugby, and it was just an eye opener for me being in a professional environment,” said Davies.

“It was my first-ever year of training every day and weights, and I just loved it. I tried to get my head down and work as hard as I could. I was third choice ten when I arrived and I ended up starting the majority of the last two seasons.

“Being down there worked well for my career, it certainly toughened me up. Plymouth have a never-say-die attitude, a great work ethic and that came from Graham Dawe.

“He got involved in training everyday, he trained himself and was fitter than most of the boys in the team. Plymouth will be fit and physical and they’ll take us on up front.”

Aside from the backing of London Welsh’s travel support, there will also be two people in the stand from Plymouth whose support he can also be sure of. Although his girlfriend may be currently at university in Leeds, her parents will be at Brickfields on Saturday and they’ll be no divided loyalties come 3pm.

“They’ll definitely be supporting me,” said Davies.