Jersey told: no green green grass at Ponty’s home

Posted on Jan 18, 2013 in British and Irish Cup, Jersey

Jersey RFC this morning received the news – as anticipated – that the British & Irish Cup tie against Pontypridd scheduled for Saturday at 2pm had been postponed. The decision followed heavy overnight snow in South Wales, which was ongoing when the Sardis Road was inspected this morning.

Known as ‘the House of Pain’, Sardis Road has neither a roof nor central heating, two of the factors which would have been necessary for the game to have had a chance of proceeding.

The two clubs, who contested a 20-20 draw at Jersey’s St Peter home ground in October, await news about the rescheduling of the fixture.

Before learning that Jersey would not be heading to Pontypridd, birthplace of legendary Welsh singer Tom Jones, Director of Rugby Ben Harvey had named the following squad:

Jersey squad, sponsored by Locate Jersey and jersey.com
1 Sean McCarthy
2 Charlie Clare
3 Jon Brennan
4 Dave Markham
5 Rob Anderson
6 Paul Rodgers
7 Kingsley Lang
8 Graham Bell (capt)
9 Nicky Griffiths
10 Ross Broadfoot
11 Donovan Sanders
12 Tom Cooper
13 Dai Bishop
14 Ashley Maggs
15 Mike Le Bourgeois
Replacements
16 Richard Barrington
17 Dave Felton
18 James Gethings
19 Eoghan Nihill
20 Brendan O’Brien
21 Ed Dawson
22 Glenn Bryce

Young full back swaps Chelsea for Leeds Carnegie

Posted on Dec 13, 2012 in Leeds Carnegie

Leeds Carnegie will give a debut to University of Leeds student Alex Lozowski this Saturday in their latest British & Irish Cup game at Pontypridd with the 19-year-old player hoping to get his break in professional rugby union having been part of the Chelsea FC academy until he was 16.

The Economics-student will start at Pontypridd having been a travelling reserve on three occasions for the first team already this season. Looking ahead to the game, he said, “I can’t wait, it will be a good experience for me. I did pre-season at the university and got invited down by Mark Luffman to train with the Leeds Carnegie Academy. From there I got the chance to train with first team whenever I can and I am delighted to be involved. I am studying Economics which is quite a lot of hours of study but have been able to get in two or three times a week to train with the first team. I catch up with my weights in the gym at uni and do as much as I can, so far it has gone well.

“I was travelling reserve for the Cup game against Jersey at York and then for the Championship match down at Cornish Pirates. That was a long way to go but I was happy to do it. I was involved last week against Pontypridd as well, and it was a good experience to be around the matchday squad. To see how things go on the day was invaluable. I now know what that experience is like and it will not completely shock me on the day on Saturday,” added the full back.

Lozowski is the son of former Wasps and England centre Rob Lozowski, who gained his only cap for England against the Grand Slam-winning Australians in 1984 on the same day that Stuart Barnes, Gareth Chilcott, Nigel Melville and Nigel Redman also made their England debuts. Alex was a member of Wasps Academy until moving to Leeds last year to study at the University of Leeds but a broken leg put his rugby career temporarily on hold. He says his dad is hoping to get across to South Wales on Saturday to see him in action, he added, “I was on the phone to him yesterday, he is really happy and proud. He was checking up on his dates and I think I have beat him just to make my debut younger than him. I have got a long way to go to live up to what he did in his career, he was at Wasps his whole career and played for England. I only turned to rugby after my time at Chelsea ended. I was spotted playing for Wasps amateurs and they asked me to train with their academy but when I decided to go to university that ended for me. I picked up playing rugby again when I got to Leeds but never really thought it would be something I would take up as a career.”

Lozowski was in the same Chelsea Academy side as Great Britain sprinting sensation Adam Gemili and he admits that the chance to pursue a professional sporting career is a second chance that he wants to grab with both hands. “The whole football thing meant you had to commit to it fully and forget about your education, that was a risk my family and I were not prepared to take. I wanted to go to university and give myself options, if I can balance both by doing well at uni and progress with my rugby that would be the dream situation but I have to keep my feet on the ground and make sure that I just focus on Saturday.

“I have definitely been spurred on to make the most of my chance when I see my former Chelsea Academy team mates like Adam and Josh McEachran, who is on loan at Middlesbrough, on the television making the most of their opportunities,” added Lozowski.

The full back is now set to follow in the footsteps of his university team mate Pierce Phillips and make his first team debut against Pontypridd. Second row Phillips made his debut off the bench in Sunday’s narrow defeat to Pontypridd and could be set to start at Sardis Road this week. Lozowski added, “Me and Pierce are great mates, we were supposed to be living together this year. I should say a big thanks to him for this because he drives me to training. It will be nice if we can start the game together and it is good for all the guys in the uni team, hopefully we can do them proud.”

Young full back swaps Chelsea for Leeds Carnegie

Posted on Dec 12, 2012 in Leeds Carnegie

Leeds Carnegie will give a debut to University of Leeds student Alex Lozowski this Saturday in their latest British & Irish Cup game at Pontypridd with the 19-year-old player hoping to get his break in professional rugby union having been part of the Chelsea FC academy until he was 16.

The Economics-student will start at Pontypridd having been a travelling reserve on three occasions for the first team already this season. Looking ahead to the game, he said, “I can’t wait, it will be a good experience for me. I did pre-season at the university and got invited down by Mark Luffman to train with the Leeds Carnegie Academy. From there I got the chance to train with first team whenever I can and I am delighted to be involved. I am studying Economics which is quite a lot of hours of study but have been able to get in two or three times a week to train with the first team. I catch up with my weights in the gym at uni and do as much as I can, so far it has gone well.

“I was travelling reserve for the Cup game against Jersey at York and then for the Championship match down at Cornish Pirates. That was a long way to go but I was happy to do it. I was involved last week against Pontypridd as well, and it was a good experience to be around the matchday squad. To see how things go on the day was invaluable. I now know what that experience is like and it will not completely shock me on the day on Saturday,” added the full back.

Lozowski is the son of former Wasps and England centre Rob Lozowski, who gained his only cap for England against the Grand Slam-winning Australians in 1984 on the same day that Stuart Barnes, Gareth Chilcott, Nigel Melville and Nigel Redman also made their England debuts. Alex was a member of Wasps Academy until moving to Leeds last year to study at the University of Leeds but a broken leg put his rugby career temporarily on hold. He says his dad is hoping to get across to South Wales on Saturday to see him in action, he added, “I was on the phone to him yesterday, he is really happy and proud. He was checking up on his dates and I think I have beat him just to make my debut younger than him. I have got a long way to go to live up to what he did in his career, he was at Wasps his whole career and played for England. I only turned to rugby after my time at Chelsea ended. I was spotted playing for Wasps amateurs and they asked me to train with their academy but when I decided to go to university that ended for me. I picked up playing rugby again when I got to Leeds but never really thought it would be something I would take up as a career.”

Lozowski was in the same Chelsea Academy side as Great Britain sprinting sensation Adam Gemili and he admits that the chance to pursue a professional sporting career is a second chance that he wants to grab with both hands. “The whole football thing meant you had to commit to it fully and forget about your education, that was a risk my family and I were not prepared to take. I wanted to go to university and give myself options, if I can balance both by doing well at uni and progress with my rugby that would be the dream situation but I have to keep my feet on the ground and make sure that I just focus on Saturday.

“I have definitely been spurred on to make the most of my chance when I see my former Chelsea Academy team mates like Adam and Josh McEachran, who is on loan at Middlesbrough, on the television making the most of their opportunities,” added Lozowski.

The full back is now set to follow in the footsteps of his university team mate Pierce Phillips and make his first team debut against Pontypridd. Second row Phillips made his debut off the bench in Sunday’s narrow defeat to Pontypridd and could be set to start at Sardis Road this week. Lozowski added, “Me and Pierce are great mates, we were supposed to be living together this year. I should say a big thanks to him for this because he drives me to training. It will be nice if we can start the game together and it is good for all the guys in the uni team, hopefully we can do them proud.”

British & Irish Cup Round 4 preview

Posted on Dec 11, 2012 in British and Irish Cup

This weekend sees a reversal of the Round 3 fixtures as the race for top spot – and the ultimate prize of qualification for the quarter-final stages – intensifies in the respective British & Irish Cup pools.

2011 B&I finalists Bedford Blues defend the only perfect record left in the competition when they take on Neath at Goldington Road on Saturday in the second part of their double-header against the Welsh side. The Blues have never lost a home tie in this competition, with eight wins – including the prized scalp of Worcester in the 2011 semi-final – and one draw from nine outings. The manner of their 62-12 destruction of the Welsh All Blacks at the Gnoll last weekend suggests that record should be safe on Saturday. Another five points would all but mathematically guarantee Bedford safe passage through to the knockout stages as winners of Pool 2.

Pool 1 leaders Bristol also came back over the Severn Bridge with a priceless win in the bag. The West Countrymen are involved in what appears to be a two-horse with Ulster Ravens to win the pool. While Bristol beat Bridgend 32-8 at Brewery Field, Ulster’s second string easily accounted for Cardiff at Ravenhill. The Irish province now trail Bristol, the 2011 winners, by just one point.

Having beaten Swansea for the first time in their history, Cornish Pirates will be looking to achieve back-to-back wins against the ‘All Whites’ and further cement their position at the top of Pool 3. The Pirates are four points ahead of Carmarthen who narrowly beat Dundee at home in Round 3.

Pool 4 is Newcastle’s to lose after a third straight victory put them six points clear of Newport who they meet again at Kingston Park on Sunday.  Newcastle took the points from the first encounter after a 26-10 victory but the Black & Ambers ‘won’ the second half seven-nil to give them plenty of heart going into the return fixture.

Leinster A and Pontypridd are inseparable in Pool 5 following victories on the road in Round 3. The Irish province came away from Jersey with a hard-fought 16-12 win, while Pontypridd delighted their hardy band of travelling supporters with a 30-24 success against Leeds Carnegie at West Park.  Leeds travel to Pontypridd this weekend twelve months on from their 18-7 loss at Sardis Road in last season’s competition while Jersey head over to Ireland.

Moseley suffered a setback to their chances of winning Pool 6 after going down to an 18-11 defeat to Gala in the Scottish Borders. But the Birmingham side is still two points ahead of Gala and no doubt intent on revenge at Billesley Common this weekend.

Munster A’s defence of the crown they won so impressively last year is in good shape following a third straight Pool 7 win. The 36-21 success over Rotherham at Clifton Lane puts them four points ahead of the Titans who they meet again on home soil this weekend.

Doncaster continue to enjoy contrasting fortunes in the league and cup. While the Knights have spent the majority of the Championship season languishing at wrong end of the table their B&I Cup form has been much better with two wins from three. The latest victory came away to Llandovery who sit level on 10 points at the top of Pool 8. Saturday’s clash between the two sides at Castle Park could prove pivotal to the outcome of the pool.

Fixtures on the next page…

(more…)

Leinster injury news

Posted on Oct 22, 2012 in Leinster

The Leinster squad trained in UCD on Monday afternoon as attention switches to the RaboDirect PRO12 visit of Cardiff Blues to the RDS on Saturday evening (KO: 6.30pm).

There are no major injury concerns arising from Saturday’s games in Wales, where the senior team recorded their second Pool victory in the Heineken Cup over the Scarlets, while the province’s ‘A’ team were narrowly edged by Pontypridd in Sardis Road.

Gordon D’Arcy successfully came through 80 minutes after his recent rib injury, while Richardt Strauss received stitches to a cut on his chin.

It is hoped that Rob Kearney (back) will be available this weekend while Quinn Roux (ankle) will also continue to be assessed by the medical team.

Rhys Ruddock successfully came through his first run out of the season in Pontypridd and he is set to be joined in the mix for selection this week by Dave Kearney for the visit of Cardiff. Second row Tom Denton was a late withdrawal from the ‘A’ game with minor calf tightening but that will not affect his availability this week when the team is named at Friday lunchtime.

There will be lots of Halloween activity around the ground on Saturday including a Haunted House, fancy dress competition and special firework display. Come down in your best Halloween costume to support the team and be in with a chance to win some great prizes on the night. With all of this and many other Halloween games it is set to be a spooky night down at the RDS!