Youngs returns to Tigers starting line-up to face Saints

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 in English Rugby, Leicester, Leicester Tigers, Premiership

England international scrum-half Ben Youngs returns to the Leicester Tigers line-up for Saturday’s Aviva Premiership Rugby trip to neighbours Northampton Saints.

Youngs missed the bonus-point win over Worcester Warriors in the team’s last outing as he served a one-week suspension and he is re-united with international colleague Toby Flood at half-back.

Horacio Agulla, George Skivington and Geoff Parling are included in the team after missing the Worcester fixture.

Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: “Tigers versus Saints is always a big match, no matter what is at stake. Both teams are chasing a place in the semi-finals and this promises to be another big occasion.

“These are two good set-piece teams, with two good sets of backs, and these games have been great contests.”

Leicester Tigers (v Northampton Saints, Aviva Premiership Rugby, away, Saturday 2.15pm)

15 Geordan Murphy (c)

14 Horacio Agulla

13 Manusamoa Tuilagi

12 Anthony Allen

11 Alesana Tuilagi

10 Toby Flood

9 Ben Youngs

1 Marcos Ayerza

2 George Chuter

3 Dan Cole

4 George Skivington

5 Geoff Parling

6 Tom Croft

7 Julian Salvi

8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements

16 Tom Youngs

17 Martin Castrogiovanni

18 Logovi’i Mulipola

19 Steve Mafi

20 Craig Newby

21 Sam Harrison

22 Billy Twelvetrees

23 Scott Hamilton

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

Titans ready for derby battle

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 in Championship, English Rugby, Leeds Carnegie, Rotherham Titans

Rotherham Titans are prepared for another tough Yorkshire derby as they welcome the visit of Leeds Carnegie to Clifton Lane on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.

Mathematically, it is still possible for Titans to reach the semi-final stage of the competition, but anything less than a victory over local rivals Leeds will see their slender hopes evaporate.

The only change to the squad that narrowly lost 14-17 to Cornish Pirates last time out is Cliffie Hodgson comes in for the injured Garry Law at fly-half.

Looking ahead to the contest Titans assistant coach Ben Wade said, “The boys have trained very well this week and they are ready for what we anticipate will be a tough Yorkshire battle. Both Leeds and ourselves can still progress from the pool, throw into the mix it’s a local derby with lots of pride at stake and that means both sides will be giving everything to gain the victory.

“We had a tremendous victory at Leeds just four weeks ago and to repeat that result would be brilliant, unfortunately that will count for nothing when the teams run out at Clifton Lane on Saturday. The boys know that and there won’t be any complacency on our part. We’d like to sign off our last game of the season at Clifton Lane with a memorable victory and finish the campaign as the top side in Yorkshire.”

Rotherham Titans: 15 Tom Foden, 14 Peter Homan, 13 Dave McCall, 12 Pale Nonu, 11 Shane Monahan, 10 Cliffie Hodgson, 9 Jimmy Williams, 1 Shane Cahill, 2 Dan Baines, 3 Ben Hooper, 4 Neale Patrick, 5 Barney Maddison, 6 Robin Copeland, 7 Sean Dougall (Capt.), 8 Semisi Taulava.

Replacements: 16 Ted Stagg, 17 Jamie Kilbane, 18 Talite Vaioleti, 19 Adrian Griffiths, 20 Carl Kirwan, 21 Ed Tellwright, 22 Stephen Hamilton.

Dai Young previews London Wasps V Harlequins

Posted on Apr 12, 2012 in English Rugby, Harlequins, London Wasps, Premiership

Dai Young believes a clash against Aviva Premiership table-toppers Harlequins is the perfect game for his side to show what they are made of after a tough week at the Club.

Despite news this week about the Club’s financial issues, the Wasps Director of Rugby says his players and coaches are fully focused on Saturday’s game.

“I would be lying if I said that what has happened isn’t in the back of people’s minds but we have to control what we can control and let the off field stuff take care of itself. We have our own job to do and our job is to make sure we are in this league next year. After a very difficult week, I think Harlequins is the ideal game for us to play. We’re up against the top of the table and we are live on TV so we have to go out and show what we are made of.”

Young added that his squad, coming into the game on the back of a narrow loss to Biarritz last weekend but a win in their last Aviva Premiership outing against Gloucester, are well aware of the quality they will be up against at The Stoop.

“From our point of view, every game is a Cup final for us at this point, and we know what a great team we are up against on Saturday. They have an outstanding offloading game which we need to stop, and we know from when they played us at Adams Park how clinical they are. Last weekend against Biarritz we showed a lot of determination and spirit to bring the game back level when we were dead and buried, but we left ourselves a mountain to climb. We have to come out of the blocks well this weekend because if Harlequins get their noses in front, there will be no coming back.”

Wasps go into Saturday’s game knowing that a win could be enough to secure their Aviva Premiership status depending on results elsewhere. Young says it’s an extra motivation.

“Of course guys have one eye on other results but our focus is to simply get enough points out of our next two games against Harlequins and Bath to ensure that the last game of the season isn’t that pressure game where the winner takes all.”

London Wasps face Harlequins on Saturday, April 14th at 16.30

Fletcher pays tribute to English academy system

Posted on Apr 12, 2012 in England, England U18, English Rugby

England Under 18 Head Coach John Fletcher feels that England are privileged to have such a structured and well-managed academy system that is producing young players brimming with potential.

On the back of England ‘s victory in the FIRA/AER European Championship last Saturday you would forgive Fletcher for taking a breather, but his focus now switches to finding the future starlets.

“There’s loads going on now,” he said. “We’ve got Under 15 clinics, Under 16 camps, Under 17 matches and so on – the work now starts for next year and to see who’s coming through the regional academies.

“We are very fortunate to have such a good academy system. There are 14 fantastic academies, and all of the systems that feed them – the clubs, schools and counties – do a great job.

“The regional academies add huge value to our game and year on year the quality of the person, and the player, coming through is great and it makes our job a lot easier.

England U18 clinched the Justin Bridou trophy last Saturday, beating Ireland 25-13 in the final in Madrid, and Fletcher is quick to praise the team mentality within the group.

“From a team point of view all 26 players have contributed, “ he said. “The guys who have had less involvement are the guys that are younger, so they will get their chance next year.

“But this was very much a team effort, they work extremely hard, they train very well and you know that they are a hard team to beat.

"We head to South Africa in August and our aim is to go out there and play as well as well can and to crank it up from where we are now – but it will be tough out there. We’ll come up against Wales, France and of course South Africa in their own back yard but it is a brilliant opportunity for the guys."