As Round 15 of the Greene King IPA Championship approaches it is
still very much all to play for at both the top and bottom ends of
the table.
The battle for promotion looks as competitive as ever with just
five points covering the top four clubs, while, at the other end,
Ealing Trailfinders, who looked relegation favourites after
the first three months of the season, have found another gear to
move within two points of 11th placed Jersey.
Draw specialists Moseley and Cornish Pirates have the honour of
getting the next round of fixtures underway with a Friday night
game at the soon-to-be redeveloped Billesley Common. Incredibly,
the last three corresponding fixtures have finished all-square: 9-9
in 2012/13, 27-27 2011/12 and 26-26 in 2010/11. Pirates won their
home game, two first-half tries from centre Tom Riley contributing
to a 28-13 victory.
London Scottish and Plymouth Albion, who meet at the Athletic
Ground on Saturday, found themselves on the either end of shock
results last weekend. While Scottish surprisingly went down five
penalty goals to one to Nottingham at Meadow Lane, Plymouth
produced the result of the season against London Welsh. Previously,
Albion had not won a league game at Brickfields in six attempts and
had slipped into the bottom three. But James Shanahan's men finally
found their form to run in five tries and win 36-15. Replacement
scrum half Jamie Stevenson's late try proved the difference between
the sides back on October 4, Scottish winning 22-20. The last five
meetings have been tight affairs with the winning margin never more
than seven points.
Bristol's attacking intent was there for all to see as they ran in
four tries in each half to put 50 points on Jersey at the Memorial
Stadium on Sunday. The same day Bedford shipped a half-century of
points at Leeds Carnegie, which suggests the Blues may be in for a
long afternoon when two of English rugby's established names meet
at Goldington Road on Saturday afternoon. Indeed, Bristol have won
the last five games between the two, the most recent coming back in
October when they celebrated 125 years as a club in some style with
a 45-27 victory.
Saturday's remaining two games have serious implications at the
bottom end of the table. Ealing, who have now taken 11 points from
their last four away games following an 18-18 draw at Cornish
Pirates, desperately need to replicate that form at home. They face
a Leeds side that moved up one place in the table to third after
destroying Bedford 50-6 at Headingley. The first-ever fixture
between the sides ended in a 64-3 win for Leeds, Alex Lozowski
converting all bar one of Leeds's nine tries.
Meanwhile, Harvey Biljon will hope to win his first game as Jersey
boss at the third attempt when his side takes on
10th placed Nottingham at St Peter. If
successful, Jersey would drag Nottingham right back into the
relegation picture. Nottingham, who are currently 12 points off the
bottom, came away from their last trip to the Island with a
hard-fought 20-13 victory.
The weekend's action comes to a conclusion with a genuine
top-of-the-table clash between surprise league leaders Rotherham
Titans and second-placed London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium on
Sunday. And if Sunday's standalone fixture is halfway as good as
the first clash between the sides this season then fans are in for
a real treat. Rotherham, at various stages of an excellent contest,
led five times at Clifton Lane, scoring three of their four tries
inside the first 12 minutes. Eventually Welsh's dominance up front
told and, thanks to the accurate kicking of Gordon Ross and Alex
Davies, they clawed their way back into the contest to win 32-27.
Titans won on their last away trip to London Welsh: 33-25 at Old
Deer Park on October 15, 2012. New Ireland squad member Robin
Copeland scored twice that day as Rotherham spectacularly ended a
21-game run without an away win.
Round 15 fixtures
Friday February 7
Moseley v Cornish Pirates, KO 19:30
Saturday February 8
London Scottish v Plymouth Albion, KO 14:30
Bedford Blues v Bristol Rugby, KO 15:00
Ealing Trailfinders v Leeds Carnegie, KO 15:00
Jersey v Nottingham Rugby, KO 15:00
Sunday February 9
London Welsh v Rotherham Titans, KO 14:30
