Ross demands 80-minute Welsh performance

Posted on May 22, 2012

Mennaye Field hasn’t been the happiest of hunting grounds for Gordon Ross or London Welsh in recent visits, but both will need to reverse that trend, or as near as, if the Exiles are to move a step closer to the Championship title.

Welsh head to Cornwall for Wednesday’s 1st leg of the Championship final double-header with the Pirates (kick-off 7:45pm), having lost on their last three visits to the ground.

That losing run includes last season’s 18-10 semi-final defeat, with the Pirates going on to contest the final with Worcester Warriors.

The sides’ meeting in January at Mennaye Field produced a comfortable 27-6 win for the Pirates on a miserable afternoon on the south-west coast. It was a game which also saw Ross see yellow.

“The last three times we’ve been down there in the league we haven’t performed, we’ve been really disappointing,” said Ross.

“We’ve been in and out of the game but not put together a performance for 80 minutes.

“The one thing the Pirates do is they come at you for 80 minutes, they don’t give you any space or time.

“We’ve got to make sure that for 80 minutes we’re nice and proactive and ready for that challenge, and hopefully we can put our game together and challenge their defence.

“I’ve not had a great time down at Pirates personally, but that’s up to me to sort out.
I’m hoping to take inspiration from the big football game last Saturday – Hearts beating Hibs 5-1 in the Scottish Cup final!”

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Jones respectful of Pirates threat

Posted on May 16, 2012

If London Welsh are to win the Championship they’ll have to do something they haven’t managed all season, beat the Cornish Pirates.

The two games between the sides in the regular season produced a comfortable win for the Pirates at Mennaye Field, while three late Alex Davies penalties salvaged a 17-17 draw for Welsh at Old Deer Park.

Of course, the Pirates also came out on top, 18-10, in last year’s one-off semi-final at Mennaye Field.

“The Cornish Pirates are a very good side,” said Jones. “They don’t rely on any particular type of rugby or strength, they’ve got the ability to play all types of rugby and I would be very respectful of that.

“That’s what you’ve got to have. To have a sniff of going up you’ve got to be able to pay all types of rugby.

“They’ve got a good kicking full back, they’ve a very sound organised pack of forwards and they finished third and we finished fourth in the regular season.

“But throughout the season both teams have grown and we’re really looking forward to an opportunity to show ourselves at the highest level in this league.

“From where we were in September to where we are now is chalk and cheese. We’re a confident side with the ability to play a bit of football, and just like the Cornish Pirates we can also play all types of games as and when it suits.”

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Scott hails Welsh ‘heart’ as Exiles reach Championship final

Posted on May 14, 2012

London Welsh try scorer Nick Scott (pictured right) hailed the Exiles’ “heart” after a gutsy defensive effort propelled the Old Deer Park outfit into their first-ever Championship final.

It’s was Scott’s second half try that proved the difference as Welsh lost the 2nd leg of their Championship semi-final with Bedford Blues 24-17, but took the tie 30-27 overall.

“It feels amazing; all the boys put in a monumental effort in defence, so much heart and so much grit,” said Scott. “It’s what the club deserves and has been building towards.

“There was so much heart in that performance, everyone put it in. I’m just glad we’re going to the final for the first time.”

Scott pounced for his sixth try in ten appearances for the Exiles since joining the club on loan from Bath, when he chased down Gordon Ross’ kick and capitalised on a mistake by Blues centre Henry Staff.

“I wasn’t getting much ball in hand, so I just chased hard. A kick is only as good as the chase. I got a bit of luck, but I’ll take that every day,” he said.

“You’ve just got to put the pressure on and you never know what’s going to happen. That will probably happen maybe one in ten times, but as long as you keep putting yourself in that position that one time is beautiful.

“I was getting a bit worried. Last weekend I had the ball slapped out of my hand as I was going over. I was so glad to get back on the score sheet.”

Scott’s try and an Alex Davies penalty saw Welsh open up a 30-13 lead on aggregate, but there would be late drama at Old Deer Park as tries from Don Barrell and Neil Cochrane – the latter after what looked like a clear knock on by Alex Rae – reduced the gap to just three points with eight minutes to go.

“We all thought it was a knock on, so credit to the boys for coming back from that,” said Scott.

“The momentum was with Bedford but we stopped that, we got a few penalties, we put it in their half and came away with the win.”

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London Welsh and Bedford Blues team News

Posted on May 11, 2012

London Welsh welcome Bedford Blues to Old Deer Park for the 2nd leg of their Championship semi-final knowing that anything less than a ten-point defeat will be good enough to take the Exiles through to the final.

Hudson Tonga’uiha’s try and eight points from the boot of full back Alex Davies gave Welsh a 13-3 win at Goldington Road seven days ago, with James Pritchard replying for the Blues.

The Exiles’ win made it two wins a piece between the sides this season.

The sides’ previous meeting at Old Deer Park saw the home side run out 25-24 winners in December. The Blues, though, nearly snatched victory with the last kick of the game, only for Jamie Lennard’s drop goal to slip wide.

Bedford’s only visit to Old Deer Park in 2010/11 also produced another tight affair, with Gordon Ross’ 79th minute penalty giving the Exiles a 25-22 win.

The 2009/10 season also produced another home win for Welsh over the Blues, 28-17, thanks to tries from Errie Claassens (2) and Paul Sampson.

Bedford’s last win at Old Deer Park came in September 2008 when they came out on top 32-23.

London Welsh:

15. Alex Davies, 14. Nick Scott, 13. James Lewis, 12. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 11. Joe Ajuwa, 10. Seb Jewell, 9. Jack Moates, 1. Billy Moss, 2. Dan George, 3. James Tideswell, 4. Adam Brown, 5. Matt Corker, 6. Jon Mills ©, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Ed Jackson.

Replacements: 16. Vili Ma’asi*, 17. Shawn Pittman*, 18. Greg Bateman, 19. Gary Johnson, 20. Lee Beach, 21. Rob Lewis, 22. Simon Whatling.

* Denotes full international

Blues name strong side

Bedford Blues have named the starting XV which will take on London Welsh in Sunday’s all important second leg of the RFU Championship Semi-Final.

Having lost 3-13 at Goldington Road last Friday, the Blues know that they have it all to do as they visit Old Deer Park needing to overturn a ten point deficit to reach the final of the Championship play offs.

Bedford Blues Director of Rugby Mike Rayer is picking from an almost fully fit squad but does make six changes from the team which started last week. Jamie Lennard replaces Jake Sharp – who took a knock last Friday – at fly half while Neil Cochrane, Phil Boulton, Gregor Gillanders, Sacha Harding and Jon Fisher all start up front in place of Chris Locke, Ben Cooper, Alex Rae, Darren Fox and Don Barrell while Ian Vass comes on to the replacements bench.

Bedford:

15. James Pritchard (c), 14. Ollie Dodge, 13. Brendan Burke, 12. Henry Staff, 11. Josh Bassett, 10. Jamie Lennard, 9. Luke Baldwin, 1. Ricky Reeves, 2. Neil Cochrane, 3. Phil Boulton, 4. Paul Tupai, 5. Mike Howard, 6. Gregor Gillanders, 7. Sacha Harding, 8. Jon Fisher

Replacements: 16. Chris Locke, 17. Sam Walsh, 18. Alex Rae, 19. Don Barrell, 20. Darren Fox, 21. Darryl Veenendaal, 22. Ian Vass

Moates hoping there’s more to come

Posted on May 10, 2012

London Irish’s season may have come to an end, but two of the club’s players could yet find themselves playing in a final.

On loan to London Welsh for the season, academy scrum half Jack Moates and second row Gary Johnson are now just 80 minutes away from helping the club to a first-ever Championship final appearance.

Having twice previously lost out in the semi-finals, Welsh welcome Bedford Blues to Old Deer Park on Sunday (kick-off 3pm) for the 2nd leg of their semi-final, with the Exiles protecting a 13-3 lead from last Friday night’s 1st leg at Goldington Road.

It was a gutsy display by Welsh in atrocious conditions, with centre Hudson Tonga’uiha (brother of Northampton prop Soane) scoring the only try of the game. Full back Alex Davies kicked eight points.

For 19-year-old Moates, who scored a try on his debut for Welsh in last year’s pre-season friendly against Irish at Sunbury, it was an occasion he revelled in.

“It was such a good atmosphere and such a good experience,” he said. “It’s been a really good season; it’s worked out perfectly for me getting game time and playing in these important matches.

“That’s what I want to be doing. These are the type of games you want to be playing in.

“Lyn [Jones – head coach] has done so much for me this year improving my game, putting his faith in me and choosing me in these big matches. I really appreciate it.”

It was a massive performance from the Exiles at a packed and rain sodden Goldington Road, as they inflicted just a third home league defeat of the season on the Blues – even rarer to keep a side of Bedford’s attacking quality from crossing the tryline.

“It was just a great team effort, everyone played their part. No one let anyone down, especially the forwards, they won us that game. The scrum hasn’t been too good recently, but they really stood up,” said Moates.

“They were on our line for about ten minutes, but they just couldn’t break us. Our defence was just so organised. The desire was there and I can’t remember anyone missing a tackle in the whole game – it’s not often you do that.

“We executed our skills well, we played smart – we played in the right parts of the field. We played territory.”

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