Welcome to the first update of the N1Rugby Blog, in this week’s update I look at the teams and players who have impressed in the first two rounds as well as looking ahead to next week’s fixtures.
So it was Leeds Carnegie who triumphed in the early season showdown between themselves and fellow promotion hopefuls Exeter Chiefs. The popular belief is that the title race will be played out by these two clubs come the end of the season and so the result on Saturday afternoon took on massive importance for both clubs.
It is foolish to believe that this was a promotion decider by any means, there are still many matches to play this season and I don’t believe Leeds will dominate this division in the way that Northampton did last season however at this early stage Exeter are already playing catchup and can’t afford any slip-ups; a situation they wouldn’t want to be in as they go into a local derby against Cornish Pirates next weekend in Camborne.
Leeds were handed a very tough season opening with ties against Nottingham and Exeter, last season’s third and second placed finishers respectively, and to come away with two victories will be a great confidence boost for them as they head into a local derby themselves, against newly promoted Otley who are seeking their first victory
Leeds haven’t been the only team to impress at this early stage by any means. Bedford are leading the way after scoring 11 tries in their first two matches, five of those scored by Billy Twelvetrees who looks to have been a very shrewd signing from Leicester Tigers.
Sedgley Park currently sit in second place after their bonus point victory over local rivals Manchester at the weekend although that result in itself is no surprise but when it is coupled with their victory over Rotherham on the first weekend it lifts the Manchester club into their current lofty position.
Sedgley lost their two top try scorers, Chris Briers and John Skurr, to Rotherham in the summer so their victory over the Yorkshire club in round 1 must have been doubly sweet for them
London Welsh have also made an impressive start in what is their first campaign as a fully professional outfit. Opening the campaign away at Moseley they triumphed through a late Paul Sampson try in what was a tight game but it was last weekends 31-16 victory against Doncaster at Old Deer Park which is most impressive. The star of the show in this match was London Welsh fly half Aled Thomas, a summer recruit from Newport Gwent Dragons.
As a Dragon’s follower myself I feel that London Welsh have potentially got themselves a great Number 10 and it will be interesting to note how well he does now that he will get regular first team rugby; something which always eluded him at Dragons where he was understudy to Welsh international Ceri Sweeney.
Thomas helped himself to 21 points on Saturday against Doncaster, including a try and I am very much looking forward to watching him, and his team-mates of course, in two weeks time when N1Rugby heads up to Old Deer Park to cover London Welsh’s match against Bedford
Scoring tries looked like it would be a problem for Sedgley Park this season after they lost Jon Skurr and Chris Briers to Rotherham in the summer. Those two players crossed the line 25 times for The Tigers last season and would prove very difficult to replace. It is, of course, very early days in the season but winger Paul Wilcock has already indicated that he is up to the task.
Last season Wilcock was playing Rugby League for Leigh Centurions but decided to switch codes and join Sedgley Park and clearly hasn’t taken long to adapt to the new code.
Wilcock scored a hat trick in Saturday’s defeat of Manchester as well as scoring one of Tiger’s two tries on the opening day against Rotherham. Sedgley Park will need him to keep up that level of form if they are to avoid the likely four relegation spots in the league this season. Sedgley have finished in the bottom four for the last three seasons and can ill afford to finish there this season although their early season performances suggest they have every chance of avoiding the bottom four this term.
Round Three of National 1 throws up a few more local derbies most notably down in Camborne where Cornish Pirates play host to Exeter Chiefs, N1Rugby will yet again be reporting from Camborne at the weekend but just in case you were wondering if we are only reporting on Pirates this season then I can assure you that after the weekend I won’t be reporting from Cornish PIrates until at least their showdown with Leeds Carnegie on November 16th.
Moseley made an indifferent start to the season with a home defeat against London Welsh but they did improve matters with a bonus point victory away at Newbury Blues in round 2 to take some confidence into one of their most anticipated games of the season when they welcome local rivals Coventry to Billsley Common.
Coventry arrive on the back of a 16-0 victory over a disappointing Cornish Pirates side but they certainly won’t have things all their own way this Saturday
Yorkshire plays host to two local derbies this weekend with Doncaster Knights hosting Rotherham Titans and Leeds Carnegie face Otley at Headingley on Sunday.
Sedgley Park meet London Welsh on Sunday in a match which is being billed on the London Welsh website as “2nd against 4th” testament to the start made by both clubs this season.
Hopefully you enjoyed reading this blog update, as ever if you have any ideas for improvements write to me at info@n1rugby.co.uk and remember to keep checking www.n1rugby.co.uk for the latest news!
