Aviva Premiership - Round 1

[ratsapprentice]

In other news...

Shaun Edwards' lad scored a try for Wasps A vs Quins A tonight.

 

[psychic duck]

The only players they should have looked to have kept was Lees, Edwards, L'Estrange and Quill. Ajuwa, Nimmo, Moss rarely cut it last year, Tonga'uiha was never truly fit, Parker, Denbee, ***terrell and Frost retired. I'm sure losing Cai Griffiths back to the Ospreys was the biggest blow

9 of the starting XV last weekend were new to the team. How many other teams fielded XV's with that amount of change from the summer? Off the top of my head, Treviso might have and they too looked absolutely terrible as well.

 

[Peat]

Result?

That Quins team was slightly sexy

'A' League team vs Wasps
Sam Aspland-Robinson
Charlie Walker
Joe Marchant
Harry Sloan
Ross Chisholm
Ben Botica
Sam Stuart

Darryl Marfo
Rob Buchanan
Paul Doran Jones
George Merrick
Sam Twomey
Joe Trayfoot
Jack Clifford©
James Chisholm

Replacements
Charlie Piper
Seb Adeniran-Olule
Will Collier
Stan South
Kieran Treadwell
Jordan Burns
Louis Grimoldby
Ben Wood

 

[ratsapprentice]

34-13 to Quins, unsurprisingly.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

A relatively strong Sale Jets got pumped by Bristol United 38 - 19.

Our age grade academies (u16 and u18) demolished theirs though (35 tries to 5, combined, I believe) so I'm counting it as a 2-1 win

 

[ratsapprentice]

Does anyone know who actually owns LW?

Surely they're going to be ****ed financially if their gates don't improve?

 

[psychic duck]

Does anyone know who actually owns LW?

Surely they're going to be ****ed financially if their gates don't improve?

Kelvin Byron.

He had a big tantrum and said he was quitting after they got relegated (http://www1.skysports.com/rugby-uni...elvin-bryon-to-pull-money-out-of-london-welsh), but it he ended up staying at the club. Last season he wrote an appeal to fans, sponsors and benefactors to support them in Oxford after poor crowds (http://www.london-welsh.co.uk/index.php?mod=news_view&id=1811). Also was reported they lost £4m to play in the Premiership last time (http://www.espn.co.uk/premiership-2012-13/rugby/story/180649.html).

 

[ratsapprentice]

So he stuck around then.

This could end up quite badly for them then?
If they lost that much last time, I'm sure it's more expensive now, and their season opener this time was lower than their worst attendance last time.

I'm bracing for the attendance figures of the LW vs Newcastle games...

 

[Patchey]

9 of the starting XV last weekend were new to the team. How many other teams fielded XV's with that amount of change from the summer? Off the top of my head, Treviso might have and they too looked absolutely terrible as well.

Didn't Glos have something like that many new players involved or am I imagining that?

Either way, both teams show that a signing a load of players in the off season and expecting them all to work together at once is foolish.

Result?

That Quins team was slightly sexy

'A' League team vs Wasps
Sam Aspland-Robinson
Charlie Walker
Joe Marchant
Harry Sloan
Ross Chisholm
Ben Botica
Sam Stuart

Darryl Marfo
Rob Buchanan
Paul Doran Jones
George Merrick
Sam Twomey
Joe Trayfoot
Jack Clifford©
James Chisholm

Replacements
Charlie Piper
Seb Adeniran-Olule
Will Collier
Stan South
Kieran Treadwell
Jordan Burns
Louis Grimoldby
Ben Wood

Yeah that team gave me a raging rugby hard on. Some serious potential, PDJ excluded!

Oh no, do continue, we've only just got the serving girl up here with the cold custard to pour down your trousers. We're snobs you see. We're full of playful pranks yet arrogant and proper with it!

Sounds like we went to the same boarding school :lol:.

 

[goodNumber10]

Didn't Glos have something like that many new players involved or am I imagining that?

Either way, both teams show that a signing a load of players in the off season and expecting them all to work together at once is foolish.

The fundamental difference being that Gloucester are in a genuine stage of rebuilding and are taking steps to secure their long term future: heavy investment in coaching staff, academy players and infrastructure.

Welsh are just winging it and throwing money down the drain in a panicked attempt to give it a go. There seems to be no long term vision behind the club, they are literally hand to mouth with their money.

If they are going to get humped by half a century each week, they may as well have just stuck with the players from last year.

 

[Patchey]

The fundamental difference being that Gloucester are in a genuine stage of rebuilding and are taking steps to secure their long term future: heavy investment in coaching staff, academy players and infrastructure.

Welsh are just winging it and throwing money down the drain in a panicked attempt to give it a go. There seems to be no long term vision behind the club, they are literally hand to mouth with their money.

If they are going to get humped by half a century each week, they may as well have just stuck with the players from last year.

Agreed. I don't think Glos are going to stay rubbish on the pitch for long unless they're unlucky enough to get a load if injuries. Welsh will struggle all season. My point was more related to how long it takes new guys to settle. Arguably they're never going to gel at Welsh in the absence of serious infrastructure, a reliable home crowd and a cohesive vision for where the club is going.

 

[goodNumber10]

completely agree mate.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

i'm presuming you're a london welsh fan?

They clearly didn't think they would get promoted last time and hadn't prepared, they hadn't invested in their team. then this year, even with their parachute payment they still didn't invest and now they've spent unwisely in a panic.

You can neg me a third time if you want. It won't change the result from the weekend..

It's out of order imo but don't worry about him mate - he remains the only TRF user to have negged me in my 4.5 years here.

 

[goodNumber10]

So he stuck around then.

This could end up quite badly for them then?
If they lost that much last time, I'm sure it's more expensive now, and their season opener this time was lower than their worst attendance last time.

I'm bracing for the attendance figures of the LW vs Newcastle games...

That article says they lost £1.8m before they even hit the Premiership.

Also in the other article he's moaning about Mike Scott getting them a £15,000 fine but seems completely unwilling to take any responsibility for oversight of what his staff are doing.

The thing that bugs me most here is that it's a huge brand, LW is a legendary club and if they got themselves sorted properly they could quite easily become a force.

 

[Patchey]

It's out of order imo but don't worry about him mate - he remains the only TRF user to have negged me in my 4.5 years here.

Four and a half years? You need to get a life mate!

That article says they lost £1.8m before they even hit the Premiership.

Also in the other article he's moaning about Mike Scott getting them a £15,000 fine but seems completely unwilling to take any responsibility for oversight of what his staff are doing.

The thing that bugs me most here is that it's a huge brand, LW is a legendary club and if they got themselves sorted properly they could quite easily become a force.

They could be, but they'd need a management team with some serious vision and staying power. I had another look at their site (because I'm bored and unemployed) and I think they could build a very nice, small stadium there without ruining the park (and it could serve all three clubs based there) but what might hold them back in that there is very little scope for infrastructure, especially parking and the like, without ruining the park. As long as they play as far from their traditional home as they currently are that potential is never going to be fulfilled. Also there is the matter of competing with the other 'London' clubs, especially Quins, but if they a good, permanent home they'd find that much easier.

Away to Bath this coming weekend will probably be another bloodbath, unlikely to be watched by any travelling fans.

 

[ratsapprentice]

I disagree about them being a strong "brand" to build a team from.
One of the advantages of being a London club is that you potentially have 14 million~ people to market yourself to.
By identifying yourself as Welsh you instantly segregate yourself from the vast majority of that audience.

Unless you call yourself London Bangladeshi or London Polish then you are shooting yourself in the foot.

And it's not like they're the preeminent club in their local area either, Quins are one of the best supported clubs in the country and are a 5 minute drive away.

 

[goodNumber10]

not sure i agree with you there mate.

London Welsh & Scottish are both clubs that have decades of history behind them and people within the Rugby community still think romantically of - probably more so than London Irish. If they can get the playing side right they have all that to build on and there are plenty of 1st generation/expat Welsh who would support them. (we're heading back to that national identity thing again)

 

[ratsapprentice]

"People within the rugby community" - that community is great if they aspire to play in front of 5000 people at ODP.

The Irish community in West London is (was - now shrinking) significantly bigger than any Welsh one. So they do actually have a chance of attracting people as a direct result of their name and related marketing, not to mention the mainstream appeal Irish culture drums up (St Patrick's day and all that). I think you're vastly overstating the significance of LW's history - it's completely insignificant to the people they need to be marketing to... i.e. new fans.
If there was a massive Welsh community in the city then it might make sense - but there's barely a massive Welsh community in Wales.

If they stay in London then they are clearly fighting an uphill battle against Quins, and if they stay in Oxford they don't exactly have the most sensible marketing angle, do they?



Nathan Earle has apparently snapped his Achilles.

 

[goodNumber10]

I hear what you're saying mate, but i'm not sure they are competing for the same people as Quins.

I think the Welsh Community is quite patriotic and spread out a bit further across London they are just a bit more unsited.

This is just anecdotal though, I've got nothing to back that up.

 

[Peat]

In fairness to LW, there's some quality there, especially in the back-line, if it gels. The issues is it almost certainly won't do so in time to avoid relegation.

I wonder if there's some parking in Richmond they could use? But yeah, it's a fantastic site for a high-end amateur club, but it would be really hard to make it work as a pro site.

Yeah that team gave me a raging rugby hard on. Some serious potential, PDJ excluded!

What's the deal with the full-back who's still at school? Also, I find Clifford as a 7 mildly intriguing, even in these circs.

Sounds like we went to the same boarding school :lol:.

Alas no, dear fellow. If I'd actually been to a boarding school, I'd be a Quins boy too.

It's out of order imo but don't worry about him mate - he remains the only TRF user to have negged me in my 4.5 years here.

It was really tempting to add a second one for lulz.