YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE vs LONDON IRISH | WEDNESDAY 17th … · Yorkshire Carnegie hold one of fourteen...

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YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE vs LONDON IRISH | WEDNESDAY 17th MAY, 2017

CARNEGIETIMES THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER

OF YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE RUGBY UNION CLUB

ISSUE

16

S ir Ian McGeechan, Executive President of Yorkshire Carnegie,

says the club and supporters must produce their best in the next week to give themselves a chance of booking a return to the top-fl ight of English club rugby.

Yorkshire welcome London Irish to Headingley Carnegie this

evening for the � rst-leg of the Greene King IPA Championship Final before travelling to Reading seven days later for the second-leg.

McGeechan says home advantage i n the � rst-leg is a chance for Carnegie to set down a marker for the tie and has rallied the county’s supporters to turn out and cheer the team

on as they face big spending Irish for the � nal place in next season’s Aviva Premiership.

Looking ahead to the game, McGeechan said: “There is a lot of excitement around the club and quite rightly as we approach the � nal of the Greene King IPA Championship over the next two games. Everything we have built for all season is to get to this point and we know we are now two games away from the possibility of returning to the Aviva Premiership. If we get the rugby right, it will be a fantastic occasion and naturally that lifts everyone associated with Yorkshire Carnegie.

“I think we have been playing some great rugby over the course of the season and the challenge now is to make sure we are consistent over 160 minutes of rugby against an outstanding London Irish team. They have a squad full of Premiership experience whilst we have been building for a number of years and I think our players and coaching staff have done a great job this year. I think this is our best season for around eight years and we have an almost fully � t squad to tackle the next two games. It is all to play for now.

“We would love to see a big crowd here tonight and produce a great game for them to enjoy. A large, noisy home crowd could be important for us and will, no doubt, help the players this

evening,” added the British & Irish Lions legend.

Yorkshire Carnegie hold one of fourteen RFU Academy licenses along with the twelve Premiership clubs and London Irish. McGeechan believes the chance to bring top-� ight Rugby Union back to the county is a massive opportunity for the continuing strength of the game in Yorkshire.

He added: “If we can get it right there is a possibility of Premiership Rugby back here at Headingley Carnegie again. That is very important for what we are doing with our Academy and how successful that is. Our Academy pulls in the whole county through our programmes and this is an opportunity to have top class rugby in the county again.”

Yorkshire Carnegie were runners-up in the regular season behind London Irish and, with both teams having progressed through the two-legged semi-� nal, McGeechan believes the season is building to an exciting climax with the Play-off Final. This season will be the last year that promotion is decided by the play-offs and McGeechan says that will be a loss for the Championship division.

He added: “We need to play well here and score points but I think it will be a tight game. They are the two best sides and have proved that all year. We did not play well in Reading but did

perform well against them here at Headingley Carnegie. We will need to step up our previous performances but I know our players can produce some fantastic rugby and we need to put that out there over the course of these two-legs.

“I think this is a great opportunity with the play-offs system in its � nal year. The top-four sides build to this point and I think play-offs are a good addition to a season, you just need to look at the excitement being created in the Premiership right now to see that. Knock-out rugby does change the mindset for teams; it is a season within a season,” added McGeechan.

Tonight’s game will be the � nal home match for outgoing Head Coach Bryan Redpath, who will begin a career in international � nance this summer after a lifetime's involvement as a player and coach in the game. McGeechan paid tribute to his fellow former Scottish international.

He added: “Bryan has done a great job for us, when he came we were eighth in the Championship and he took us up a couple of places that season. We were third last year and second this season, � fteen clear of third place. He has pulled the squad together and the whole environment has been very positive. We are very grateful for what he has done for our club.”

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McGEECHAN SAYS YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE MUST GRAB OPPORTUNITY WITH BOTH HANDS

FIXTURE LIST 2016-17Date KO H/A Comp Opposition Result (F-A)SEPTEMBER 2016

Sat 3 Sep 15:00 A CHAMP Ealing 30-13Sun 11 Sep 15:00 H CHAMP Nottingham 26-24Sat 17 Sep 14:00 A CHAMP London Welsh Result VoidSun 25 Sep 15:00 H CHAMP London Scottish 39-29OCTOBER 2016

Sat 1 Oct 15:00 A CHAMP Rotherham Titans 37-21Sun 9 Oct 14:00 A CHAMP Cornish Pirates 35-28Sat 15 Oct 15:00 A B&I Cup Ealing 35-51Sat 22 Oct 14:30 H B&I Cup Bedford Blues 52-28Fri 28 Oct 20:00 H CHAMP Jersey Reds 35-29NOVEMBER 2016

Sat 5 Nov 15:00 A CHAMP London Irish 17-41Fri 18 Nov 20:00 H CHAMP Doncaster 24-6Fri 25 Nov 19:45 A CHAMP Richmond 39-31DECEMBER 2016

Fri 2 Dec 20:00 H CHAMP Bedford Blues 28-15Sun 11 Dec 14:00 H B&I Cup Dragons PS 20-17Sat 17 Dec 14:00 A B&I Cup Dragons PS 20-22Mon 26 Dec 14:00 A CHAMP Nottingham 24-17JANUARY 2017

Sun 1 Jan 15:00 H CHAMP London Welsh Result VoidSat 14 Jan 15:00 A B&I Cup Bedford Blues 29-12Sat 21 Jan 14:00 H B&I Cup Ealing 14-10Sat 28 Jan 14:00 A CHAMP London Scottish 26-14FEBRUARY 2017

Sun 5 Feb 15:00 H CHAMP Rotherham Titans 56-26Sat 18 Feb 15:00 H CHAMP Cornish Pirates 27-42Fri 24 Feb 19:45 A CHAMP Jersey Reds 19-24MARCH 2017

Sun 5 Mar 15:00 H CHAMP London Irish 14-20Sat 11 Mar 14:00 A B&I Cup QF London Irish 14-37Sun 19 Mar 15:00 A CHAMP Doncaster 26-31Sun 26 Mar 15:00 H CHAMP Richmond 41-3APRIL 2017

Sat 8 Apr 15:00 A CHAMP Bedford Blues 43-27Sat 15 Apr 15:00 H CHAMP Ealing Trailfi nders 33-20Fri 28 Apr 19:45 A CHAMP Ealing Trailfi nders SF 1L 34-16MAY 2017

Fri 5 May 19:45 H CHAMP Ealing Trailfi nders SF 2L 18-20Wed 17 May 19:45 H CHAMP London Irish POF 1LWed 24 May 19:45 A CHAMP London Irish POF 2L

YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE ROLL CALL 2016-17Name Position HT WT DOB Age 2016-17 Season | Carnegie Career Debut Starts Subs Tries Pts Starts Subs Tries Pts Sam Allan Fly Half 1.80m 86kg 28/09/96 20 1 3 - - 2 7 - - V Munster A 20/11/15Tom Arscott Winger 1.85m 88Kg 25/08/87 29 6 - - - 6 - - - V Jersey 24/02/17Josh Bainbridge Back Row 1.83m 94kg 17/04/96 21 3 4 2 10 17 19 22 110 V Doncaster 28/09/14Richard Beck Back Row 1.88m 100kg 13/06/89 27 9 9 2 10 72 34 12 60 V Leicester 08/11/09Charlie Beech Prop 1.85m 120kg 21/07/87 29 8 10 1 5 53 30 10 50 V Bristol 13/10/13Matt Beesley Prop 1.85m 123kg 03/04/92 25 2 4 1 5 2 4 1 5 v London Irish 11/03/17Guy Borrowdale Second Row 1.95m 110kg 05/09/95 21 1 2 2 10 1 2 2 10 V Rotherham 10/10/14Lewis Boyce Prop 1.89m 111kg 30/07/96 20 18 7 4 20 18 12 4 20 V Rotherham 10/10/14Tom Bullough Centre 1.83m 70kg 10/04/97 20 - 2 - - - 2 - - v Dragons PS 17/12/16Ryan Burrows Number Eight 1.93m 105kg 25/04/88 29 25 1 7 35 138 8 34 170 V London Welsh 04/09/11Charlie Capps Prop 1.84m 102Kg 08/06/97 19 - - - - 1 2 - - V Doncaster 09/10/15Tom Casson Centre 1.83m 94Kg 06/04/90 27 11 3 - - 24 5 - - V Bristol 18/10/15Tom Catterick Fly Half 1.78m 81kg 18/10/90 26 1 - - - 1 - - v London Irish 05/03/17Michael Cusack Prop 1.79m 135kg 07/11/84 32 10 8 3 15 31 43 5 25 V Bath 14/09/03Alex Davies Scrum Half 1.75m 81kg 21/06/86 30 21 1 3 31 21 1 3 31 v Ealing 03/09/16Chris Elder Full back 1.93m 107kg 12/06/92 24 12 - 4 20 12 - 4 20 v Nottingham 26/12/16Sione Faletau Prop 1.83m 135kg 20/06/88 28 8 3 - - 8 3 - - v L Scottish 28/01/17Joe Ford Fly Half 1.79m 84kg 04/06/90 26 22 - 2 224 75 10 5 674 V Leicester 08/11/09Andy Forsyth Centre 1.88m 87Kg 09/09/90 26 16 3 4 20 33 12 15 75 V Jersey 06/09/15Oliver Fox Scrum Half 1.75m 76kg 14/03/99 18 - 2 - - - 2 - - v Dragons PS11/12/16Christian Georgiou Full back 1.85m 90kg 09/01/92 25 1 - - - 50 8 10 66 V Currie 13/11/11Oli Goss Centre 1.80m 85kg 21/12/87 29 10 1 1 5 75 9 16 80 V Jersey 21/10/12Ross Graham Hooker 1.78m 102kg 20/12/95 21 4 7 1 5 4 7 1 5 v London Welsh 17/09/16Alex Gray Centre 1.93m 104kg 01/05/91 26 6 2 1 5 6 2 1 5 v Ealing 03/09/16Max Green Scrum half 1.86m 85Kg 13/02/96 21 10 19 1 7 13 25 2 12 V Ealing 20/09/15Jonah Holmes Winger 1.83m 91kg 24/07/92 24 22 - 14 70 85 2 50 250 V Nottingham 31/08/12Lee Imiolek Prop 1.85m 110kg 21/09/90 26 2 6 1 5 36 72 9 45 V Nottingham 31/08/12Pete Lucock Centre 1.83m 90kg 27/11/92 24 23 - 3 15 102 10 11 55 V Rotherham 21/09/11Mike Mayhew Hooker 1.88m 111kg 22/01/87 30 12 12 6 30 12 12 6 30 v Ealing 15/10/16Richard Mayhew Back Row 1.91m 109kg 24/06/85 31 17 1 2 10 17 1 2 10 v Ealing 03/09/16Stevie McColl Full back 1.85m 98kg 16/08/88 28 19 4 6 36 73 5 28 151 V London Welsh 04/09/11Mike Myerscough Second Row 1.96m 110kg 28/05/86 30 3 8 - - 51 19 3 15 V Nottingham 31/08/12Phil Nilsen Hooker 1.87m 101kg 26/02/85 32 15 6 4 20 112 95 14 70 V Cornish Pirates 23/09/06Rob O’Donnell Prop 1.98m 122Kg 15/12/85 31 8 9 14 70 29 16 17 85 V Jersey 06/09/15Ciaran Parker Prop 1.83m 1.88kg 05/10/95 21 2 4 - - 2 4 - - v Ealing 03/09/16Jordon Poole Hooker 1.75m 90kg 02/04/97 20 - 3 - - - 8 - - V Ospreys 15/11/15Taylor Prell Full back 1.79m 80kg 03/07/96 20 11 - 6 30 34 1 13 65 V Rotherham 10/10/14Dan Preston-Routledge 2nd Row 1.95m 99kg 27/10/95 21 - 1 - - 1 5 - - V Aberavon 07/12/13Gary Robertson Prop 1.83m 116kg 27/06/96 20 1 1 - - 1 1 - - v Dragons PS 11/12/16Dan Sanderson Second Row 2.03m 119kg 18/08/84 32 12 5 - - 12 5 - - v Ealing 03/09/16Andy Saull Back Row 1.85m 101Kg 27/09/88 28 12 4 2 10 23 12 15 75 V Jersey 06/09/15Dean Schofi eld Second Row 1.98m 124Kg 19/01/79 38 11 - 1 5 29 6 1 5 V Jersey 06/09/15Warren Seals Fly Half 1.86m 97kg 12/02/92 25 9 3 1 60 9 3 1 60 v Rotherham 01/10/16Matt Smith Second Row 2.03m 111kg 26/10/89 27 13 7 - - 75 30 6 30 V Bristol 23/09/12Brandon Staples Number Eight 1.95m 104kg 24/01/97 20 3 1 1 5 3 1 1 5 v Dragons PS17/12/16Ollie Stedman Back Row 1.91m 119kg 20/05/91 25 21 2 7 35 21 4 7 35 v Scarlets 06/11/10Seb Stegmann Winger 1.85m 93Kg 12/04/89 28 13 2 4 20 30 5 10 50 V Jersey 06/09/15James Thraves Prop 1.88m 118kg 05/01/94 23 3 6 1 5 3 6 1 5 v Rotherham 01/10/16Chris Walker Back Row 1.81m 95kg 21/01/92 25 4 8 1 5 80 49 29 145 V Llanelli 06/11/10Ben West Prop 1.98m 111Kg 19/01/92 25 13 - 3 15 13 - 3 15 v London Welsh 01/01/17Jack Whetton Back Row 2.00m 119kg 24/05/92 24 7 7 - - 7 7 - - v Nottingham 11/09/16Lewis Wilson Back Row 1.81m 93Kg 03/02/98 19 1 2 - - 1 2 - - v Dragons 11/12/16Max Wright Centre 1.84m 87Kg 24/05/97 19 3 9 2 10 9 12 3 15 V Ospreys PS 15/11/15Penalty tries 3 Average age 25 465 202 121 898 1,533 640 377 2,634

2016-17 TOP FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP TRY SCORERSTyson Lewis Doncaster KnightsJonah Holmes Yorkshire CarnegieDean Adamson Bedford BluesJason Harries London ScottishTom Duncan Cornish Pirates

2016-17 TOP FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP POINT SCORERSTommy Bell London IrishJoe Ford Yorkshire CarnegiePeter Lydon London ScottishDouglas Flockhart Doncaster KnightsAaron Penberthy Ealing Trailfinders

193192

176158

154

141313

1111

FACTS& FIGURES


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RFU CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE 2016-17

P W L D PF PA PD TB LB Pts1 London Irish 20 19 1 0 712 290 422 14 1 91

2 Yorkshire Carnegie 20 15 5 0 619 461 158 12 3 753 Ealing Trail� nders 20 12 7 1 584 427 157 7 3 60

4 Doncaster Knights 20 12 8 0 514 424 90 9 1 58

5 Jersey Reds 20 11 9 0 459 451 8 7 7 58

6 Cornish Pirates 20 9 9 2 559 497 62 8 7 55

7 Bedford Blues 20 6 13 1 496 569 -73 10 5 41

8 London Scottish 20 7 13 0 465 605 -140 7 5 40

9 Nottingham Rugby 20 7 12 1 419 542 -123 4 5 39

10 Richmond 20 5 15 0 347 585 -238 4 2 26

11 Rotherham Titans 20 4 15 1 333 656 -323 2 2 22

-- London Welsh

P: Played W: Won L: Lost D: Drawn PF: Points for PA: Points againstPD: Points difference TB: Try-scoring bonus LB: Losing bonus Pts: Points

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CLUB NEWS STALWART NILSEN SET TO JOIN COVENTRY NEXT SEASONYorkshire Carnegie stalwart Phil Nilsen is set to join National One side Coventry next season, after agreeing a two-year contract with the Midlands club.

The 32-year-old was named in the Greene King IPA Championship Dream Team this season and will look to sign off his 11 years at the club this week by helping the club to promotion against London Irish in the promotion play-offs.

Phil is the longest-serving player at the club and is now second in the all-time appearance list behind Mike Shelley. During the 2015-16 season Phil became only the second player in the club’s history to be granted a testimonial, after Rob Rawlinson, and is only the second player after Mike Shelley to play 200 games in all competitions.

He is a product of the club’s successful Academy and since making his debut in 2006 he has twice won promotion with the club so far.

“At present there is not a better hooker in the Championship,” said Coventry's director of rugby, Rowland Winter. “Phil is very well respected and will add drive

and physicality to our pack, and he will be another leader with all the experience he has got.

“Phil welcomes the ambition that we have at Coventry - he is fully aware of what we are trying to develop and build.

“He is excited about the part he can play in this and what he can bring to our team, and we are delighted that he wants to take on a new challenge with us.

“Hooker is an area of the squad where we have not had enough competition with only two senior players this season and we survived thanks to their durability, but we need more depth and Phil de� nitely adds this and quality.”

GOOD LUCK ROSIEBest wishes to Rosie Allport, who has been working with the club as a ballgirl for the last four years.

Rosie has travelled from Halifax for every home game, but this will be her last season as she moves on to University in September to do outdoor pursuit training. Yorkshire Carnegie’s kit manager, Mark Weavill, said: “On behalf of

everyone at the club we would like to thank Rosie for her hard work over the last four years. She has been a pleasure to work with and we wish her the best of luck for the future.”

If you know someone who would like to be part of the Carnegie match day team as a ball boy or girl please contact [email protected]

COMMUNITY ROUND-UP Yorkshire Carnegie’s Community team has had a very successful season with over 4,000 people attending Yorkshire Carnegie matches through community initiatives.

We would like to thank all of the schools, clubs and other groups who have attended this year in particular the teachers and volunteers who invest their time and energy in planning their group trips.

Programmes away from matchday have also gone from strength the strength including the Play Leaders and Rugby Readers schemes. The Premiership Rugby programme, which has been supported by Seb Stegmann, is almost at the end of its � rst phase and has been a resounding success with over 100 girls taking part. Hopefully this will see the creation of a new Under-15s team at West Leeds RUFC within the next few months.

Leeds Rhinos Foundation Community Manager, Lisa McCann, said: “We had the aim to increase participation amongst girls and to transition them into their local club, so to see the formation of a brand new team is incredible. It will be a special day when the new team play their � rst match.

“Thanks must go to our players, both � rst-team and senior academy who have assisted with our programmes throughout the season, they really do make a difference. Thanks must also go to Bryan Redpath, Jon Pendlebury and Ben Lazenby for their continued support of our work.”

The Community team will continue to work throughout the summer and details of the summer camps will be released shortly.

CARNEGIE COACHING STAFF RUN 4 LEAHLast week Yorkshire Carnegie’s Academy Manager, Jon Pendlebury, ran the Leeds Half Marathon in support of his daughter, Leah Violet, who was born prematurely on 23rd July 2016 at 29 weeks and four days.

He was joined in the run by his colleagues, Senior Academy Strength and Conditioning Coach, Greg

Roe, Assistant Academy Physiotherapist, John Swain, Kirsktall Site Manager, Steve Burton and Head Physiotherapist, Eoin Cremen. The group raised an incredible £2,725 in aid of Leeds General In� rmary Paediatric Intensive Care Unit where Jon’s daughter spent a considerable amount of time from August to December 2016 and where her life was saved twice.

CLUB NEWS

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ACADEMY CELEBRATE A SUCCESSFUL YEARToday the Yorkshire Carnegie Academy celebrate a successful year with all ERDPP and Academy coaches, ERDPP host venues and partnership schools present to watch the fi rst-team take a further step towards Premiership rugby in today’s promotion fi nal.

In recent weeks the Academy have seen over 300 Under-13 players coached at ERDPP for their � rst step on the player pathway ladder, players from this group will make up the ERDPP Under-14 groups starting next season across the � ve regional centres (approx. 30 players per group). All players have experienced coaching around basic principles of the game by the ERDPP and Academy coaches with a view to laying the foundations for further development in the game.

The ERDPP Under-14 to Under- 16s played recently in a festival at Ripon which is the culmination of monthly training sessions in each region, the squads played each other in 12-a-side games with each region providing game based constraints and individual goals within the games as part of their ongoing development. Over 350 players took part in the festival and all players will be receiving feedback throughout the programme on areas to improve and long-term focus goals.

The Under-15 Junior Development Squad, compiled of early identi� ed players and players with long-term potential from the ERDPP programme have also recently � nished their development programme that comprised two ten-week training blocks, culminating in two 12-a-side festivals against other academies. The � rst of these festivals was held at Sale Sharks and included Sale and Newcastle teams, for this festival the players themselves selected their own teams and their own focus areas as part of their ongoing self-awareness

and interpersonal development. The second of these festivals was at Shef� eld Hallam Sports centre and involved Sale, Newcastle, Leicester, Northampton, Worcester and Yorkshire.

The Under-16 junior development squad’s season culminated in them attending the annual Wellington Festival week at Wellington College. This week involved a number of training sessions and playing opportunities against other academies. For the second year running this was a hugely successful event and saw the players challenged and stretched in a number of ways both on and off the � eld as we try and develop them both as people and players.

Recent starter Stuart Dixon has hit the ground running with his coach development role, with “Strictly Scrum Dancing” a front � ve specialist session for players and coaches as well as a kicking specialist session for players and coaches. In addition to this Stuart has been working with the ERDPP coaches to help develop and challenge them within the development pathway.

At the end of this season we will say goodbye to a number of players who have come through our Academy system. Sam Allan, Guy Borrowdale and Dan Preston-Routledge will be leaving after a number of years with the club, Taylor Prell has joined Warrington Wolves and Lewis Boyce will join Quins. We would like to wish them all the very best in their futures away from Yorkshire Carnegie.

We are delighted to announce that we have re-signed: Harry Newborn (age 20), Shaun Crouch (18), Harry Dunne (19), Tom Bullough (20), Sam Wolstenholme (18), Ben Smith (20), Harry Davey (18), Rian Hamilton (14), Tom Mann (18). Still in contract for next season are: Charlie Capps (age 20), Jack Wafer (18), Jordon Poole (20), Elliot Ward (19), Lewis Wilson (19), Ollie Fox (18) and Louis Brown 15 (19).

OFFICIAL TRAVEL AVAILABLE NOW FOR 2ND LEG OF CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL AT LONDON IRISHYorkshire Carnegie will travel to London Irish’s Madejski Stadium for the second-leg of the Greene King IPA Championship Final on Wednesday 24th May and we are offering return travel from Leeds for £25 per person.

Because the cricket One Day International is taking place at Headingley that day, the coach will depart from Kirkstall Training Ground on Wednesday 24th May at 1.30pm with a stop en route. Travel can be purchased over the phone on 0371 423 1315, online at www.yorkshirecarnegie.com or by coming down to the Leeds Rugby Store at Headingley Carnegie Stadium.

Tickets must be purchased directly from London Irish.For ticket prices please see table below. To book your tickets,

all fans will need to book via London Irish’s ticket of� ce on 0118 968 1016 or on their website, www.london-irish.com. The ticket of� ce is open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and Saturday 9am-12noon. Gates open at 6.15pm on the day of the game.

CategoryReserved Seating

West Stand Upper And LowerUnreserved Seating

West Stand Lower - CornersADULT £17 £10SENIOR, 65+ £14 £822 TO 25 £14 £818 TO 21 £11 £613 TO 17 £7 £412 AND UNDER £1 £1

Car parking is available at the stadium and can be booked in advance via London Irish’s website, price £5 per car.

BIG YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE RETAIL SALEYorkshire Carnegie fans can now pick up the Carnegie home and away replica shirts for just £25 in our end of season sale.

Yorkshire Carnegie 2016-2017 Adult Home and Away Shirts are reduced to £25.

Yorkshire Carnegie 2016-2017 Junior and Toddler Home

and Away Shirts are reduced to £20.

Yorkshire Carnegie 2016-2017 Adult Home and Away Shorts are reduced to £10.

The sale is available online by visiting yorkshirecarnegie.com and in store.

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YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE V LONDON IRISH - A HISTORYY orkshire Carnegie take

on London Irish tonight in the latest instalment of

a history that stretches back to February 1996 when the side’s � rst met in the Fifth Round of the Pilkington Cup at Kirstall. London Irish, who were coached by Clive Woodward and in the top division that season, won 29-13 to progress through, however, it was not until 2001 that we clashed for the � rst time in the league.

Leeds Tykes travelled to the Madejski Stadium in our � rst ever away game in the Premiership back in September 2001. Having defeated Bath at home the previous week, hopes were high, however, the size of the task in the top-� ight became obvious as the Exiles ran out 42-14 winners.

In the return game, the home side were ahead leading into half-time but an interception try for Paul Sackey and two quick tries at the start of the second-half from Barry Everitt and Mike Worsley took Irish into a 29-17 lead. Leeds fought back with a try from Dan Scarbrough but could not � nd a winner in the late stages.

Leeds took revenge for those defeats the following year when they completed a league double over Irish in 2002-03. Braam van Straaten equalled the Premiership record with nine penalties in a 41-16 win at Headingley before a late Chris Murphy try at the Madejski sealed a 26-14 win for Phil Davies’ side.

Fortunes were reversed in 2003-04 as Irish did the double over the Tykes. The � rst game in October in Reading saw the home side win 31-16 despite a sensational try from David Rees, set up by Dan Hyde for the visitors.

The home game completed a miserable run for Phil Davies’ side as they lost their seventh successive game, 16-9, with two late towering dropped goals by

Barry Everitt sealing the win for Irish.

The 2004-05 season was a special one for Leeds against Irish with three victories including our most famous one in the Powergen Cup semi-� nal.

The season started with a heroic win in monsoon conditions in Reading. The � nal � ve minutes of the match saw Irish set up residence in the Leeds 22 and forced � ve scrums. For the last four Leeds were without the back-rows Colm Rigney and Dan Hyde who had been shown yellow cards for killing the ball. However, they held onto the lead given them by a try in � rst-half injury-time from Hyde. Everitt failed to hold on to a pass from a scrum 30 metres from the home line. Hyde latched on to the ball and slid over for a try by the posts.

The return was equally evenly matched and it took a try from Andre Snyman to seal the 16-5 win.

Then in March tries from Chris Bell and teenager David Doherty took Leeds to Twickenham for the Powergen Cup Final.

That win was part of the side’s historic run for survival and a place in the Heineken Cup. It also led to Quins being relegated, a by product of which was that London Irish lacked an opponent for the London Double Header season opener the next season. Leeds stepped up to the mark but lost out 27-11 at Twickenham on Justin Marshall’s debut for the club.

Worse was to come in the return leg when, despite securing a try and losing bonus in a 28-24 defeat, Phil Davies’ side were relegated for the � rst time from the Premiership.

Two years later, Stuart Lancaster’s side were cruelly denied their � rst win of the season in round three. Leigh Hinton and Tom Biggs both crossed for tries and Alberto Di Bernardo landed 14 points.However, David Paice crashed

over for a late score to add to tries from Tomas De Vedia, Delon Armitage and Sailosi Tagicakibau to ensure the Exiles snatched a 26-24 victory - their � rst away win in the league for 10 months.

At the end of the season, after the team’s fate had already been decided, Carnegie lost out 43-20 in Reading.

Two years later, Neil Back and Andy Key suffered one of their heaviest defeats in charge of the club when Irish ran riot at Headingley Carnegie winning 56-7, however, fortunes were reversed in the � nal run in to the season when the Exiles title charge was halted by a heroic team effort at the Madejski Stadium. Irish enjoyed the lions share of possession but a crucial try by Luther Burrell was added to by an incredible length of the � eld effort � nished by Jon Goodridge after an interception by Lee Blackett to seal an unlikely 23-13 season.

The last meetings prior to this season came the year before. Irish took the spoils at home with Ryan Lamb’s boot proving the difference between the sides with Irish scoring four tries to Carnegie’s three.

However, in the return game Carnegie � y-half Adrian Jarvis inspired his side to a shock Premiership victory.

Exiles held a 16-10 advantage at half-time, Ryan Lamb converting Seilala Mapusua’s try after he and Chris Malone had both added penalties.

But Jarvis led Leeds’ � ght back, converting Luther Burrell’s � rst-half score as well as Daniel Browne and Mike MacDonald’s touchdowns after the break.

He then landed a penalty to give Leeds only their second win of the season.

Irish have won all three meetings this season in the league and British & Irish Cup quarter-� nal and lead the overall head-to-head with 13 wins and seven defeats in the 20 clashes so far.

Braam van Straaten

David Doherty

Luther Burrell and Jon Goodridge

YORKSHIRE CARNEGIEPLAYER SPONSORS

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The 2016-17 season has marked the dawn of a new era at London Irish as the

famous old club looks to rekindle past glories.

A new management structure spearheaded by director of rugby Nick Kennedy was put in place last summer, tasked with the job of steering the Exiles back to the Premiership at the �rst time of asking.

Kennedy, aided by experienced technical director Brendan Venter, was joined by Clark Laidlaw (assistant coach), Declan Danaher (defence coach), George Skivington (forwards coach) and Paul Hodgson (skills coach) in the coaching of�ce.

After a perfect pre-season, which saw Irish record victories over Harlequins, Nottingham and Loughborough Students, Kennedy’s men began their Greene King IPA Championship campaign with a 19-0 triumph against Doncaster Knights. Tries from Tom Fowlie and Aseli Tikoirotuma coupled with the boot of Tommy Bell secured the spoils.

The Exiles used this as a springboard to rack up a sequence of 17 straight league wins before succumbing to defeat at the hands of Jersey Reds. Wins against Richmond, Bedford Blues, Ealing Trail�nders and Nottingham in the month of September provided fresh impetus for the men in green to cement their position at the top of the tree.

While the British & Irish Cup got underway in October with a hard-fought win at Ospreys, Irish’s league campaign continued to go from strength-to-strength with a 62-12 victory over London Scottish in Richmond. The Exiles ran in seven tries during a

devastating 80 minutes of rugby in front of the Sky cameras.

Irish backed this up in the following game, running out 35-24 winners at home to fellow promotion hopefuls Yorkshire Carnegie to get the month of November off to a solid start. A brace apiece from James Marshall and Ben Ransom secured the bonus-point.

A trip to Cornish Pirates ensued, before hosting Jersey Reds to round off November, with Irish maintaining their unbeaten record with victories in both.

December continued in much the same fashion, Irish beating Rotherham Titans, Richmond and Bedford to end 2016 in style. January began with a victory at Connacht Eagles in the British & Irish Cup, the competition an opportunity for Kennedy to

blood the next generation of talent. Irish’s winning streak in all competitions came to an end the following week as Ospreys edged Irish 26-24 at the Madejski in the cup, but a semi-�nal lay in wait for the Exiles where they would be knocked out by Jersey on home soil.

Kennedy guided Irish to wins over Ealing Trail�nders, Nottingham, London Scottish and Yorkshire Carnegie, before eventually tasting defeat against the Channel Islanders.

An 82-3 romp over Rotherham in April was just the tonic for Irish as they looked to build momentum going into the play-offs.

Irish saw off Doncaster Knights in the play-off semi-�nals 75-24 over two legs to set up a tantalising showpiece occasion against Yorkshire Carnegie.

OPPOSITION PROFILE:

LONDON IRISH

7


TO WATCH

JAMESMARSHALLJames Marshall joined Irish this season, after his commitments with New Zealand sevens concluded. He is comfortable at �y-half and full-back and his ball distribution is highly regarded. Keep an eye out for his vision too, he has many assists so far this season and his ability to put his team-mates into space is second to none.

MIKECOMANNew Zealander Mike Coman, 28, was with Edinburgh for three seasons prior to his move to London Irish ahead of the 2016-17 season. The back row led Edinburgh to a European Rugby Challenge Cup Final and played two seasons of Super Rugby for the Wellington Hurricanes. He is a workhorse and never stops running, keep a particular eye out for his robust defence today. Coman was named Player of the Season at the club’s End of Season dinner last week.

SEBASTIAN DE CHAVESSebastian De Chaves joined London Irish from Leicester Tigers ahead of the 2016-17 season. A lineout specialist, the South African lock brings energy and experience to the Exiles’ pack. He has been one of Irish’s most consistent performers so far this season and has come on leaps and bounds under the guise of director of rugby Nick Kennedy. He was named Players’ Player of the Season at the club’s End of Season dinner last week.

Nick Kennedy

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Try Con Pen DG Try Con Pen DG

TONIGHT'S MATCH OFFICIALSReferee: JP Doyle | Assistant Referee 1: Anthony Woodthorpe | Assistant Referee 2: Simon McConnell | TMO: Keith Lewis

CHRIS ELDER

JONAH HOLMES

PETE LUCOCK

TOM CASSON

SEB STEGMANN

JOE FORD

ALEX DAVIES

CHARLIE BEECH

MIKE MAYHEW

SIONE FALETUA

MATT SMITH

BEN WEST

OLLIE STEDMAN

RICHARD MAYHEW

(C) RYAN BURROWS

ROSS GRAHAM

LEWIS BOYCE

ROB O’DONNELL

MIKE MYERSCOUGH

RICHARD BECK

MAX GREEN

STEVIE MCCOLL

15FULL-BACK

14RIGHT WING

13OUTSIDE CENTRE

12INSIDE CENTRE

11LEFT WING

10FLY-HALF

9SCRUM-HALF

1LOOSEHEAD PROP

2HOOKER

3TIGHTHEAD PROP

4LOCK

5LOCK

6BLINDSIDE FLANKER

7OPENSIDE FLANKER

8NUMBER EIGHT

16REPLACEMENT

17REPLACEMENT

18REPLACEMENT

19REPLACEMENT

20REPLACEMENT

21REPLACEMENT

22REPLACEMENT

TOMMY BELL

ALEX LEWINGTON

ASELI TIKOIROTUMA

FERGUS MULCHRONE

TOPSY OJO

JAMES MARSHALL

BRENDAN MCKIBBIN

DANNY HOBBS-AWOYEMI

DAVID PAICE (C)

BEN FRANKS

SEBASTIAN DE CHAVES

JEBB SINCLAIR

MIKE COMAN

BLAIR COWAN

OFISA TREVIRANUS

DAVE PORECKI

TOM COURT

OLLIE HOSKINS

GEORGE ROBSON

LUKE NARRAWAY

SCOTT STEELE

GREIG TONKS

YORKSHIRECARNEGIE

LONDONIRISH

LONDON IRISH VYORKSHIRE CARNEGIEWEDNESDAY 24TH MAY 2017, KICK-OFF 7.45PM

The second-leg of the Play-off Final will take place at the Madejski Stadium on Wednesday 24th May.

This will be one of the biggest games in the club’s history, with a place in the Aviva Premiership up for grabs. The club are putting on of� cial travel for this game for £25 and tickets start at £10 for adults and £1 for juniors under 12-years-old.

Please see page 4 for further details and ticket prices. Travel can be purchased over the phone on 0371 423 1315, online at www.yorkshirecarnegie.com or by coming down to the Leeds Rugby Store at Headingley Carnegie Stadium.

TONIGHT'S MASCOTS

LILLY LOFTHOUSEAge: 13Favourite Player: Ryan BurrowsSchool: Thirsk School and 6th Form College

SETH LOFTHOUSEAge: SixFavourite Player: Seb StegmannSchool: Sowerby Community Primary School

CLUB PARTNERS:

ASSOCIATE MATCH SPONSORSFourway CoachesFourway’s GarageGhyll RoydGuiseley, Leeds, LS20 9LT0113 250 5800www.fourwaycoaches.co.uk

YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE vs LONDON IRISH | WEDNESDAY 17th … · Yorkshire Carnegie hold one of fourteen...

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Transcript of YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE vs LONDON IRISH | WEDNESDAY 17th … · Yorkshire Carnegie hold one of fourteen...