GK IPA Championship play-offs preview – part 2

 

Leeds Carnegie
Regular season
Started with a disappointing defeat to Nottingham but have picked up pace steadily and finishing very strongly with a particularly fine 34-17 win at Yorkshire rivals Rotherham Titans in their penultimate game. Leeds are another team with roller-coaster tendencies. As well as doing the double over Rotherham they can also reflect on an outstanding 28-27 win at Bristol in December having lost narrowly there in the British & Irish Cup in October. The sides also played out an entertaining return Championship match at Headingley when Bristol scraped home 33-27. London Welsh proved a tough nut to crack, though, and the Exiles claimed the double over them while a sloppy defeat at London Scottish still irks. Generally, however, they have been free-scoring while they also boast one of the meanest defences in the League. Coaches James Lowes and Dave Baldwin are doing a good job and the arrival of Sir Ian McGeechan as club chairman with the mandate of putting together a Yorkshire Carnegie franchise has added fresh impetus at an important stage of the season.
STRENGTHS
Strong, direct with the very forceful backrow and a talented goal-kicker.
WEAKNESSES
Good all-court game, perhaps missing a bit of X-factor and occasionally don't put sides away as they should when in front.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Leeds are very big on the team ethic and few names stand out above others but their backrow of Ryan Burrows, David Sisi and Jacob Rowan are at the heart of everything good. Glyn Hughes is a reliable kicker, wing Christian Georgiou has got gas, Rob Vickerman is a rock in midfield and look out for former Pirates star and play-offs veteran Jonny Bentley who can make things happen.
PREDICTION
Have one big performance in them but do they have two? Possibly a season too soon for this developing team.
PREMIERSHIP POTENTIAL
Sir Ian McGeechan and others dream of maximising Yorkshire's rugby potential and that would be great for rugby in England let alone the North but Leeds in their various incarnations have been around a long time and it hasn't happened yet which makes you wonder what would be different. No sign yet of the fan base a Premiership club needs.
 

Rotherham
Regular season
Rotherham have earned a reputation second only to Cornish Pirates for producing quality players who graduate to the Premiership or Rabo so there is always much interest in their progress. As usual they have been free-scoring but all of their six defeats have been against the three teams they will face in the play-offs. The only really bad reverse came away to London Welsh in February when they were on the wrong end of a 47-16 thumping. Some of Rotherham's best performances have come on the road which is never a bad thing with particularly memorable wins at Nottingham (51-7), Cornish Pirates (40-20), Bedford Blues (33-12), (Moseley 47-21) and London Scottish (24-23). These were all victories of substance and style. There is a team building nicely at Rotherham but are they ready to take the next step?
STRENGTHS
Rotherham possess well-honed survival instincts, indomitable team spirit and die-hard attitude on the pitch. Usually at their best when critics start writing them off.
WEAKNESSES
A lack of obvious big hitters up front and a shortage of penetrative runners.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Again Rotherham are about the ‘collective' but look out for Argentinian centre and goal-kicker Juan Pablo Socino who will be playing for Newcastle Falcons next season, the Irish duo of full-back Sean Scanlon and flanker Ali Birch, flying wing Jamie Broadley and former Queensland Reds fly-half Dallan Murphy.
PREDICTION
The Titans will, as ever, compete and entertain but form suggests they are very much the outsiders.
PREMIERSHIP POTENTIAL
Sport is about chasing dreams and trying to better yourself but you would have to say, objectively, that Rotherham would have a mountain to climb should they somehow prevail in the play-offs. Would ground-share with Barnsley FC should the miracle occur.