Following their humbling by Nottingham Outlaws last weekend, the Gloucestershire Warriors travel to Leicester to face the Phoenix looking to get back to winning ways in the Co-operative Rugby League Conference Midland Premier division (kick off 2.30pm).
The Phoenix have themselves been heavily beaten by the Outlaws, losing 58-4 on the opening day of the season and last week crashed to a 100-0 loss at the hands of the division’s new boys, Bedford Tigers.
The Phoenix have relocated this season and are playing out of Aylestone St James RFC. They were hoping that the move and the new season would bring them a change of fortune after a dismal 2007 campaign but the size of the loss at Bedford must have hit morale hard.
In front of their own fans, they will be looking to make amends and the Warriors would do well to guard against complacency in their quest for the points.
Last season, the Warriors recorded home and away wins over the Phoenix with the 44-12 victory in Leicester being their biggest ever away win over them.
A Warriors spokesman said: “We have yet to really play well this season. Our ball control has been poor in both our games and you just can’t do that against anyone in this division. If we address that and put some structure back in our game, we are confident that we can go there and get a result.”
“The players we have available are certainly capable of playing some great rugby league but we need to get the foundations right before we can build the kind of game we want to play.”
Coach Tom James will hope to have available most of the side that lost to the Outlaws last week and is happy to give them a chance to redeem themselves against the Phoenix.
“I know we’re capable of better than what we’ve played so far this season,” he said. “It hasn’t happened as quickly as I would have liked but there are definite signs we are progressing. I’d like to see more of the same this week because there are plenty of tough games to come.”
Elsewhere in the Midlands Premier, Bedford travel to Coventry Bears aiming to build on their tremendous win over Leicester but the reigning champions will be in no mood to let their title slip and a close game looks sure to ensue.
The Bears used their bye week last weekend to compete in the Cheltenham 9s at the Cheltenham Rugby Festival and, though they lost all their pool matches, a number of players new to the club gained some valuable experience.
There is a big derby in the East Midlands as league leaders Nottingham take on Derby City in what is bound to be a fiercely contested game. The Outlaws won both the encounters last season but there was precious little between the sides and City will be encouraged by their win over Birmingham last week especially as they came from 22-6 down to win 29-22.
The Outlaws have yet to taste defeat this season and their unbeaten run will be under threat this week.
WARRIORS MILESTONES
Ronnie Haines made his 50th appearance for the Warriors against Nottingham last week. Haines debuted in the Warriors first ever match against Chester Wolves in May 1998 and has also played for Hemel Hempstead and London Broncos ‘A’. He has represented the RLC and has played for England Lionhearts.
Two players scored on their debuts against Birmingham Bulldogs in Round 1. Prop Brad Tindall and stand off Stephan Fourie, who scored three tries.
On Saturday 3rd March, with the Super League Millennium Magic weekend waiting to kick off in Cardiff, Gloucester Warriors played host to Nottingham Outlaws. Pundits predicted a difficult fixture for the Outlaws as they had never previously beaten Gloucestershire at Chosen Hill. However, in a hard-fought encounter, the Outlaws were too sharp for the Warriors and they travelled home with a 14-42 victory under their belts.
The speed of the Outlaw’s attack in the first half caught the Warriors by surprise and the first score for the Outlaws came with only three minutes on the clock. Gloucestershire opened their scoring with a penalty and had a first half try disallowed for a marginal forward pass decision.
The Outlaws replied with two further tries, but failed to secure both conversions – raising the score to 2-16. Stung by this reversal the Warriors redoubled their attacking efforts and the Outlaws’ defence began to creak. The Warriors eventually pierced the Outlaws line to post a try under the posts just on the stroke of half time to claw the Outlaws lead back to 16-8.
The Outlaws started the second half at break-neck speed scoring three tries in quick succession to stretch the lead to 30-8.
The Warriors refused to be bowed and as the Outlaws defence began to tire the more physical Warriors pack began to get the upper hand. As the Warriors finally began to dominate field position a quick tap-penalty caught the Outlaws defence napping and Gloucestershire team scooted in for a converted try that pegged the score back to 30-14.
The last twenty minutes of the match were frustrating for the Warriors. Time and again Gloucestershire came agonizingly close to scoring only to be repelled by the Outlaws’ determined scrambling defence.
As the clock ticked down the Outlaws line held firm, sapping the energy out of a gallant Gloucestershire attack. As the game slipped away from the Warriors the Outlaws found renewed energy and broke out of defence, scoring a further two tries to seal the victory.
The Warriors opened their 2008 Co-operative Rugby League Conference Midlands division rugby league campaign with a hard-fought 32-26 win over the Bulldogs in Birmingham. Three tries in the third quarter took them from a 16-12 interval deficit to a 26-16 lead that ensured an opening day win.
Three tries from South African stand off Stephan Fourie on debut were the highlight of the Warriors scoring as their multi-national line-up featuring two Samoans, a Kiwi and a Fijian came away from a bruising encounter with the points.
Warriors coach Tom James was pleased with the way the new players settled in: “I was happy with the start, today. We made a lot of mistakes but I was pleased with the team in general and with the lads who made their debuts. They all played really well.”
Both sides showed signs of early season rustiness but the Warriors played the better football and, despite being behind for much of the first half, had enough firepower to win.
“We need to get rid of the silly little errors and when we do we’ll be a very strong side,” said James.
There was plenty of dropped ball from both sides throughout the match as they struggled to put some structure into their game.
The Warriors got the scoreboard moving after just three minutes, Fourie capitalised on some early Warriors pressure by dummying through the defence to the posts for a stylish try converted by Tom Bozzard.
However, indiscipline crept into their play and two penalties from Gareth Harcombe and a hotly-disputed try from Mike Jones had the Bulldogs 10-6 up and full of confidence after twelve minutes.
The game flew from end to end with neither side able to take control of proceedings until Kiwi prop Brad Tindall forced his way over for a try converted by Guy Spencer. But the Warriors then handed the initiative straight back to their opponents by making a hash of the restart and Russell Parker sent Jones through a hole to score converted again by Harcombe to give the Bulldogs a 16-12 lead they kept until the interval.
Five minutes into the second period, Ben Constantine ran a superb line to score under the posts. Bozzard converted to edge the Warriors into a lead they were not to relinquish.
Six minutes later, Fourie set Kevin Locke free down the right wing and backed up to score a fine try in the corner. The Warriors extended their lead to ten points ten minutes later when Steve Barnes forced his way over from close range.
The Bulldogs refused to give up and Jones powered over from close range for his third try of the day but the Warriors replied almost immediately with a try straight from a scrum just inside the Bulldogs half, Fourie finding the gap and accelerating away to the posts. Bozzard converted and the Warriors were home.
The Bulldogs scored a consolation try on the final whistle as Parker was too strong for the defence, forcing the ball down for a score converted by Jones.
Teams:
BIRMINGHAM BULLDOGS: Mark Court, Adam Walker, Pete Fullthorpe, Mike Jones (Capt.), Adam Jones, Mark Able, Gareth Harcombe, Mike Tate, Adam Baldock, Sam Woodward, Russ Parker, Glen Willetts, Jon Parker. Replacements: Paul Cadman, Ben Howby, Jack Edwards, Chris Woodcock, Simon Wilkinson, Sam Flatley.
Scorers: Tries; Mike Jones (9, 32, 67), Russell Parker (80). Conversions; Gareth Harcombe 2 from 3, Mike Jones 1 from 1. Penalties; Gareth Harcombe (6,12).
GLOUCESTERSHIRE WARRIORS: Guy Spencer, Rich Carter, Ronnie Haines, Steve Barnes, Kev Locke, Stephan Fourie, Chris Furze, Anton Rhodes, Anton Rhodes, Tom Bozzard, Brad Tindall, Simon Taylor, Steve Davies, Ben Constantine (Capt.). Replacements: Areta Tanoai, Luke Langham, Sam Hough, Danny Price, Jack Petelo, Tom James.
Scorers: Tries; Stephan Fourie (3, 51, 72), Brad Tindall (30), Ben Constantine (45), Steve Barnes (62). Conversions; Tom Bozzard 3 from 5, Guy Spencer 1 from 1.
Referee: Julian Critchley (Southern RLRS)
Star Man: Stephan Fourie
Penalties: Bulldogs 9, Warriors 10.
Scoring sequence: 0-6, 2-6, 8-6, 10-6, 10-12, 16-12, (HT), 16-18, 16-22, 16-26, 20-26, 20-32, 26-32, (FT).
