Doncaster preview
By Frank Stormont
December 8 2006
Doncaster away will be a close game away from home. Warriors also take on London Welsh Druids at Brickfields and Ladies take on Wasps away. With teamlist from official site
Spy in the Camp Doncaster
Albion's match at Doncaster will be the most difficult match of the top 5 clubs. With the Knights only having lost three matches this season, one more than Albion,
The three teams having beaten the Knights being Albion, Leeds and Pirates and they have now had 6 straight wins.
Predictions show a close match which could go either way but the Knights defiantly have home advantage and Albion have lost twice away from home to lower clubs so far this season.
| Leading Points Scorer's | |||||
| Player | Team | Points | |||
| Alberto Di Bernardo | Pirates | 188 | |||
| Leigh Hinton | Leeds | 169 | |||
| Wihan Neethling | Plymouth | 159 | |||
| Mark Woodrow | Doncaster | 130 | |||
| Tim Walsh | Newbury | 130 | |||
| Top Try Scorer's | |||||
| Player | Team | Tries | |||
| Jason Forster | Doncaster | 16 | |||
| Rhodri McAtee | Pirates | 12 | |||
| Nicolas Sestaret | Plymouth | 11 | |||
|
Kicking Strike Rate |
Conv | Pen | Total | ||||
| S/Rate | Name | Atmp | Succ | Atmp | Succ | Atmp | Succ |
| 85.71 | G Steenson (Rotherham) | 51 | 44 | 12 | 10 | 63 | 54 |
| 83.33 | O Thomas (Moseley) | 24 | 21 | 30 | 24 | 54 | 45 |
| 80.77 | S Nutt (Waterloo) | 12 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 26 | 21 |
| 79.59 | S Binns (Otley) | 18 | 14 | 31 | 25 | 49 | 39 |
| 78.85 | S Ulph (Welsh) | 19 | 16 | 33 | 25 | 52 | 41 |
| 76.09 | J Pritchard (Bedford) | 32 | 25 | 14 | 10 | 46 | 35 |
| 75.76 | R Broadfoot (Bedford) | 18 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 33 | 25 |
| 75.53 | A Di Bernardo (Pirates) | 54 | 38 | 40 | 33 | 94 | 71 |
| 73.85 | M Woodrow (Doncaster) | 47 | 32 | 18 | 16 | 65 | 48 |
| 71.60 | W Neethling (Plymouth) | 49 | 35 | 32 | 23 | 81 | 58 |
If you look at the try, kicking and points scores you will see that the teams are even and even the points scored against are close with Albion letting in 176 points and the best record of the league Doncaster are second with 201 points.
Last meetings
The last meeting between the two clubs came on the third weekend of the season when Albion came away with a narrow win (14-13)
Alllbion Report This Plymouth Report Doncaster Report
Last visit to Castle Park
Albion went down 14 - 9 on 8th October last year with all the Knights points coming in the first half and all Albion's in the second. Of Albion's starting line-up only 9 are still in the squad.
This is Plymouth Doncaster Report
Jon Fabian, Tom Arscott, Nat Saumi, Keni Fisilau, Nic Sestaret, Luke Arscott, Mat Albina, Martin Rice, Stuart Friswell, Scott Zimmerman, John Henry Brown, Tom Hayes, Martin Schusterman, Danny Thomas, Alfie Tooala.
Last three matches
| Home reports | RFU | Away Reports |
| Doncaster | 52-17 | Sedgley Park |
| Newbury | 5-22 | Doncaster |
| Doncaster | 24-11 | Exeter |
Table
| Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
BP |
PTS | |
| 1 | Leeds | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 467 | 253 | 11 | 59 |
| 2 | Plymouth Albion | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 424 | 176 | 9 | 57 |
| 3 | Earth Titans | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 479 | 202 | 13 | 57 |
| 4 | Cornish Pirates | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 460 | 212 | 11 | 55 |
| 5 | Doncaster | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 414 | 201 | 11 | 55 |
| 6 | Bedford | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 425 | 313 | 12 | 46 |
| 7 | Pertemps Bees | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 348 | 370 | 10 | 40 |
| 8 | Exeter | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 293 | 294 | 4 | 34 |
| 9 | Coventry | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 272 | 341 | 6 | 32 |
| 10 | Newbury | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 296 | 353 | 4 | 28 |
| 11 | Nottingham | 13 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 322 | 362 | 9 | 25 |
| 12 | Otley | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 243 | 354 | 3 | 23 |
| 13 | London Welsh | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 241 | 429 | 4 | 16 |
| 14 | Moseley | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 240 | 466 | 6 | 14 |
| 15 | Sedgley Park | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 248 | 498 | 6 | 14 |
| 16 | Waterloo | 14 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 223 | 584 | 1 | 9 |
Predictions
BetFred
| Odds to win league | |
| Leeds Tykes | 5/4 |
| Earth Titans | 11/4 |
| Plymouth Albion | 3/1 |
| Cornish Pirates | 7/1 |
| Doncaster | 7/1 |
BetFred can not split the two teams and have not awarded a handicap.
Terrace Talk
Not yet available
Rugby Round up
The big game of the weekend. All the top five recorded bonus point wins last weekend and these two sides know that the loser here will slip off the promotion pace. The Knights have won their last six and welcomed back skipper, Jason Forster, last week who played for 50 minutes and helped himself to three tries to top the league charts at 16. Albion lie second in the league and have also won their last six. It’s set up for a battle royal at Castle Park but Albion’s two defeats this season have occurred away from The Brickfields and the Knights can inflict a third here by three points.
RurgbyRoundup is currently offline due to technical problems, no clear date for when they will be back.
Frank's prediction.
Knights 17 Albion 20
Don't forget you can register your own predictions!
Visiting fans
Tickets available on the gate:
| Ground & Terrace | Seated grandstand | |
| Adult | £10 | £12 |
| Senior | £6 | £6 |
| Student | £5 | £6 |
| Child | £2 | £6 |
Car park - FREE!!
Programme £2
Food/beer
No information on website
How to get there
(if you are not going on the supporters coach, there are seats available)
Partly cloudy, 8degs, light winds
Officials
Doncaster vs Plymouth Albion
Referee: tba
Touch judges: Chris Sharp, Martin Buck
Other top team matches this weekend
Other top 5 team matches that might effect the league lead
Saturday
Moseley(14) v Pirates(4) (Pirates by *26, #16 points)
Otley(12) v Titans(3) (Titans by *23, #20 points)
Sunday
Tykes(1) v Pertemps Bees(7) (Leeds by *15, #17 points )
*BetFred prices
+Terrace Talk
#Rugby Roundup
Albion matters
The biggest decision on the squad this weekend is probably the Tom, Ed, Nigel mix in the absence of other injuries. With Nigel Cane returning to fitness will he return the starting line up or sit on the bench? If Nigel does start will Graham go with the youth and speed of Tom Arscott or the experience and stamina of Ed Lewsey?
The other decision to make on the bench is have we got a 2nd row on the bench or do we run with Tim Matias and Francisco Deformes? That may depend on if Mike Lewis has returned to full fitness and is up to speed for National League 1.
Wihan Neethling, Tom Arscott, Regardt van Eyk, Keni Fisilau, Nic Sestaret, Ed Barnes, Ed Lewsey, Martin Rice, Richard Oxley, Scott Zimmerman, Colin Stewart, Tom Hayes, Federico Genoud, Danny Thomas(c), Chris Lowrie
Reps Nigel Cane, Arran Cruickshanks, Nat Saumi, Tim Mathias, James Owen, Francisco Deformes, Brett Stroud
Westcountry Warriors
If you are not travelling up north on Saturday then there is the planned match in the Canterbury Shield competition between Warriors and London Welsh Druids at Brickfields.
The match is planned for 2:15 on Saturday and should be on the main pitch if weather permits. The pitch has been cut up a bit during the bad weather so if it is not fit it will be on the top pitch. This means that you will have to be more careful with your beer as it is further to carry it.
With Albion putting 55 points on London Welsh last weekend this could be a grudge match but I expect that it will be another high scouring match which should go Warriors way.
Jon Fabian, Will Gingwell, Sila Vaenuku, Ross Allen, Darren Ritchie, David Delaney, Matt Newman, Mike Hayes, Dean Avery, James Tichias, Bryn Jenkins, Ed King, Ben Sangchi, Ben Rowntree, Fraser Clilverd.
Replacements:
Andy Williams, Steve Johns, Rob Boles, Dan Hawkes.
Ladies
Plymouth Albion Ladies are in action on Sunday as they travel to London Wasps for a 2pm kick off. When Wasps came to Brickfields earlier this season Albion dominated them for the first 20 minutes scoring 2 tries but then allowed Wasps to take the game from them.
The Ladies are on a high after two home wins on the trot which moved them up to mid table and will be looking to continue their run and come home with maximum points