The Big Match Preview - Rosslyn Park v Birmingham Moseley
Chris Bertram sees a potential hump in the road ahead
So, the long-awaited home victory finally arrived after four barren months, but as ever, Moseley stretched the nerves of their passionate but long-suffering fans in achieving it. A bright start with Sam Pointon outrunning the defence to cross in the corner set hearts racing, and though Taunton equalised through captain and leading try-scorer Charlie Wright and then took the lead with a converted score, Tom Benjamin’s juggling catch and touch down meant that a half-time deficit of 10-15 was deemed catchable.
And so it turned out, though not before Taunton stretched their lead early in the second half to 10-20. First the pack drove prop James Tideswell over, then in the last few minutes Dan Lewis, who had been having an uncharacteristically bad day with the boot, grabbed a peach of an interception and not only scored the bonus point try but also converted it, earning both redemption and a 5-point win to bring the supporters to their feet. The discipline in the remaining minutes when on the back foot in defence to deny the visitors any penalties while holding them distant from the goal line will go down as a triumph for the entire team. Thus was revenge earned for the defeat at Hyde Park earlier in the season.
That win has raised Moseley to 8th in the table, ahead of Taunton and Bishops Stortford, but behind Chinnor. This Saturday’s opponents, Rosslyn Park, by contrast, sit 2nd in the league table, and are clearly challenging for what will probably be the single promotion place.
Rosslyn Park are a team with a history nearly as illustrious as Moseley’s. Formed in 1879, a few years after Moseley, they had a fairly peripatetic existence in their early years, including a spell at the Old Deer Park, but have been at The Rock, their home in Roehampton, since 1956. Their site on the busy Red Rover junction on the South Circular Road has enabled them to earn important revenue from an illuminated advertising sign on the corner facing the roads - this has not been without controversy, but the club has seen off opposition to it for now.
Famous Rosslyn Park players have included England wing Prince Alexander Obolensky, one of a select few rugby players to have a match remembered in their honour, and swashbuckling England No 8 of the seventies Andy Ripley, who supporters of a certain age will remember embarking on his trademark barnstorming runs up the pitch with his long hair trailing behind him, and who will also be remembered for his all-round sporting skills as demonstrated in Superstars, where he came up against former Moseley wing Keith Fielding, by that time playing Rugby League for Salford. Both of these players have bars in the clubhouse named after them, but Park’s celebrity support is almost as notable, with legendary hard-partying actor Oliver Reed having spent many happy hours there, also donating the money for the club’s first set of floodlights.
Facilities at The Rock have been upgraded over the years, and the pitch is now an artificial turf surface, enabling play to go ahead in all but the most extreme conditions. Moseley have struggled to win on this, losing 29-21 in the truncated 2019-20 season, 27-22 in 2018-19, and 30-26 in 2017-18. But these results have all been close, and Moseley have come away with a bonus point or two on most occasions. When Park visited Billesley in November, they came away 8-29 victors over a Moseley side weakened by injuries.
What are we to expect from Saturday’s encounter? Well, Rosslyn Park must start as favourites, with top-2 league position and home advantage. But form since the New Year is not as consistent as might have been expected, with 5 wins and 3 losses - the same, in fact, as Moseley. A tight 10-13 victory last weekend over Cinderford was preceded by losses to top-3 challengers Sale FC and to Rams, while a convincing roll-over of Tonbridge Juddians followed a loss to mid-table Bishops Stortford. Moseley, meanwhile, have put together a run of 4 away wins. Against that, Rosslyn Park have won 9 of their home games to date - but two of the losses there are recent. Maybe there’s a hint of vulnerabilty to exploit?.
As for individual players, Moseley have the potent attacking threats of outside backs Sam Pointon, Aquile Smith and Tom Benjamin, while from the pack Seb Nagle-Taylor has shown his ability to make the best of an opportunity. Park, for their part, boast 12-try back row and captain Hugo Ellis, while Craig Holland has put boot to ball to the tune of 106 points this season.
The away support will be there in force, and optimism within the team is building. Let’s hope that we can carry them to victory this weekend!
Only from the Twitter feed - seems we made far too many basic unforced errors right from the k.o. straight into touch to the last infringement of the game! It's a difficult situation with injuries and bringing in a 24 hour signing into the starting line up. It was good while it lasted but RP are one of the best teams in the N1. Now onto two up coming victories please.
Looks like other results went our way apart from the taunton game. Not the result we were hoping for but was always going to be a tough ask today I thought with so many injuries and new players coming in. Winnable games coming up so not gloom and doom. We probably need another 2 or 3 wins to be safe . Come on Mose!
Looking at remaining fixtures for all teams around the bottom we have Plymouth and DMP, however there are teams who have to play each other. Trying to be positive I think one win and may be a bonus point might be enough. Come on Mose. 5 points on Saturday.
A combination of a top team with a larger budget than us, who weren't blown away by our scrum, on an artificial pitch which we have not won on for ages. Anything from this was always going to be a bonus, the next two games are far more important.
A combination of a top team with a larger budget than us, who weren't blown away by our scrum, on an artificial pitch which we have not won on for ages. Anything from this was always going to be a bonus, the next two games are far more important.
That's about right I would say, but I think our lads didn't give up! RP have some good players who have been with the club for a long time, plus loan/DR Saracens players. But some of the RP supporters I spoke with didn't fancy the prospect of going up to the Championship!
It has been suggested that on any particular day one side can beat any other side as many teams are that close. I think this is a truism. I watched our game at Caldy and whilst we had to do some heroic defending I don't think the score flattered us at all. Since then Caldy have been virtually unbeatable (although I thought we were worthy of at least a draw at the reverse fixture at our ground). So where did we go wrong on Saturday? I couldn't make the game so don't have a forensic analysis. From the so called highlights and the brief report in The Rugby Paper we appear to have picked the day Park got everything right including some very expansive rugby from their backs. Their wingers were on top form and running lines (again only from the highlights) looked superb. We can certainly match this style if only our backs were given the freedom to express themselves. I know we are all "coaches" in our own right but IMHO we need to look again at who plays where. Sam has said that his favoured position is at 9 - so why not start him at that position. We have a real handful of a player in Mason Tonks but he sits on the bench. Injuries have certainly impacted our ability to put out a settled team but where is our strength in depth? Our recruitment policy must come into question and I hope we have learnt lessons from this season when we move into next.
It has been suggested that on any particular day one side can beat any other side as many teams are that close. I think this is a truism. I watched our game at Caldy and whilst we had to do some heroic defending I don't think the score flattered us at all. Since then Caldy have been virtually unbeatable (although I thought we were worthy of at least a draw at the reverse fixture at our ground). So where did we go wrong on Saturday? I couldn't make the game so don't have a forensic analysis. From the so called highlights and the brief report in The Rugby Paper we appear to have picked the day Park got everything right including some very expansive rugby from their backs. Their wingers were on top form and running lines (again only from the highlights) looked superb. We can certainly match this style if only our backs were given the freedom to express themselves. I know we are all "coaches" in our own right but IMHO we need to look again at who plays where. Sam has said that his favoured position is at 9 - so why not start him at that position. We have a real handful of a player in Mason Tonks but he sits on the bench. Injuries have certainly impacted our ability to put out a settled team but where is our strength in depth? Our recruitment policy must come into question and I hope we have learnt lessons from this season when we move into next.
Andy
You make some good points. On recruitment policy and strength in depth, however, it is very much dictated by budget and at present teams like RP have a much bigger available spend than BM. We have to cut our cloth to suit the budget, an issue we learnt to our cost in the past and have seen recently with clubs like London Welsh and Old Elthamians. Our exceptional injury list at times have pushed younger players (who were recruited to develop over the next season or two) into the squad to start games, and they have generally done exceptionally well considering ND1 will have been a big step up for most.
The key to this is of course to get a bigger budget and there is a lot of work behind the scenes to attract more sponsorship, events etc. Its something we can all do by keeping on encouraging friends and colleagues to come to games, identifying companies who might be interested in advertising, buying lunch at the game etc.
Every bit helps as we all try to build the club back to the levels we would wish it to operate at.
