Facing a strong wind, Lions held a powerful Nottingham side to a 9 – 0 lead at half time, and turned round with great expectations of being able to reverse the situation.  Although Lions turned ample possession into pressure, they could not turn the pressure into points.  On the other hand, Nottingham took both of their scoring opportunities in the second half to just about deserve their victory and maintain their push for promotion. 

With Spencer Brown missing, Lions brought Scott Read in on the wing, with Sam Stoop taking the fullback berth.  Toby Handley started at scrum half.  Eddie Simkiss took over from the injured Steve Smith at number 8.  Phil Reed and Rhys Williams, both making welcome returns to Lions, started on the bench. 

A lovely Nottingham switch pass in their own 22 had speedy wing Murphy racing deep into Lions’ territory, but the Lions’ cover was good.  More strong Lions’ tackling kept Nottingham at bay, but they were lucky when a beautiful angled run almost breached the defence, but the ball was spilled with the line open. 

A scrappy period of play when neither side could make any headway against stubborn defences, was ended when a Nottingham break in midfield ended under Lions’ posts and a penalty was awarded for Lions coming into the ruck from the side.  This time David Jackson made no mistake with the simple kick.  ( 3 – 0 ) 

A superb forward drive took Lions fully 30 metres, but all the hard work was wasted as Jon Boden spilled the pass when the ball was released.   

Nottingham were again awarded a penalty in the shadow of the Lions’ posts following another midfield breakaway, and again David Jackson made no mistake with the simple kick.  ( 6 – 0 ) 

A crunching tackle by Sam Stoop saved what looked like a certain try, but Lions were penalised at the ruck and that man David Jackson judged his kick to perfection in the swirling wind to extend Nottingham’s lead on the stroke of half time. 

Half time 

Nottingham        9          Lions    0

Lions had certainly given as good as they got in the first half, and with a strong wind at their backs, the scene was set for them to attack the Nottingham lead.  Again defences dominated the opening passages of play, with neither side showing any real cutting edge to their attack.  Lions came closest to scoring when Matt Davies broke through to dive over, but was adjudged to have bumped into one of his own players on the way and was recalled for a scrum.  Lions benefited from a lineout throw on halfway that was far from straight to drive all the way to the try line, but the ball was deemed to have been held up.  With Phil Reed taking to the field, Lions maintained the pressure, and Eddie Simkiss was held inches short.  More pressure followed as Lions were held agonisingly short of the line on several occasions, before Nottingham were caught offside.  Lions spurned the 3 points on offer and opted for the tap, but a knock on allowed Nottingham some respite.

Back came Lions, but there was just no way through a resolute Nottingham defence.  Then Lions were dealt a heartbreaking blow as an attack floundered in midfield.  Nottingham were on the loose ball in a flash, and good support play saw number 8 Mark Easter crash over in the corner for a try totally against the run of play.  Just to rub salt into the wound, David Jackson added a superb touchline conversion.  ( 16 – 0 ) 

Another long Nottingham break from defence saw Lions somewhat harshly penalised for a late tackle, but justice was done as David Jackson’s kick came back off the post for Lions to clear.  However, the fly half had the last laugh when another handling error in midfield by Lions cost them dear.  From the resultant scrum, the Nottingham number 10 raced through a static Lions’ defence to cut inside and score an excellent solo try under the posts.  He also added the simple conversion to complete the scoring .  ( 23 – 0 ) 

Final result: 

Nottingham        23         Lions    0

Don's musings

If Lions could only have converted possession and pressure into points, they would have won this match against a strong Nottingham side lying second in the league.  Lions have looked sharp in the backs in previous weeks, and it has been the forwards that have struggled to provide possession.  Today it was the forwards that dominated, but the backs just had no answer to a well organised and strong tackling Nottingham outfit.  Better angles of running from deep positions would surely have brought a score when Lions were camped on the Nottingham line in the second half……….but it’s easy to criticise.  What can’t be faulted is the commitment and effort of the whole team. 

It will be interesting to see if Wayne Shelford and Brett Taylor make any changes for next week’s game with the recent influx of new players.  Competition for places can only be a good thing, but it will surely take several weeks for the coaches to develop their best line-up.  The good news is that Lions now have several games against opposition below them in the league.  This is an ideal opportunity for Lions to bed in new players, and also to get a few wins under their belt in the process.  This will set things up nicely for the visit of Nuneaton to Webb Ellis Road, when Lions’ supporters are looking for a performance to obliterate the memory of the humiliating defeat earlier in the season 

Whatever happens, these are certainly interesting times at Lions.  What with new coaches, new players, confusion over what will happen to Mal Malik, and apprehension over the move to play “home” games at the Butts stadium, no-one can claim that life with the Lions is boring!!

Tim Stannard

Since 1968 Rugby have only won twice at Nottingham’s Beeston ground, during which period 22 games have been played there. So although it is not quite as bad as playing Moseley in Birmingham it is not exactly a happy hunting ground for hungry Lions. In recent times some away games at Nottingham, much like some of those against Moseley at Bournbrook, have been lost against the run of play. Rugby’s last visit there at the beginning of the 2000/01 season was a case in point, when everything that could go wrong did so, and Rugby’s failure to wrap up the game in the first half, a course well within their capability, lost them the game 15-12. Even so Nottingham seemed to do their best to avoid winning it. 

Nottingham and Rugby commenced regular fixtures in the 1906/07 season, having played just one Midland Cup tie ten seasons earlier. Since then 137 games have been played, the results of which possess a certain symmetry. Rugby’s 40 home wins are matched by 41 away defeats and their 24 home defeats are very closely matched by 26 away wins. There is no sort of parity for drawn games with five at Webb Ellis Road and one at Beeston. There is, however, a close match in maximum scores with 46 for Rugby and 47 for Nottingham.

So far this season Nottingham have won nine league games, Rosslyn Park, Bracknell, Harrogate, Stourbridge, Doncaster and Wharfedale (H) and Rugby, Lydney and Doncaster (A). four games have been lost to Nuneaton (H) Sedgley Park, Harrogate and Newbury (A). Two games were drawn at Moseley (A) and Esher (H). 

Since Nottingham beat the Lions so comprehensively at Webb Ellis Road on RWC Final day the Rugby forwards have improved noticeably, but the whole team will need to be at perfect pitch to win on Saturday. Kicks at goal will have to go inside the posts and kicks to touch will have to find it every time; the first up tackles will have to be made to count. With fifteen games completed, only Nuneaton and Esher have brought any points away from Beeston this season.

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