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The Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Bristol tap into class divide in bid to shock ‘posh' rivals and title favourites Bath
When the Rugby Football Union launched its rebrand of the Championship last month, Henry Pollock was put front and centre, made the poster boy by virtue of his five loan appearances for Bedford Blues. You can hardly blame the union for trying to capitalise on the hype but there are better examples of players who epitomise the strengths of the second tier. None more so than James Williams, Bristol's inside-centre who at 28 has taken the road less travelled to the Premiership semi-finals. Williams began his career at Birmingham Moseley in National League One before moving to Hartpury. He joined Worcester in 2018 but managed just one appearance, signed with Sale a year later and appeared just three times and when Covid hit he was released by the Sharks. Soon Williams found himself arranging a return to Hartpury, all the while juggling a job renovating flats in Bristol. For 18 months Williams would set off for Gloucester at 5am, be on the training field at 7am until 8.30am before dashing back to begin work an hour later. In the 2021-22 campaign, he finished as the Championship's top points scorer and Pat Lam soon came calling. 'I actually honestly really enjoyed it,' says Williams. 'They were busy days, obviously you were a bit knackered but it's a testament to Hartpury and the programme they ran, it was very accommodating for the boys who worked. We had a few teachers in the squad and they had to leave at 8am so they'd shoot straight off. The rugby-work balance was pretty savage. 'The bottom line is that I love playing rugby. Even if I didn't make it to the Premiership, I'd still be playing rugby at whatever level for as long as possible. I always thought I'd keep going until something comes along, my dad would always say the cream rises to the top. 'I've been doing a bit of coaching at Dings and they're National One and there is some raw talent out there. Boys are actually class and you think, 'you could be a Premiership player', but it's just having the opportunity and having the coaches who put a bit of time into you. I say it to the academy boys who got released last year, you just have to play rugby and as long as you're playing it and you're enjoying it, you're probably going to be playing quite well so just keep going with it.' Williams admits to suffering 'imposter syndrome' when first joining Bristol, arriving into a changing room filled with the kind of superstars that was once the Bears' calling card. In many ways, however, Williams typifies Bristol's move away from big-spending galaticos. Having spent much of his career at fly-half, he slots in seamlessly outside AJ MacGinty and allows Benhard Janse van Rensburg to do his thing in the No 13 channel. It helps to have firepower such as Gabriel Ibitoye outside him but Williams has thrived at Ashton Gate since Bristol opted to reprise their swashbuckling approach towards the end of last season. 'When I first came into the changing room it was like, crikey, there are some big names around me and Pat has given me the responsibility to drive these boys,' he adds. 'This year I feel like I've shaken that a little bit and people do listen to what I say and I if I can be a solid seven or eight out of 10 most weeks then I know the rest of the boys will be going pretty well outside me if I can just be solid and make good decisions on the ball.' Bristol sealed their semi-final trip to Bath on Friday night with a thumping win over Harlequins last Saturday. Results in April threatened to derail Bristol's season but victory over Bath in Cardiff - albeit against a second string side - put the Bears back on track. They head to the Rec as underdogs but Lam has been quick to point out that since their promotion to the Premiership in 2018 they have won 11 of their 14 matches against their rivals. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion Bristol have not sold their full allocation of tickets with Lam again quick to stoke the flames, suggesting that Bath's 'huge' ticket prices for a stadium with sub-par facilities - 'Even my wife was keen to go and when I went to look at the tickets I said: 'Love, you don't want to get drenched in that rain' - was to blame. And evidently the Bears are tapping into the class divide that separates these two cities, just 12 miles apart. 'It is honestly bred into Bristolians about the fact that Bath, down the road, is seen as an upper class city and they're seen as being quite posh is probably the word,' says Williams. 'Bristolians are probably proud of the fact that they're not like that, it's a working class city and again that is in the blood of the Bristolian lads. When you come to this club everyone understands early on that Bristol v Bath is a humongous fixture, not just for rugby but for the wider communities in terms of what the cities represent. That definitely gets played on and you can see the passion within the boys, getting really emotional talking about it in the week and before the game.'
Powys County Times
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Ealing Trailfinders sealed the defence of the Championship trophy
Ealing Trailfinders sealed their successful defence of the Championship trophy with a 34-7 win at Caldy. The West London outfit ran in six tries to open up an unassailable 13-point lead at the summit with just two rounds remaining. Bedford Blues are on the brink of sealing second spot after a big win at Cambridge, while Cornish Pirates and London Scottish won close encounters against Ampthill and Chinnor respectively. Coventry came out convincingly on top against Nottingham while S unday's game saw Doncaster Knights battle to victory away at Hartpury RFC. Party starts for Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders wrapped up their latest Championship title triumph with victory at Caldy. Craig Hampson's third-minute score represented a perfect start for Trailfinders but they crossed just once more before the interval as Caldy dug in, Hampson turning provider for Francis Moore to dot down. Angus Kernohan's try early in the second period extended the lead to 17-0 but Caldy hit back through Matt Gallagher, who marked his 50th appearance with a try after Ealing's Lefty Zigiriadis had been sent to the sin-bin. The visitors hit straight back as Craig Willis secured the bonus point before Mike Willemse and Rob Farrar added gloss to the scoreline for the champions. Blues run riot at Cambridge Bedford Blues ran in 11 tries to defeat bottom club Cambridge 73-15. The first quarter was hard fought and the scores were locked at 12-12 after 25 minutes, Josh Skelcey and Sam Hanks cancelling out early tries for Blues' Lucas Titherington and Jamie Jack. Dean Adamson re-established the visitors' lead and Louis James' bonus-point score made it 26-15 at the break. It was one-way traffic in the second half as James and Titherington completed doubles and Adamson took his tally to four, while Matt Worley and James Lennon also added their names to the scoresheet. Pirates fight back to down Ampthill Cornish Pirates came from 23-7 down to beat Ampthill 38-33 in a thriller at Mennaye Field. The hosts drew first blood through Josh King but tries from Valentino Mapapalangi and Byron Sharwood, along with three Josh Barton penalties, opened up a sizable advantage for Ampthill. Jack Forsythe and Billy Young reduced the arrears to 23-21 at the break and Pirates went in front when Matt McNab crossed for the bonus point score. Rhys Marshall's try levelled it up at 28-28 but King's second put Pirates back in front, with the boot of Bruce Houston stretching the lead to 10 points. Lekima Ravuvu set up a tense finish with a late try but Pirates held on. Five-star Opoku inspires Coventry win Only Ealing Trailfinders and Bedford Blues have scored more points than Coventry this season and thy underlined their offensive prowess with a 67-5 victory against Nottingham. Winger David Opoku was in irresistible form, crossing for a club record five tries, as the hosts punished a Nottingham team that spent a quarter of the match with 14 men due to a pair of yellow cards. Flanker Matt Kvesic scored the first try, before Opoku scored twice in three minutes – the first following a Sam Maunder kick-through. A penalty try on the brink of half-time confirmed the bonus-point, while Nottingham responded for their only try minutes into the second half when James Cherry crossed in the corner. But Coventry hit the accelerator again as Opoku added three more tries, Aaron Hinkley, Tom Hitchcock (2) and Will Lane also crossed to cement a special win. Scottish edge past Chinnor London Scottish put some distance between themselves and Chinnor in the scrap for ninth-place with a 24-19 away win. The visitors made a fast start and crossed for the first try in the 10th minute as Jonny Law crossed, but Chinnor hit back with two tries to take a 12-7 lead shortly before half-time. Roman Zheng replied for Scottish, before Will Trenholm powered over on the stroke of half-time whistle to establish a 21-12 lead. Kieran Goss threatened a Chinnor comeback by scoring a try 10 minutes from time, but a late Josh Bellamy penalty secured Scottish the points. Doncaster hang on to win thriller Obi Ene scored two tries as Doncaster Knights saw off Hartpury RFC 41-35 and leap into fourth place in the table. In a thrilling final 10 minutes, the two teams traded three tries but Hartpury just ran out of time to snatch an unlikely win. Hartpury were quick out of the blocks, as Josiah Edwards-Giraud and Toti Benz-Solomon crossed for tries within the first 10 minutes, before Ene replied for the Knights. Alex Dolly and Ben Murphy then helped Knights into a 19-15 half-time lead with a try each, while Ene's second soon after the re-start looked to have put the visitors decisively clear. Zach Kerr added a further score but James Short reduced the gap to 34-23 with 11 minutes to go. Oliver Fox seemingly iced the game for Knights with a try five minutes from time, but Alex Morgan's score and a Harry Bazalgette penalty cut the gap to six at full-time.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Trailfinders wrap up Championship title with win at Caldy
By Paul Martin Ealing Trailfinders sealed their successful defence of the Championship trophy with a 34-7 win at Caldy. The West London outfit ran in six tries to open up an unassailable 13-point lead at the summit with just two rounds remaining. Bedford Blues are on the brink of sealing second spot after a big win at Cambridge, while Cornish Pirates and London Scottish won close encounters against Ampthill and Chinnor respectively. Coventry came out convincingly on top against Nottingham while Sunday's game saw Doncaster Knights battle to victory away at Hartpury RFC. Party starts for Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders wrapped up their latest Championship title triumph with victory at Caldy. Craig Hampson's third-minute score represented a perfect start for Trailfinders but they crossed just once more before the interval as Caldy dug in, Hampson turning provider for Francis Moore to dot down. Angus Kernohan's try early in the second period extended the lead to 17-0 but Caldy hit back through Matt Gallagher, who marked his 50th appearance with a try after Ealing's Lefty Zigiriadis had been sent to the sin-bin. The visitors hit straight back as Craig Willis secured the bonus point before Mike Willemse and Rob Farrar added gloss to the scoreline for the champions. Blues run riot at Cambridge Bedford Blues ran in 11 tries to defeat bottom club Cambridge 73-15. The first quarter was hard fought and the scores were locked at 12-12 after 25 minutes, Josh Skelcey and Sam Hanks cancelling out early tries for Blues' Lucas Titherington and Jamie Jack. Dean Adamson re-established the visitors' lead and Louis James' bonus-point score made it 26-15 at the break. It was one-way traffic in the second half as James and Titherington completed doubles and Adamson took his tally to four, while Matt Worley and James Lennon also added their names to the scoresheet. Pirates fight back to down Ampthill Cornish Pirates came from 23-7 down to beat Ampthill 38-33 in a thriller at Mennaye Field. The hosts drew first blood through Josh King but tries from Valentino Mapapalangi and Byron Sharwood, along with three Josh Barton penalties, opened up a sizable advantage for Ampthill. Jack Forsythe and Billy Young reduced the arrears to 23-21 at the break and Pirates went in front when Matt McNab crossed for the bonus point score. Rhys Marshall's try levelled it up at 28-28 but King's second put Pirates back in front, with the boot of Bruce Houston stretching the lead to 10 points. Lekima Ravuvu set up a tense finish with a late try but Pirates held on. Five-star Opoku inspires Coventry win Only Ealing Trailfinders and Bedford Blues have scored more points than Coventry this season and thy underlined their offensive prowess with a 67-5 victory against Nottingham. Winger David Opoku was in irresistible form, crossing for a club record five tries, as the hosts punished a Nottingham team that spent a quarter of the match with 14 men due to a pair of yellow cards. Flanker Matt Kvesic scored the first try, before Opoku scored twice in three minutes – the first following a Sam Maunder kick-through. A penalty try on the brink of half-time confirmed the bonus-point, while Nottingham responded for their only try minutes into the second half when James Cherry crossed in the corner. But Coventry hit the accelerator again as Opoku added three more tries, Aaron Hinkley, Tom Hitchcock (2) and Will Lane also crossed to cement a special win. Scottish edge past Chinnor London Scottish put some distance between themselves and Chinnor in the scrap for ninth-place with a 24-19 away win. The visitors made a fast start and crossed for the first try in the 10th minute as Jonny Law crossed, but Chinnor hit back with two tries to take a 12-7 lead shortly before half-time. Roman Zheng replied for Scottish, before Will Trenholm powered over on the stroke of half-time whistle to establish a 21-12 lead. Kieran Goss threatened a Chinnor comeback by scoring a try 10 minutes from time, but a late Josh Bellamy penalty secured Scottish the points. Doncaster hang on to win thriller Obi Ene scored two tries as Doncaster Knights saw off Hartpury RFC 41-35 and leap into fourth place in the table. In a thrilling final 10 minutes, the two teams traded three tries but Hartpury just ran out of time to snatch an unlikely win. Hartpury were quick out of the blocks, as Josiah Edwards-Giraud and Toti Benz-Solomon crossed for tries within the first 10 minutes, before Ene replied for the Knights. Alex Dolly and Ben Murphy then helped Knights into a 19-15 half-time lead with a try each, while Ene's second soon after the re-start looked to have put the visitors decisively clear. Zach Kerr added a further score but James Short reduced the gap to 34-23 with 11 minutes to go. Oliver Fox seemingly iced the game for Knights with a try five minutes from time, but Alex Morgan's score and a Harry Bazalgette penalty cut the gap to six at full-time.
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Grand plan for England's struggling second-tier: rebrand it as ‘the Champ'
Is there nothing that Henry Pollock cannot do? Not only is he being used to sell headbands in the Northampton Saints club shop but the tearaway Lions flanker was also the unwitting poster boy for the great relaunch of the second tier of English rugby. By removing seven letters, the boring old Championship has become the sexy new Champ Rugby – there's good money in being a brand consultant – with Pollock being used front and centre behind the strapline of the 'The Proving Ground' by way of his five games on loan at Bedford Blues. A new name, a new logo, a new format and lots of talk of growing aspiration but the age-old question of whether the drawbridge to the Premiership will ever be fully lowered remains frustratingly opaque. What we do know is that Champ Rugby will be made up of 14 teams, including a reformed Worcester Warriors. The champions will be determined by a play-off system from the top six teams that has been unashamedly borrowed from French rugby. Telegraph Sport understands that further radical changes are being considered for the 2026-27 season, including law-trial changes which would allow a team who score a try to either take a conversion or restart play with an attacking scrum from the opponent's 22. However, the biggest question will be whether a path to promotion and relegation between the top two tiers of English rugby will be realised in light of Telegraph Sport 's revelation that the Premiership wants to move to a franchise system. This proposal was endorsed by Bill Sweeney, the Rugby Football Union chief executive. 'The old traditional one-up, one-down promotion and relegation system doesn't currently work in England,' Sweeney said. In theory, there should be a play-off between the winners of the Championship – with Ealing needing one more victory to secure the title – and the team who finish bottom of the Premiership to determine who goes into the top flight the following season. However, this is subject to the Championship clubs meeting the minimum standards criteria (MSC) which only Doncaster Knights, who are 23 points behind Ealing, have passed. However, at the virtual launch of Champ Rugby, there were lots of positive noises that the MSC – or as Coventry chief executive Nick Johnston described it the 'charade of the audit' – will be revised in time for next season. Simon Gillham, the Tier 2 (T2) board chair, said: 'We have had discussions and an oral commitment that we will revisit those minimum operating standards for next year because quite frankly the way things happened this year was not satisfactory as far as tier two was concerned. We need to have a runway where you need to agree to certain conditions by certain times in order to be promoted or relegated.' This was endorsed by Conor O'Shea, the executive director of performance at the RFU who also sits on the T2 board, who says 'grown-up conversations' have been taking place after years of mutual antagonism between the Premiership and Championship, saying: 'How do you make it accessible to them [the Championship clubs] without breaking them?' Part of the reason that the Champ is rebranding itself and starting its own minimum standards criteria for clubs entering from the National Leagues is to show that it has its own house in order. 'We want to inspire desire rather than pity,' Gillham explained. 'We have got to get our house in order' There was also precious little clarity over the role of access to P shares (a perpetual share that grants a Premiership club a percentage of the league's central income and voting rights) or a more equitable funding arrangement, but as the chief executive of a club who failed the audit, Johnston says the days of backbiting are over. 'We can sit back and whinge or we can get off our backsides and do something about it and that's what we are doing,' Johnston said. 'We have noticed a step change in how serious PRL [Premier Rugby Limited] are starting to take us because we have got our act together and our house in order.' Part of getting their house in order will be a restriction of six dual-qualified players in any match-day squad after London Scottish once snuck in 12 Harlequins for a match against Doncaster. Meanwhile, the team who finish bottom will be automatically relegated to National 1 and the teams finishing 12th and 13th will face each other in a single-leg play-off with the loser facing the National 1 play-off winner for a place in Champ Rugby.
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Lane signs contract extension with Bristol Bears
Bristol Bears full-back Rich Lane has agreed a contract extension with the Gallagher Premiership outfit which will keep him at the club for another joined Bristol from Championship side Bedford Blues in May 2022 after a successful loan spell and has made 59 appearances for the director of rugby, Pat Lam, said everyone at the club was pleased that the 31-year-old would be able to "continue his impressive rugby journey with the Bears"."He has been a consistent performer since he arrived from Bedford in the Championship nearly four years ago, making an impact for our team on and off the field," Lam added.
