EDF Energy Cup - : Jones of Wales leads Exiles� Trophy reunion

London Welsh's Sunia Koto in action for Fiji

Jones of Wales leads Exiles� Trophy reunion

9 January 2008, 9:29 am

By Jonathan McConnell

London Welsh and their 15 fellow National Division One clubs enter the EDF Energy National Trophy at the fourth round stage this weekend but the exiles from Old Deer Park will be renewing an old rivalry at Redruth�s famous �Hellfire Corner�.

The teams last met in the third tier of the leagues in 1996-97, the season Redruth were relegated before the Cornish club returned to what is now National Two in 2005.

London Welsh have won their last two league matches at home to Esher and away to Coventry and have been boosted by the form of Matthew Jones, the 23-year-old former Ospreys fly-half who was capped by Wales on tour in Canada in 2005 before suffering a serious knee injury.

The exiles also include two powerful recent recruits from the Fiji team which lost to South Africa in the World Cup quarter-finals: hooker Sunia Koto and lock Wame Lewaravu.

Overall the London & South East region has seven clubs in the last 32 of the EDF Energy National Trophy, including two from outside the National Divisions: Richmond and Worthing who currently lie first and second respectively in London One.

Worthing enjoyed a 25-6, three tries to nil, win over Rosslyn Park of National Three South in the last round, and the Sussex side have lost only twice this season – each by a single point in the league at Barnes and Richmond.

But Worthing will make the fourth round trip to Esher without former England wing Tom Beim, who is away until the end of March playing polo in Australia.

BBC sports presenter John Inverdale will be a winner either way in this tie, as he is a member of both clubs.

‘Invers’ is Esher’s chairman of rugby and a regular spectator at Worthing as he has a house nearby.

“There are quite a few connections between the clubs,” said Ian Davies, Worthing’s director of rugby.

“Our player-coach Chris Yates was previously in the same role with Esher, and their coach Mike Schmid took a training session with us last year. Our captain Jody Levett knows a few of their team through playing together for England Students and a couple of our younger players trained at Esher in pre-season.

“So there is a good relationship there even if it might be strained for a few hours on Saturday.

“We’ve set ourselves a few goals but we’re realistic enough to know Esher ought to be comfortable winners if they play at their best.”

Richmond are unbeaten in league and cup this season and closing in on a return to the National Divisions nine years after the demise of their professional side.

Richmond defeated Westoe at the Athletic Ground in round three of the EDF Energy National Trophy but face much tougher opposition from the north as they attempt to bridge a gap of three divisions away to Doncaster, who are fourth in National One.

Francois van Schalkwyk celebrated his return to the wing after a recent stint in the No.8 jersey with four tries in a league win over Hertford last weekend.

And Richmond’s director of rugby Brett Taylor promised to field his strongest team in the cup at Doncaster’s Castle Park.

“I want the boys to go and see how good they are against a National One side,” said Taylor.

“If we play with belief and patience we might just get one or two opportunities to get some points. We’re four points clear in the league at the moment and if we can keep our form then hopefully we can win the league with two games to go.”

Ealing’s sponsorship affiliation with travel company Trailfinders appears ever more appropriate as the west London club hit the road for the third EDF Energy National Trophy tie running.

After long-distance wins away to St Ives and Waterloo, the next stop for Ealing is Sedgley Park in Manchester – that’s a total of 1467 miles travelled for the three matches – in the hope of a giant-killing act against the team fourth from bottom in National One.

Blackheath will be confident of having the edge over Halifax, having defeated the same opposition 32-15 in a National Two fixture in Yorkshire on December 1.

“We’ve slipped up in the cup in the last couple of years,” said Harvey Biljon, the former Natal and Wasps scrum half who is player-coach at Blackheath.

“This season we have taken a new approach, we want to go as far as possible and hopefully test ourselves against a fully professional side.”

The fourth round tie at the Rectory Field has thrown up a rare case of divided loyalties for Duncan Herbert, Blackheath’s ‘supporter of the year’. Duncan is a BBC executive who hails from Halifax and follows his hometown club’s fortunes closely.

Cambridge of National Two knocked out London Scottish in the last round and now play host to Rotherham Titans, who were relegated from the Premiership as recently as 2004.