Left Lineout: November

It was a funny feeling: preparing for a new RFU Championship season that would begin at Lady Bay, with a World Cup on the horizon, and the Tongans, with all their magic and muscle, coming to town. Yep, back in August there was something close to optimism in the crisp, Nottingham air.

 

Sure, there was the usual chopping and changing of players over the summer, and sure it was definitely in the ‘overhaul’ rather than the ‘strengthening’ category this year. There’s not enough room to go into all the ins and outs here, but most notably Bedford Blues and relegated Plymouth Albion had been plundered for reinforcements, with Lawrence Rayner joining at fly-half, while skipper Brent Wilson sadly retired, unable to overcome his knee injury problems, passing on the armband to club stalwart Dan Montagu.

 

Of particular cause for celebration was the long-awaited launch of Nottingham Rugby’s new academy, with over 100 players from the surrounding areas at both Under-17 and Under-20 level passing through for trials under the watchful gaze of Matt Everard and Joe Cobden.

 

Everything seemed to be coming together. There was no doubt about it, things seemed rosy down at the Bay.

 

The Tonga game was, in every sense of the word, a rip-roaring success. A sell-out crowd of 2,500 packed into the Bay to see Tonga gear up for the World Cup with a storming match against our very own Green and Whites, who, to a man, stood up and went toe-to-toe with the Pacific Islanders, running in two tries of their own as the visitors chalked up 11 in a thrilling 69-14 win. It was the first time Nottingham Rugby had hosted an international side, and for Pila Iongi and Vili Hakalo, it must have been an emotional day.

 

But fast-forward just a few short weeks and things started turning a little bit sour. Three games in to the Championship season and Martin Haag’s men were yet to register a win. The season opener against the Cornish Pirates down in the sunshine on the south coast was a slow burner, with just a single penalty in the opening half before a Iongi try – clearly taking inspiration from his countrymen – nudged the Green and Whites ahead. However, the old problem of indiscipline that has dogged the side so severely in recent years took less than an hour to rear its ugly head as debutant prop Kieran Davies – formerly of the Pirates – was sin binned. It turned the game and the home side made the man advantage count, closing out a 18-14 win at Mennaye Field.

 

A week later and the Doncaster Knights offered a good chance to get some points on the board, though we were hoping for more than a couple of losing bonus points in a 36-30 defeat, the highlight of which was another lung-busting try from Iongi. Once again, it was poor discipline that cost us as we gifted a plethora of penalties to a strong Doncaster side, who gobbled up the points like a new Nottingham student tucking into their first Chunky Chicken.

 

Escaping from Ashton Gate with anything from promotion favourites Bristol was always going to be a tall order, but the reality was that this was the best Nottingham performance of the season to date. Josh Skelcey, in for Iongi, was a constant thorn in the side of the hosts as we amassed a credible 31 points. But it wasn’t enough. The hosts showed the depth of their squad – and their pockets – with six tries of their own, ably supported by the steady boot of Gavin Henson, to seal a 15-point victory that left us second-bottom of the Championship table.

 

In truth, none of the performances over the opening three games had been that bad. Sure, the defence was proving far too weak, but we’d played some good stuff and there was a feeling that against Moseley we might finally get up and running. So did everyone else, though, as the Robin Hood Marathon meant only a handful made it to the Bay to see us record a 34-22 win. For anyone that missed it, Paul Grant grabbed a hat-trick, and despite the paltry attendance, the sigh of relief at full time was audible as far away as Lambley.

 

Bedford away is the kind of game it’s better to just forget as we quickly lost that winning feeling, but we bounced back with a fantastic win over London Welsh, where we looked a different side to the one that had been so careless just a week earlier. Bouncing back is something we’re going to need to be good at this season. With so many mid-level Championship clubs capable of beating one another, our form chart is going to remain an erratic beast, so the fact that the boys have already shown how capable they are of responding to a shellacking is wonderfully encouraging. I’m not sure whether that’s an optimistic outlook, or the exact opposite. Time will tell, I guess.

 

The Welsh result certainly set us up for bigger things, too, as we followed that result up with a dramatic 18-17 win over London Scottish that saw us throw away a 15-0 lead, only for Dan Mugford to win the game with a last-minute drop goal. And before you knew it, we had three wins on the spin as Jersey were sent packing 29-27 in the season’s most pleasant away trip. All of which leaves us sixth in the Championship table, par for the course.

 

Anyway, that little lot brings us up to date with everything that’s happened on the pitch, but what’s far more important this month is what’s been going on off it. Just off it. In fact, about 15 yards off it, to be precise, because by far the biggest issue of the opening weeks of the season is the ongoing problems with the development of the Bay. Now bear with me here, because there’s a lot of moving pieces at work.

 

The situation, as I understand it, is this: when the club moved back to the Bay in January, the temporary stands and facilities were installed without the need for planning permission from Rushcliffe Borough Council. However, that permission has now expired, and temporary applications covering the stands, hospitality area and Portakabins have now been made. However – and crucially – the initial application for the marquee that’s become a fixture at the Bay has been rejected, and an enforcement notice for its removal has been issued.

 

A group spearheaded by a few local residents around Lady Bay are campaigning for the marquee to be denied the planning permission required, while the club say that they expected the application to be approved, but acknowledge they haven’t communicated well enough with people in the area. It’s a tense situation. Clearly there’s a small but angry group of people who don’t want rugby anywhere near their part of the city, but the club hasn’t handled things well, and an amicable conclusion seems some way off.

 

Honestly, sharing a tent hasn’t been this problematic since Scott and Oates went to the Antarctic. Oh, and let’s not even talk about England’s World Cup effort.

 

Still, the new season is up and running rugby lovers, so that’s something to cheer at least.

Nottingham Rugby