FEAST OF RL IN BRISTOL THIS WEEKEND

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Matt Anniss

Would-be Rugby League fans are being treated to a feast of Rugby League in Bristol this weekend, as the countdown to the city’s involvement in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup intensifies.

Fans keen to get a taste of League before the city hosts a World Cup game between USA and the Cook Islands in October can take in no less than FOUR matches in Bristol this weekend, with games spread over Saturday and Sunday.

Both Bristol Sonics’ adult sides will be in action on Saturday at Clifton RFC, Henbury, with the action starting at 1pm as the club’s second team aims to boost their West of England League play-off hopes with a win over local rivals Somerset Vikings.

Then, from 2.30pm, the Sonics take on fellow Conference League South title rivals Sheffield Hallam Eagles in a must-win shoot-out for top spot.

The Sonics currently sit top of the Conference League South table, one point ahead of pre-season favourites Sheffield Hallam Eagles, a club set up by Sheffield Hallam Eagles and 2012 Kingstone Press Championship winners Sheffield Eagles, and featuring many players from the latter’s “performance pathway”.

When the two sides met on the opening day of the season at Don Valley Stadium, home of the Eagles’ professional side and training base for London 2012 Gold medalist Jessica Ennis-Hill, it was the Sonics who prevailed in a high scoring thriller. Yet when the two sides last clashed, at Dings in early June, it was Sheffield who won, battering the home side in another entertaining contest.

The two could yet meet in the end-of-season Grand Final at Hemel Stags’ Pennine Way ground in September, but neither side are looking that far ahead. With top spot at stake, both teams will be focused on getting a win on Saturday.

Sonics coach Aran Simm, who will be coaching both sides on Saturday due to the absence of Director of Rugby Karl Fearnley, said: “We’ve got a chance to do something very special on Saturday, but it will be incredibly difficult. Sheffield are a top side full of talented young players, some of whom are pressing for selection to the Eagles’ Championship side, which shows their quality. If we win it would be a momentous result. We’ve already beaten them once this season, so we know it can be done. Whatever happens, it should be a superb, high quality, highly intense game of Rugby League.”

Simm will have to make do without a string of Sonics’ first team regulars, including captain Dom Swann, prop Daniel Brooker and loose forward Rob Verber. He can welcome back hooker Harry Marson, and hopes to have experienced forward Wes Rodgers available after a short injury lay-off.

Bristol Sonics’ Chairman Phil Cole is excited by the prospect of Saturday’s double-header at Clifton. He said: “This is the first, and possibly only, time this season both adult teams will be at home on the same afternoon. With both games meaning a lot to the teams’ league position, we’d love to get a big crowd to support the lads. They’ve been doing great things on the pitch for a while now, so it would be great for the Bristol public to get behind them. Even if you’ve never been to watch a Rugby League match before, we can guarantee you’ll be entertained.”

Entrance to Clifton on Saturday is £3, including complimentary, full colour matchday programme.

The Rugby League action continues on Sunday, as the Sonics’ juniors face their counterparts from Old Patesians, Cheltenham, at Dings Crusaders RFC, Lockleaze (10.30am start, free entry). The Sonics under 14 and under 16 teams will both be in action, for only their second outing of the season, following games against Aber Valley in Wales last month.

For more information about the Sonics, fans are advised to check out www.bristolsonics.com and www.twitter.com/BristolSonicsRL

SATURDAY 6th JULY

Clifton RFC, Henbury

13.00 – Bristol Sonics ‘A’ v Somerset Vikings (West of England League)

14.30 – Bristol Sonics v Sheffield Hallam Eagles (Conference League South)

Entrance £3 including programme

SUNDAY 7th JULY

Dings Crusaders RFC, Lockleaze

10.30 – Bristol Sonics U16 v Chletenham Old Patesians U16

followed by Bristol Sonics U14 v Cheltenham Old Patesians U14

Free entrance

SONICS SET FOR SHEFFIELD SHOWDOWN

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Matt Anniss

Bristol Sonics’ unbeaten record will face its sternest test of the season on Saturday, when form team Sheffield Hallam Eagles make the long trip Dings Crusaders’ Landseer Avenue ground in Lockleaze.

With the Sonics usual home ground Clifton RFC unavailable for the next four weeks due to urgent pitch repairs, Saturday’s crunch game will be played at Landseer Avenue in Lockleaze, home of rugby union National League 2 side Dings Crusaders.

The Sonics will be based at Landseer Avenue until the end of June. That means all first and second team games, and under-14 and under-16 coaching sessions, which begin this Sunday (19^th May, 10.30am), will take place at Dings’ famous home ground.

Saturday’s game is undoubtedly the most important game of the season so far for both sides. The Sonics won a high scoring nail-biter when the two sides clashed on the opening day of the season, but since then the Eagles have swept aside all-comers with ease.

The Sonics have yet to taste defeat this season, having won all five of their Conference League South matches. While there have been some comfortable victorties, including last weekend’s 40-6 away win at St Albans, the Sonics have yet to hit top form.

With Sheffield Hallam able to call on Academy players from professional side Sheffield Eagles, the 2012 Kingstone Press Championship winners, Sonics’ Director of Rugby Karl Fearnley knows his side face a tough task on Saturday.

Fearnley said: “If we’re not at the top of our game on Saturday, the Eagles will rip us apart. They’re a fantastic side, and can call on some extremely talented young players, some who have huge futures in professional Rugby League. The key battle will be in the forwards. If we can slow them down and win that battle, we’ll have a great chance of winning. It should be a cracking game.”

Fearnley is sweating on the fitness of influential captain Dom Swann, who inspired his team to victory last weekend. The veteran stand-off will have a fitness test before the game. The Sonics will also be without hookers Harry Marson, who impressed last weekend, and Matt Williams, who has chosen to step down to Tier 4 and play with his local side, Gloucestershire Warriors.

Sonics second team will be looking to build on their good start to the West of England League season when they travel to Oxford Cavaliers on Saturday.

Last weekend the Sonics’ Seconds opened their account with a hard-fought 26-20 win over bitter local rivals Swindon St George.

Bristol Sonics face Sheffield Hallam Eagles at Dings Crusaders RFC, Lockleaze, on Saturday 18 May, kick-off 2.30pm.

SONICS SET FOR SHEFFIELD SHOWDOWN

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Matt Anniss

Bristol Sonics will be looking to make a flying start when they kick off their Conference League South campaign at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium on Saturday.

The Sonics, who have not played since tumbling out of the prestigious Challenge Cup competition at the hands of National Conference side Eccles in October, face a tough task against Sheffield Hallam Eagles, a new club set up by Sheffield Hallam University and 2012 Cooperative Championship winners Sheffield Eagles.

Both sides will be looking to make a winning start in Conference League South, the Rugby Football League’s new ‘tier 3’ division for leading amateur clubs based outside the club’s traditional Northern ‘heartlands’. The new league replaces Conference League Three, the division that the Sonics competed in last season.

On Saturday, both sides could field a number of players with semi-professional experience thanks to new rules that allow ‘dual registration’ of players between Championship, Championship One and Conference League South clubs.

The Sonics have taken advantage of this rule by joining forces with Cheltenham-based Championship One side University of Gloucestershire All Golds. Many of the latter’s playing squad have been ‘dual registered’ with the Sonics, allowing them to appear in Conference League South.

Sheffield Hallam Eagles are in a similar position thanks to their close ties to former Challenge Cup winners Sheffield Eagles. Many of the latter’s fringe players, a number of which study at Sheffield Hallam University, are in line to feature on Saturday. While most have little or no first team experience, they will provide a stern test for the Sonics.

Sonics Director of Rugby Karl Fearnley has announced a strong squad for the trip to the home of Sheffield Eagles and Olympic heptathlon star Jessica Ennis. He’s able to field Sonics’ All Golds signees Marcus Brooker and Mike Norman, and could hand debuts to Max Davies, Liam Walker, Jack Spooner and Darren van Hoof.

Fearnley isn’t too worried by his side’s lack of match practice. He said: “While there’s a chance that we’ll be pretty rusty and rough round the edges, the lads have been training really well and the addition of All Golds squad players will strengthen us,” he said. “I don’t expect us to hit top form straight away, but if we can do the basics well and build on the success we enjoyed in the second half of the 2012 season, we should be able to put in a decent performance.”

The Sonics struggled in the early part of 2012, and it took them nearly three months to adjust to the intensity of Tier 3 amateur Rugby League. They finished the season in style, though, winning five of their last six games, including a famous victory over Champions elect – and now Championship One side – Hemel Stags.

Sonics captain Dom Swann believes that this experience will stand them in good stead this season: “It was a tough season last year, but by the end we really looked the part and were unlucky not to make the play-offs. We now know what it takes to compete at that level, and hopefully we’ll be on the ball from the word go. We think that Conference League South will be really tight this year, with all six teams being capable of taking points off one another. If we want to do well, we need to hit the ground running.”

Their opponents on Saturday, Sheffield Hallam Eagles, will be playing their first match together. However, with the majority of their players coming from the university’s first team and a smattering of future professional stars, they should be as strong a side as the Sonics will face this year.

Sheffield Hallam Eagles Head Coach Andrew Henderson – Scotland international and Sheffield Eagles’ first team hooker – is confident that the team can perform well this season. He said: “We see this team as an integral part of Sheffield Eagles’ player performance pathway. Competing in Conference League South will enable our performance players and Sheffield Hallam students to continue their Rugby League education in a closely fought competition. The club has come together very quickly so we’ll have to hit the ground running straight away. If we do that, I’m confident that we can have a tilt at winning the League.”

Sonics captain Dom Swann, who begins his 11^th season with the club on Saturday, is wary of making similar predictions. “Of course every club in the League privately thinks that they have a chance of winning the title, because on paper all the teams look evenly matched,” he says. “Very few will come out and say ‘yes, we’re going to win this’, because that would be a foolish thing to do. There are six teams in the League, and six teams that could potentially win it – it’s going to be that tight. We’re confident that we’ll do quite well, but only if we play to our potential every week. There will be no ‘easy wins’ this season.”

Bristol Sonics face Sheffield Hallam Eagles at Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield, on Saturday 6^th April, kick-off 2.30pm. Entrance is £3 for adults, £2 for OAPS and £1 for under 16s and students (with a valid NUS card).