Promotion Playoff Preview

National 2 Promotion Playoff Preview
Ampthill v Bishop’s Stortford
Sat May 2nd, K.O. 15:00, Dillingham Park

After 60 games, 308 tries, 46 wins and 2047 points between them two sides who know each other well face 80 minutes to decide which of them, for the first time in their history, will reach the giddy heights of National 1, the third level in the English rugby structure.

Or put another way, either Ampthill (population 6,000) or Bishop’s Stortford (population 38,000) will become one of the top 40 rugby clubs in England.

Only sport produces occasions like this, where the tension can be felt days before the event, where those involved, be they players or supporters, find their mouths dry and their heart rate elevated just thinking about the match, where those that love the game plan to attend even though they have no direct attachment to either side… This is a big one.

Attacking Lineout
Attacking Lineout

The two clubs have a great deal in common, both are community clubs with thriving Mini & Youth sections, both have multiple adult teams, and both retain a ‘one’ club approach to their development. 36 miles apart both market towns are located about 30 minutes North of London’s M25 by car, both are near arterial routes (Ampthill the M1, Stortford the M11), both have good rail connections to London and both are in comfortable reach of international airports.

Both Ampthill & Bishop’s Stortford were promoted as Champions of their respective National 3 leagues to National 2 in 2013. Despite being affiliated to the East Midlands CB and therefore the North, Ampthill were level transferred to National 2 South for season 2013/14 where they joined Bishop’s Stortford, both clubs arriving at this level for the first time in their history. Both had very successful seasons with Ampthill finishing runners up to a very strong Hartpury College and Stortford, courtesy of a strong end to the season finishing 3rd.

This year Bishops Stortford repeated their successful end to the season but went one better by finishing second after rivals Dorking slipped up in the latter stages, thus qualifying for their first playoff.

Level transferred back to their native North for 2014/15 Ampthill battled for the title all season with Hull Ionians eventually conceding on the last day with both clubs having finished with 6 consecutive bonus point wins.

Joe Sproston's Try From The Lineout
Joe Sproston’s Try From The Lineout

Ampthill’s fly half Joe Tarrant, with 18 tries and 314 points, is the leading points scorer in the National Leagues, while flanker Joe Bercis, with 31 tries, was second only to Ealing’s Phil Chesters in the try scoring stakes. Former Bedford Blue Brendan Burke has added a calm wise head to the backline. Ampthill’s Tongan contingent are now part of the furniture with former internationals Viliami Ma’asi captaining the side, Maama Molitka leading by example after recovering from a pre-season injury which kept him out until after Christmas and new recruit Paino Hehea setting new standards in hair styles. A’s scored 171 tries during the regular season, a remarkable average of 5.7 per game meaning their supporters have had to wait an average of just 14 minutes between tries all season. Amps recorded 26 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats on their way to scoring 1115 pts for, 439 against for a points difference of +676.

Bishop’s Stortford split their kicking duties between fly half Tom Coleman (148 pts) and full back George Cullen (81 pts) who was Oxford University’s pivot in their comfortable defeat of Cambridge in the varsity game. Nick Hankin was their top try scorer with 21 while flanker Stephen Ball managed 12. Saracens Academy and former Millfield 7s star Tom Whiteley made a big impression scoring 10 tries in just 6 games towards the end of the season in his first year in adult rugby. Stortford recorded 20 wins, 1 draw and 9 defeats on their way to scoring 932 pts for, 609 against for a points difference of +323.

Elliot Clements-Hill Scores In The 77th Minute
Elliot Clements-Hill Scores In The 77th Minute

The two sides played each other twice in National 2 South last season with Ampthill snatching a last play of the game draw at Silver Leys having scored twice in the last 3 minutes. The reverse fixture at Dillingham Park saw A’s go behind 0-9, recover to a narrow 12-9 lead at the break before recording a 41-22 victory. In 2011-12 Stortford did the double over Amps returning the compliment from 2010-11 when A’s recorded two wins, both seasons both sides were in National 3 London & South-East.

The Bishop’s Stortford coaching team includes Steve Pope, Ian Simpson and Andy Long.

As a player Steve played for Blackheath, London Welsh, England Counties XV, the Barbarians and Swansea. He is involved with coaching for the England Counties XV and is a Coach Educator for the RFU & IRB.

Andy began his rugby career in Bournemouth, progressing via England U18 & U20 to Bath before making his England debut in 1997, he later played for Munster & Newcastle Falcons before retiring due to injury, taking up a coaching role with Cambridge and subsequently Bishop’s Stortford.

Ian is Head of the Lower School and also Rugby Master at Bishop’s Stortford High School.

Maama Molitika Goes Under The Posts
Maama Molitika Goes Under The Posts

After Ampthill were relegated to level 7 at the end of season 2005-6 Mark Lavery took on the Director of Rugby role and has subsequently overseen 3 promotions while never seeing his 1stXV finish lower than fourth in any league in any season.

He recruited former Welsh international Paul Turner as head coach who includes Bedford Blues and Sale on his playing CV. The former Newport Dragons head coach and Wasps attack coach’s methods have seen Ampthill score the most while conceding the fewest points for two successive seasons in National 2.

Viliami Ma’asi spent 7 seasons with Cornish Pirates during which he represented Tonga in the Rugby World Cup before joining Leeds in the Premiership in 2007, more recently he helped London Welsh to secure promotion to the Premiership.

Defensive Ruck
Defensive Ruck

Maama Molitika was capped 22 times for Tonga and the Pacific Islanders and has 40+ games in the Heineken Cup. He had spells with Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, IBM Big Blue in Japan and Cardiff Blues. 6’5″ (196cm) and 17st (108kg), he can play anywhere in the back five of the pack.

Brendan Burke played for Ireland at Colts and Sevens, Leinster, Rotherham and latterly spent 8 years at Bedford Blues where he became a crowd favourite.

Kevin Barrett’s Premiership career began in 1999 with London Irish and includes spells with Saracens and Exeter, he was also a member of the England 7s squad in 19 IRB 7s tournaments captaining the squad to a famous victory in Wellington, NZ.

Every game between these two sides is competitive, the last six resulting in 3 wins for the hosts, 2 for the visitors with 1 drawn.

Ampthill are at home, they have the experience of playing in a playoff game at this level before and they have a better record over this past season. However, this is now knock out rugby, no one knows who will cope with the pressure best, nor who will rise to the occasion on the day. If you want to find out come along to Dillingham Park this coming Saturday. You won’t find a more compelling form of entertainment this weekend.

Share this:

Team News

Categories

Rugby Questions

We’re happy to help!

Telephone: 01525 403303
Email: marketing@ampthillrufc.com

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST to get our latest news

News Archive

Archives