08 February 2005
Sheffield Tigers and Anselmians both go into their Powergen Junior Vase quarter-final at Dore Moor on Saturday with identical strengths and weaknesses – both are unbeaten this season and heading for promotion, both are looking for a performance that does full justice to their talents.

Anselmians scraped a 9-3 win over Ellesmere Port on Saturday that brought a few harsh words from player coach Murray King and a general hope that such a below-par display might be the wake-up call needed ahead of what is sure to be a very testing game in South Yorkshire.

The plus side of the performance was confirmation that once a side gets into a winning streak, it can often dig out wins which are not necessarily deserved. The team have cultivated a winning mentality and after a good win at Ludlow in the previous round, even a trip to the former winners can be approached from a positive position.

Anselmians also proved at Ludlow that they are fit enough to cope with a heavier pack when they are on their mettle and that they have young backs who can turn a game given a reasonable ball supply.

Success in the league and in the cup has also helped to develop a keenness in the club and created a commitment to training and improving that coach King has done much to promote.

As with other teams at this stage in the competition, promotion remains the main objective, but with a couple of buses booked for Saturday and plenty of other support expected to make the trip, the focus will be very firmly on claiming a semi-final place and keeping the momentum going.

Their hosts are coming from an almost identical position. They boast a string of 26 games without defeat, but Director of Rugby Richard Senior insists that his team is not playing at all well and has much more to offer.

Given the calibre of the players that have been attracted to the club – former Rotherham captain and coach Mike Schmid is the newest recruit – Tigers should expect to do well in Yorkshire Division Two, but Senior’s priorities are not set purely on accumulating a string of wins by bringing in a host of former professionals, helpful though they are in developing young talent and moving the club to a higher level.

“We’re not a ‘win at all costs’ operation.” says Senior. “We only have two players in the side who played when we won at Twickenham and all the lads have given a three-year commitment to the club.

“Since we won the trophy in 1999/2000 we’ve created a new infrastructure in the club and now we have 35/40 players training at each session and instead of it being a first-team squad and the also-rans, we have experienced players working with youngsters and bringing them on.

“We’ve used 39 players in the first team this season because we like to blood youngsters on the way and while it’s true that we have a group of ex-pros who became fed up of the paid game, they are all top-class lads who help the younger end to develop.”

Experience of having played at Twickenham may not be the advantage people expect. Only former North and EnglandA scrum-half David Holmes, now 43, and prop Alan Wall – a try scorer in each of his last five games – are survivors from the last Twickenham adventure.

However, with players of the calibre of Canadian trio John Ashley (ex-Coventry), Ed Knaggs (a Canadian World Cup lock) and Harry Twoes (ex-Rotherham hooker), Doug Trivella (ex-Rotherham centre turned flanker), Matt Walker (ex-Rotherham and Worcester wingman) and Kiwi skipper Rob Pound (ex-Sheffield fly-half) now involved, Senior has papered over the cracks of a substantial post-Twickenham retirement exodus fairly effectively.

It adds up to a stiff test for Anselmians at exposed Dore Moor, but all the evidence points to an entertaining afternoon.