The Premiership's 'New Boys'

On Wednesday 4th June 2014 London Welsh secured promotion to the Aviva Premiership. As with every Championship side that wins promotion, their road to the top flight was long and arduous with the team having to fight tooth-and-nail to get there, but get there they did! London Welsh’s reward this year, is a second bite at the Aviva Premiership cherry.

In order to prepare for the vigour’s of the Aviva Premiership their Head Coach, Justin Burnell, had a very busy summer, signing twenty six new players. Their mix of new recruits is vast, from an experienced World Cup winning All Black to those cherry-picked from the Championship and below.

In the backs, alongside New Zealander Piri Weepu, it is expected that Tim Molenaar and Olly Barkley will fit seamlessly with the likes of Seb Jewell, Seb Stegmann and Tom May and further develop Welsh’s strong attacking game. Molenaar’s go-forward and ambition impressed all who saw him last season at Harlequins, whilst Barkley is extremely eager to add to his 1,588 Aviva Premiership points.

Up front Ricky Reeves, Koree Britton, Taione Vea and Dean Schofield will all add experience and power to ensure that Welsh have the physicality to compete against the strongest packs in the Premiership. Throughout the course of the season other individuals will step up and turn all of our heads; however, at this point in time they are simply known as ‘Burnell’s secret weapons’!

London Welsh is what you would call a proper rugby club; it has old school values and is far from flashy. Team Captain Tom May described the strong ethos and culture, when he spoke to Talking Rugby Union:

“You can see where we are, it is a proper rugby club and it is an old school club with a massive amount of history. Look around, on the walls there are Welsh Internationals and British and Irish Lions all over the shop.

“The club is about people that aren’t flash and that aren’t looking for the limelight. Instead it is about hard workers, people that respect each other and will do anything for London Welsh.”

Two years ago Welsh fought the Premiership battle and lost, so a key question is: are they better equipped this time around? Club Chairman Bleddyn Phillips believes so due to a number of reasons: first, they have enjoyed an extra month of preparation time and do not have any distractions from ‘legal shenanigans’ off the pitch.

Second, Phillips believes that they have a deeper squad in terms of their skills and a stronger sense of spirit than ever before. Finally, and maybe most importantly, they know what to expect having already competed in the Aviva Premiership.

Full-back Seb Jewell remembers their last campaign well and told TRU about the change in feeling this time around:

“It feels massively different to last time. To know that we were promoted straight away is an immediate bonus because previously we had to wait a month or so to find out, which was very difficult.

“Also, last time around I feel that we almost got caught up in the hype of it, we hadn’t spoken about promotion during the season, and we were almost too excited to be playing in the Premiership.

“This time we have a full-on ‘we mean business’ attitude, we deserve to be here and we are here to compete and not just to survive. It is a completely different attitude.”

Competing and putting that attitude into practice starts in just a few days’ time in the first round against the Exeter Chiefs, after that they head on the road to Sale, before hosting Gloucester back at the Kassam.

From Round 1 to Round 22, the Aviva Premiership is a relentless competition and everyone at London Welsh is prepared for the physical and emotional journey that they will go on this season. 

Progression, being competitive and most of all, doing themselves justice are critical objectives for all at London Welsh. There isn't any doubt about the fact that this year will be a step up; however, with Justin Burnell at the helm and one of the strongest cultures in the Aviva Premiership you cannot help but believe that the Exiles will achieve their objectives.

If Aviva Premiership survival is the ultimate result of that then it will have been another memorable season for all at Old Deer Park.