This Wednesday East London will take on Goldsmiths with the hope of bringing back the league trophy.
With promotion already wrapped up entering this week, East London sit atop their league with a five-point gap between them and second place Essex. A single point is all that in necessary to take home the title.
Repeat Or Revenge
East London come into this game with something to prove as Goldsmiths are the only team to take points from visiting Nutter Lane. Goldsmiths ran out 36-29 winners after coming back from 17-0 down last time the teams met.
A repeat of that result would be enough to guarantee the league title win, but East London must be feeling they can go one better as they were so dominant for such long periods in their last match-up.
Injury Issues
East London are hit with injuries this week with both captain Harry Walker and vice-captain Lewis Curtis both injured and unavailable, this on top of fly half Emmanuel Varlez being unavailable it does raise the question of where their leadership will come from.
In East London’s last game, we saw Jordan Dowsett slip effortlessly into the on-field captain role and lead by example scoring two tries and totalling 18 points. How Dowsett fills this role this week could be crucial to East London getting what they need from this game and winning the league.
The game will take place at Goldsmith’s home ground, and the slightly smaller pitch suits their pack-dominated play style, and will limit East London’s chances in the open field that they thrive in. East London will hope that the return of Luke Taganekurukuru to the front row will help the scrum that halted a lot of their progress in their last fixture.
End On A High
With Finley McDonald fit and playing in the centre, it gives East London that power running through the middle and the go-forward they need to open up the field for the pace of their outside backs.
Regardless of what happens in this matchup, East London will spend next season in South Eastern division three which is the highest division the club would have played in. The club has made clear strides from last year and is looking to go out with a big win and a trophy.
A Word from the Captain: ‘Going into the last game, our last obstacle for the year, we are all incredibly excited as to guarantee the league title we only need one point from the game. We obviously would like a lot more and owe Goldsmiths after they are the only team to beat us at home this year, we have developed a real rivalry over the year with them.
‘In terms of being at the top of the league going into the last game of the season, it had exceeded my expectations. We were hoping for a cup run and to push for promotion places which we have done. After our performances throughout the year we were disappointed to go out the cup at quarterfinals, believing we could have got to the final.’
