London Welsh win RFU Championship

London Welsh 29-20 Cornish Pirates (London Welsh win 66-41 on aggregate)

The battle as to whether London Welsh will be granted promotion looks set to go to the courts after the Exiles overcame their last on-field obstacle to win the RFU Championship.

It was also a fitting tribute to London Welsh legend Mervyn Davies, who died earlier this season.

Welsh managed two tries on the evening as they came out on top of a scrappy affair, but a comfortably impressive 37-21 first-leg triumph in Cornwall last week meant the league success was always well within the grasp of Lyn Jones’s side.

Centre Hudson Tonga’uiha and replacement Jack Moates touched down for the hosts’ five-pointers – Tonga’uiha just after the hour mark and Moates with the last touch of the ball.

Outside half Alex Davies kicking the remaining 17 points in front of a few thousand Cwm Rhondda-singing fans as well as Sky Sports cameras at Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium.

London Welsh captain Jonathan Mills told Sky Sports they had “given the RFU something to think about”. The Rugby Football Union denied Welsh promotion a week ago, and that controversial decision will be challenged by the Exiles as they look to replace the Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership.

Good luck to London Welsh…

…as  they face the Cornish Pirates in the second leg of the RFU Championship final at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium tonight. It is live on Sky Sports 1, kick off 7.45pm.

…and if they win – or at least don’t lose by 16 or more points – as they take the Rugby Football Union to court to demand the RFU’s decision to deny the Exiles promotion to the Premiership is unjustified.

 

London Welsh v Cornish Pirates – tonight the lawyers will be cheering for the Welsh; @premrugby the Cornish.

— Brian Moore (@TAFKAbrianmoore) May 30, 2012

Double success for Welsh judoka Mark Pickering

A Welsh judoka is celebrating a double success after taking gold at the inaugural Barlestone Club Championships just 24 hours after passing his 4th kyu grading.

Picture courtesy of Mark Pickering

Mark Pickering, 26, from Pencoed, Bridgend, is the media officer at the British Judo Association – the national governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport in Great Britain – and has embraced the sport since taking up the role in 2010.

Weekend round-up

• It can’t have been asking too much of Sky Sports to show the penalty shoot-out from the women’s FA Cup final at Ashton Gate yesterday instead of a couple of minutes’ extra coverage of the League One play-off final, surely. The channel cut to Wembley with Birmingham and Chelsea preparing to take spotkicks, which effectively undermined the whole of the rest of the broadcast. Money talks, I guess, but the women’s game is not going to gain support if even a shootout in the final is not deemed worthy of any more than red button coverage.
• Good luck to Wales’s men in their friendly against Mexico at the MetLife Stadium in New York tonight. UPDATE: final score: Mexico 2-0 Wales
• Congratulations to Team GB’s Geraint Thomas and Tom James, who produced promising performances this weekend. Cyclist Thomas finished second in the individual time-trial as the Giro d’Italia, a result he said he was “happy” with in the build-up to the Olympic Games. Meanwhile James, one of the British men’s four rowing, helped his team smash the world record in the World Cup regatta at Lucerne. The event is one of Britain’s strongest events, with Team GB picking up Olympic golds in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

Unfortunately didn’t have enough today but happy with how I’ve finished… Only 8 weeks until the main event, Can’t wait!!! #olympics

— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) May 27, 2012

• Meanwhile, Dai Greene (48.96 seconds) was narrowly beaten into second place in the 400m hurdles in Morocco by the American Felix Sanchez (48.93), one of the toughest obstacles to Greene’s hopes of adding Olympic gold to the world, European and Commonwealth equivalents he has already won

Shane Williams caps thrilling Pro 12 finish for champion Ospreys

Leinster 30-31 Ospreys

Congratulations to Shane Williams, who scored a last-gasp try to win the Rabo Direct Pro 12 final for the Ospreys at the RDS Arena in Dublin in his last game for the region.

Dan Biggar’s nerveless touchline conversion gave the Ospreys the narrowest of wins as the Welsh side denied Heineken Cup champions Leinster the double.

It was a fitting way for Shane – who also crossed for a late try in his final international, albeit in a losing cause against Australia  at the Millennium Stadium in December last year – to end his club career. The winger has played for the Ospreys since their inception (as the Neath-Swansea Ospreys) in 2003, and starred for Neath between 1998 and 2003.

And few would bet against the diminuitive paceman repeating the feat again when he plays for the Barbarians against Wales in Cardiff next Saturday.

Wales face Mexico in New York

England warm up for Euro 2012 in Oslo against Norway today, but Wales will look to build for the next World Cup qualifying campaign as they take on Mexico in New York tomorrow evening.

Chris Coleman’s side will battle the world’s 20th-ranked side and 30 degree heat as they run out at the MetLife Stadium, home of NFL sides the New York Giants and Tim Tebow’s New York Jets.

Wales’s association football encounter with Mexico here tomorrow evening is not likely to be played in front of the same raucous crowd as here for an American football game betwen the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. Picture: Flickr, fabi_k

Wales will be without a number of high-profile players, most notably Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale. White Hart Lane teammate Giovani dos Santos and Manchester United’s Javier ‘Chicarito’ Hernandez are both expected to start for Mexico.

And José Manuel de la Torre’s side will be more concerned about the forthcoming encounter with Brazil in Dallas than Wales, whose last international outing saw them slip to a tame defeat in the Gary Speed tribute match.

But with Wales in a 2014 World Cup qualifying group alongside Belgium, Croatia, Macedonia, Scotland and Serbia, Coleman will feel his side has one of the best chances of reaching a major tournament for only the second time, following their World Cup finals appearance way back in 1958.

And a good performance in New York City by players who will want to be in consideration for that campaign is vital tomorrow evening.