Rugby Union: Richmond primed to cast aside woes in cup of hope

IF GARY PLAYER'S clever one-liner about the umbilical link between sporting discipline and sporting achievement - "The more I practise," he famously pronounced, "the luckier I seem to get" - struck a chord with generations of hack golfers, it cuts very little ice at the Madejski Stadium these days.

No one, but no one, works harder at their rugby than John Kingston and Ben Clarke, respectively coach and captain of Richmond, yet their unstinting efforts have left them with one foot among the also-rans of the Allied Dunbar Premiership and the other in a financial black hole. So much for Gary the Great and his homespun philosophy.

Were it not for their bad luck, Richmond would have no luck at all. In the space of two seasons, they have been shafted by their local council, lost Scott Quinnell to homesickness and seen Ashley Levett, their resident moneybags, disappear into the distance, leaving the whole shooting match in what is euphemistically known as "administration". Thirty-four redundancies later, they have been informed that this year's Tetley's Bitter Cup champions will not merit a place in next season's European Cup. All they need now is an outbreak of measles.

European qualification and the financial rewards that go with it would have meant the world to the pauperised Londoners and they will not be consoled by the knowledge that from next season onwards, the knock-out champions will indeed be deemed worthy of a place among the continental elite. Once again, Richmond find themselves in the right place at the wrong time. Yet they still consider today's semi-final with Newcastle a game worth winning.

In fact, they feel they have to win it, if only to assure themselves that the good guys sometimes get an even break.

"I believe in hard work, in the work ethic," said Kingston this week, "and while we've been through the grinder over the last month especially, I wouldn't swap what I have with many of my direct competitors. Whatever I've done in life, I've enjoyed success, and I think this side can be successful, too. We're good to watch; to my way of thinking, we're a side capable of varying our style according to the things we're trying to achieve. We're not stereotyped and that counts for a lot."

All the same, this could be a "route one" occasion. Given that Newcastle are equally keen to rescue their season from the doldrums of mid-table anonymity, it will be no particular surprise if two of the most ruthlessly physical packs in England make mincemeat of each other on the outskirts of Reading this afternoon. Richmond, certainly, look ready for war: with Craig Quinnell making a rare appearance on the blind-side flank and the 6ft 5in, 19st teenager Andy Sheridan champing at the bit in the second row, they are handsomely equipped to bully a Newcastle eight shorn of their Springbok prop, Marius Hurter.

However, Kingston knows that Newcastle possess a playmaker capable of posing the most serious of threats - and he is not thinking in terms of Jonny Wilkinson either. It is the man at the other end of the age scale, Rob Andrew, who has the Richmond coach on edge. "Rob is a better player now than he was in '82, when I picked him for the Cambridge team in the Varsity match," said Kingston. "I've known him a long time, I respect him, I like the guy enormously and I can say that Newcastle could not have picked a better man to lead their professional revolution. He's deeply competitive and I have no doubt that he is looking to end his career with a winners' medal."

In tomorrow's second semi-final, Gloucester will require a startling upturn in form to even threaten the progress of Wasps, the tournament favourites, at Loftus Road. Some 3,000 supporters, possibly more, will make the trip from Kingsholm and with three international tight forwards - Dave Sims, Rob Fidler and Phil Vickery - expected to play at least some part in the proceedings, the visitors are in better shape than of late. However, the Londoners hold all the aces and possess all the bullets, even though they go in without their concussed No 8, Peter Scrivener.

The semi-finals have restricted today's Premiership programme to two matches, but both are significant in terms of European qualification.

Jeremy Guscott returns to the Bath side for the visit of Leicester, the champions-elect, and a home win at the Recreation Ground would go a long way towards earning the West Countrymen a top six finish.

Bath are back on track after their mid-season traumas with coach Andy Robinson saying: "The hard work is paying off and we are getting some old Bath luck. After our losing mid-season spell we are now enjoying our rugby and have regained our self-belief."

London Irish, who are also within touching distance of a lucrative European slot, recall Michael Worsley at loose-head prop for their trip to Sale, a side ravaged by injury and knocked sideways by the resignation of their coach, John Mitchell. As Dick Best, the Irish rugby director, is no doubt aware, there will never be a better time to visit Heywood Road.