Britbowl Heartbreak 'Will Stick With Us For A Long Time', Says Blitz' Ed Morgan
London Blitz chairman Ed Morgan speaks on the heartbreak of their 20-19 loss to London Warriors in the 2015 Britbowl...
London’s domination of the Britbowl has become so complete in the last few years that the fixture was moved from Leeds to North London’s Allianz Park, but the short trip home won’t have softened the blow of defeat for the once indomitable London Blitz.
The Blitz were leading 19-17 in this year’s National Final, before the London Warriors kicked a 46-yard field goal with just 7 seconds remaining, to beat their fierce rivals to the title for the third year in a row.
For a team that had won five of the previous six championships before the Warriors’ run began in 2013, it was especially hard to swallow. So says club chairman Ed Morgan, who played safety for the Blitz for 9 years before retiring at the end of last season.
“That’s 3 Britbowls in a row where we’ve lost to the Warriors by less than one score, so it’s hugely frustrating. That was tough for the guys to take, and it’s going to stick with a lot of people for a long time.
“The score would indicate that we’re getting closer. But for 3 years it was us that ended the Warriors season, and now for the last 3 years it’s been the Warriors that have ended ours. It’s just one of these things – we had a lot of retirements at the end of the 2012 season, we rebuilt the team, players came through from the junior team, and we’ve rebuilt. This year we beat the Warriors in regular season for the first time in a while, and we really hoped that this would be the year we could get the result in the Britbowl, but unfortunately not.”
The 6 year to-and-fro between the Blitz, of Finsbury in North London, and the Warriors, of Croydon in South London, has turned the National Final from a Battle of Britain into a war for the capital, and, along with two regular season games per year, has cemented one of the most intense rivalries in the country.
“It’s always been an intense rivalry,” Ed says. “As we get to know each other better, that fuels the rivalry, and we want to beat each other as much now as we did 6 years ago or as we ever did.”
This season wasn’t all doom and gloom, though. For the first time in their history, the Blitz reached the Final Four of the IFAF (International Federation of American Football) Europe Champions League, held in Belgrade (below). The unusually Eastern location necessitated a dogged fundraising campaign, but they got themselves to Serbia, and although they lost their semi-final 35-28 to SBB Vukovi Belgrade, Ed believes their young team will look back on the experience as a big achievement and a big moment in their development.
So what comes next?
Well, immediately up next is their friendly match this Sunday October 4 when they’ll wrap up their 2015 by hosting Belgian side Brussels Tigers. With Belgian teams competing at a lower tier of European competition, match-ups with British sides are rare, so the Tigers are somewhat of an unknown quantity. The home side plan on using the opportunity to give some of their B and U19 players a taste of first-team action.
Beyond the weekend, a period of big change lies ahead, as head coach Mark Moss is all set to step down after 10 years at the helm, to be replaced by former Defensive Coordinator Damian Anderson. Coach Moss led the Blitz to their first ever Britbowl in 2006 – and then another nine in a row – and five championships, and Ed is they’re looking forward to where they will go next.
“It’s an unbelievable track record, but he’s retiring to spend more time with his family, so Damian is stepping up into the head coach role, and he’ll have his own ideas about how to go forward, and it will be a really exciting time.”
All images courtesy London Blitz Facebook Page.