Irish bow out bravely
By PV
January 24 2010
Well that’s Europe over for another season, a bit premature, but I think there are many positives to be taken from this campaign. We proved we can match and better the European Champions in all facets (save for goal kicking!) and if we can keep our squad together with a few additions here and there, we will definitely be challenging in the HC next year.
January 24 2010
Well that’s Europe over for another season, a bit premature, but I think there are many positives to be taken from this campaign. We proved we can match and better the European Champions in all facets (save for goal kicking!) and if we can keep our squad together with a few additions here and there, we will definitely be challenging in the HC next year.
London Irish 11 – Leinster 11
Saturday 23 January
Well that’s Europe over for another season, a bit premature, but I think there are many positives to be taken from this campaign. We proved we can match and better the European Champions in all facets (save for goal kicking!) and if we can keep our squad together with a few additions here and there, we will definitely be challenging in the HC next year.
Group 6 has thrown up contrasting performances by London Irish, after a fantastic away victory to Leinster, we were favourites to qualify from the Group, but our Celtic cousins from Llanelli were to put pay to that, beating us first at home and then coming behind from 10 – 22 to clinch victory and leave us without a bonus point for the first time in over a year. We were all terribly disappointed by that performance and expectations were mixed going into yesterday’s game.
London Irish were the rightful underdogs (lets face it, we’re used to it), Leinster had won every HC game by a distance since we played them and with at least 4, possibly as many as 6 potential starters in the Irish backline for the 6N, added to a formidable pack with plenty of experience and power, the neutral would probably have favoured Leinster to prevail. The minimum target for Irish to progress was a win and a try. The club also had to deal with the shenanigans of being relocated at very short notice to HQ from the Madstad. I think they did a commendable job allocating season ticket holders to equivalent seats, and then we also had Ciamh as match announcer to make us all feel at home before the game kicked off.
Now onto the game. Irish kept Leinster waiting on the pitch before kick off for a couple of minutes adding to the tension. When Big Bob finally led the team out Malone kicked off high into the middle of the park, following some aerial ping pong, Leinster threw in 10m out from their own line, Owens pinged Fogarty for not throwing in straight and we had a great attacking position. Set piece was looking really strong as we drove powerfully in the scrum giving Malone time to orchestrate a move, grubber kicking through only for Kearney to get there first and touch down. The next few minutes were fairly scrappy but were a fair reflection of the overall outcome of the game. Leinster won a penalty from 40m out and Sexton bisected the posts. 5 mins gone, Irish 0 – Leinster 3. On 13 minutes, Irish won a penalty from 30m out and virtually in front of the posts, Malone pushed it wide
Leinster then continued to kick deep into the right hand corner of the pitch, testing out our wingers who had just returned from long lay-offs, they also regularly attacked the blindside with Nacewa to the fore. Owens was starting to get frustrated with the level of chat on the pitch and was heard to say ‘When you’ve finished playing you can referee’ (courtesy of Reflink – worth it for a fiver just to hear some of Owens’ one liners). Handling all over the pitch was patchy and we looked less assured under the high ball than normal, a reflection of the game’s importance to us, Leinster had already qualified. Defences were looking pretty sound and it this was reflected by Mapusua (yes Mapusua’s) attempted drop goal from 45 m out, the less said the better.
Steffon Armitage, Mapusua and Hala’ufia were putting in some big hits. The breakdown was heavily contested but it appeared that Leinster’s back row was getting the upper hand. The back of the scrum was starting to look scrappy too, leaving Hala’ufia isolated on several occasions and slowing the service from Hodgson to the backs. Sexton was starting to make half-breaks and D’Arcy was also coming good, running clever lines with a low centre of gravity and power – a smarter version of Dan Hipkiss.
On 29 mins with the match in the balance, Leinster were awarded another penalty from 40m out and a wide angle, Sexton struck it sweetly but it cannoned off the woodwork and Ojo made a searing break up the pitch only to pass forward to Mapusua with open field ahead. Ojo looked rusty, but definitely adds a cutting to our attack, when you add Tagicakibau into the mix, we have a great back 3.
Bench movements started early with Jackman replaced by Fogarty on the half hour mark and Hodgson off for Richards with a touch of claret a few minutes later. Leinster were then pinged for off-side and from a more challenging 40m, Malone slotted over to draw level – London Irish 3 – Leinster 3.
Leinster countered and Nacewa combined well with B’OD to send D’Arcy over, only to be pulled back for a forward pass, it looked borderline to me, but I wasn’t complaining. This was a sign of things to come. From the ensuing scrum with half time approaching, we lost our own ball at the back and from the quick turnover, Nacewa crossed over unopposed in the left hand corner, Sexton missed the kick from the touchline and at half time Leinster were ahead 8 – 3.
The second half started with Irish under more pressure. D’Arcy looked really sharp and O’Driscoll was making time for himself, they are a clever midfield partnership, it’s a shame that Elvis hasn’t matched his form last year as this would have been a great duel. Tension mounted in the opposing packs and this spilled over when Cian Healy threw a punch which was punished with 10 mins in the bin on the 50 minute mark. This enabled Irish to relieve some pressure and hopefully close in on the score. Hodgson continued to rally the side with constant direction and encouragement, he makes a huge difference in this area, the Little General.
Unlike Llanelli, Booth refrained from wholesale substitutions and kept the starting XV together until the 60min mark with Roche replacing Steffon (injury) and Ion coming on for Rautenbach. From the 60 min mark onwards the game started to loosen up and you couldn’t be sure which side this would favour. As it happened, Irish came into the ascendancy with O’Brien conceding several penalties. On the 65min, Irish had a line out deep in Leinster’s 22, the forwards drove on, led by Paice who was ever willing, and with space out wide Malone dummied and touched down with momentum on his side. TMO referral – TRY!!! 8 – 8, but the conversion once again rebounded off the woodwork. Game on, London Irish pressure was mounting and Irish came again with what looked like a great drop kick opportunity for Malone, he elected to pass wide to Tagicakibau, who even with his brilliance couldn’t beat four defenders on the blindside. I feared this was going to cost us. However we had O’Brien to thank again as in the 77min he conceded another penalty in front of the posts. Malone stepped up and kicked it over, could it be? Could we sustain the lead and qualify? Irish 11 – 8 Leinster
Alas not, from the kick off the ball was turned over and Sexton struck a sweet drop kick which sailed between the posts, we looked like we’d blown it, ahead for less than a minute in the entire game. Malone delivered a great kick off and we won the ball, we never got far past the 10 m line and therefore the drop was not looking likely, when the ball came back to Malone, the kick was short and wide. All Kearney needed to do was hoof to touch, but instead he skewed the ball back to guess who? Malone, unfortunately with the same outcome. Owens called no side, honours even.
The team had given their all with some noticeable performances (in particular Paice) and it was great to see our wingers back. A higher goal kicking success rate and some more creativity in midfield enabling more space out wide and we really will be the real deal. This side can now go on toy focus on the GP and who knows, we may be coming back from HQ with a victory in May.
Saturday 23 January
Well that’s Europe over for another season, a bit premature, but I think there are many positives to be taken from this campaign. We proved we can match and better the European Champions in all facets (save for goal kicking!) and if we can keep our squad together with a few additions here and there, we will definitely be challenging in the HC next year.
Group 6 has thrown up contrasting performances by London Irish, after a fantastic away victory to Leinster, we were favourites to qualify from the Group, but our Celtic cousins from Llanelli were to put pay to that, beating us first at home and then coming behind from 10 – 22 to clinch victory and leave us without a bonus point for the first time in over a year. We were all terribly disappointed by that performance and expectations were mixed going into yesterday’s game.
London Irish were the rightful underdogs (lets face it, we’re used to it), Leinster had won every HC game by a distance since we played them and with at least 4, possibly as many as 6 potential starters in the Irish backline for the 6N, added to a formidable pack with plenty of experience and power, the neutral would probably have favoured Leinster to prevail. The minimum target for Irish to progress was a win and a try. The club also had to deal with the shenanigans of being relocated at very short notice to HQ from the Madstad. I think they did a commendable job allocating season ticket holders to equivalent seats, and then we also had Ciamh as match announcer to make us all feel at home before the game kicked off.
Now onto the game. Irish kept Leinster waiting on the pitch before kick off for a couple of minutes adding to the tension. When Big Bob finally led the team out Malone kicked off high into the middle of the park, following some aerial ping pong, Leinster threw in 10m out from their own line, Owens pinged Fogarty for not throwing in straight and we had a great attacking position. Set piece was looking really strong as we drove powerfully in the scrum giving Malone time to orchestrate a move, grubber kicking through only for Kearney to get there first and touch down. The next few minutes were fairly scrappy but were a fair reflection of the overall outcome of the game. Leinster won a penalty from 40m out and Sexton bisected the posts. 5 mins gone, Irish 0 – Leinster 3. On 13 minutes, Irish won a penalty from 30m out and virtually in front of the posts, Malone pushed it wide
Leinster then continued to kick deep into the right hand corner of the pitch, testing out our wingers who had just returned from long lay-offs, they also regularly attacked the blindside with Nacewa to the fore. Owens was starting to get frustrated with the level of chat on the pitch and was heard to say ‘When you’ve finished playing you can referee’ (courtesy of Reflink – worth it for a fiver just to hear some of Owens’ one liners). Handling all over the pitch was patchy and we looked less assured under the high ball than normal, a reflection of the game’s importance to us, Leinster had already qualified. Defences were looking pretty sound and it this was reflected by Mapusua (yes Mapusua’s) attempted drop goal from 45 m out, the less said the better.
Steffon Armitage, Mapusua and Hala’ufia were putting in some big hits. The breakdown was heavily contested but it appeared that Leinster’s back row was getting the upper hand. The back of the scrum was starting to look scrappy too, leaving Hala’ufia isolated on several occasions and slowing the service from Hodgson to the backs. Sexton was starting to make half-breaks and D’Arcy was also coming good, running clever lines with a low centre of gravity and power – a smarter version of Dan Hipkiss.
On 29 mins with the match in the balance, Leinster were awarded another penalty from 40m out and a wide angle, Sexton struck it sweetly but it cannoned off the woodwork and Ojo made a searing break up the pitch only to pass forward to Mapusua with open field ahead. Ojo looked rusty, but definitely adds a cutting to our attack, when you add Tagicakibau into the mix, we have a great back 3.
Bench movements started early with Jackman replaced by Fogarty on the half hour mark and Hodgson off for Richards with a touch of claret a few minutes later. Leinster were then pinged for off-side and from a more challenging 40m, Malone slotted over to draw level – London Irish 3 – Leinster 3.
Leinster countered and Nacewa combined well with B’OD to send D’Arcy over, only to be pulled back for a forward pass, it looked borderline to me, but I wasn’t complaining. This was a sign of things to come. From the ensuing scrum with half time approaching, we lost our own ball at the back and from the quick turnover, Nacewa crossed over unopposed in the left hand corner, Sexton missed the kick from the touchline and at half time Leinster were ahead 8 – 3.
The second half started with Irish under more pressure. D’Arcy looked really sharp and O’Driscoll was making time for himself, they are a clever midfield partnership, it’s a shame that Elvis hasn’t matched his form last year as this would have been a great duel. Tension mounted in the opposing packs and this spilled over when Cian Healy threw a punch which was punished with 10 mins in the bin on the 50 minute mark. This enabled Irish to relieve some pressure and hopefully close in on the score. Hodgson continued to rally the side with constant direction and encouragement, he makes a huge difference in this area, the Little General.
Unlike Llanelli, Booth refrained from wholesale substitutions and kept the starting XV together until the 60min mark with Roche replacing Steffon (injury) and Ion coming on for Rautenbach. From the 60 min mark onwards the game started to loosen up and you couldn’t be sure which side this would favour. As it happened, Irish came into the ascendancy with O’Brien conceding several penalties. On the 65min, Irish had a line out deep in Leinster’s 22, the forwards drove on, led by Paice who was ever willing, and with space out wide Malone dummied and touched down with momentum on his side. TMO referral – TRY!!! 8 – 8, but the conversion once again rebounded off the woodwork. Game on, London Irish pressure was mounting and Irish came again with what looked like a great drop kick opportunity for Malone, he elected to pass wide to Tagicakibau, who even with his brilliance couldn’t beat four defenders on the blindside. I feared this was going to cost us. However we had O’Brien to thank again as in the 77min he conceded another penalty in front of the posts. Malone stepped up and kicked it over, could it be? Could we sustain the lead and qualify? Irish 11 – 8 Leinster
Alas not, from the kick off the ball was turned over and Sexton struck a sweet drop kick which sailed between the posts, we looked like we’d blown it, ahead for less than a minute in the entire game. Malone delivered a great kick off and we won the ball, we never got far past the 10 m line and therefore the drop was not looking likely, when the ball came back to Malone, the kick was short and wide. All Kearney needed to do was hoof to touch, but instead he skewed the ball back to guess who? Malone, unfortunately with the same outcome. Owens called no side, honours even.
The team had given their all with some noticeable performances (in particular Paice) and it was great to see our wingers back. A higher goal kicking success rate and some more creativity in midfield enabling more space out wide and we really will be the real deal. This side can now go on toy focus on the GP and who knows, we may be coming back from HQ with a victory in May.
Craic Members' Photo Archives
Big-Al - The Match
Big-Al - The Craic
Cill Dara - Match
Cill Dara - Craic
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleuponIrish bow out bravely
Posted by: The Craic www.londonirish.org (IP Logged)
Date: 24/01/2010 20:09
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
More London Irish headlines
- Fantasy Irish Rugby - Week 22 (Bath)
- Irish Resist Tiger Mauling
- Home Comforts – A Pleasant Feeling
- Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?
- Fantasy Irish Rugby - Week 22 Worcester (Anglo Welsh)
- Mission Impossible
- Fantasy Irish Rugby - Week 21 Quins (Anglo Welsh)
- 100% Kicking Performance
- Don't Muck Up February
London Irish latest threads
- Fantasy Irish Rugby - Week 22 (Bath)
- O/T SPORT RELIEF
- Sale v Wasps
- Quins A game at Sunbury - Mon 22nd
- Steve, you are my hero! (NOT)
- LI trio start for England U20s
- Danny Care on the move
- Lewis Moody takes over as England captain
- OT - Michael Cheika to join Stade Français this summer.
- Am I being stupid or...