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Why do we bother?


By Sam_R43
March 9 2016

Another week and another painful loss. Rooted to the bottom of the table, with things looking bleak, I look back over the weekend and try to answer the question ‘Why do we bother?’ – For in depth analysis of the match look elsewhere!

Well we start on Friday night. A game between two teams we both want to lose. Personally, I quite like our trips to Worcester, and Kingston Park is a really long way away! So I was hoping for a Worcester victory and certainly no bonus points. But, at the full time whistle, as BT Sport put up the league table, it becomes very apparent the size of the hole we’re in. 8 points adrift. It hadn’t really hit me till that moment, we’re in serious trouble here. Why? There are a whole host of reasons - injuries are killing us, trying to learn a new style of play, and an awful lot of individual errors. The evening before the game I begin to think, with the possibility of relegation looming, why do we bother? For me, it’s the beauty of sport, the drama. Whether it’s a Premiership Final or a relegation battle, sport is full of drama, and I love it. Whether joyful or painful, it’s worth it!

So the four R43's & BQFM make the journey down to Bath in the car. Long car journeys are common place for us. Following London Irish is a weekly occurrence, whether in Reading, Bath, Newcastle or New York, the R43's are there. That’s a lot of hours travelling, sat in the car I begin to wonder, why do we bother? For me, its because I love the places we get to visit (most of the time). Following London Irish takes you to great places, from beautiful cities like Bath, to exciting new cities across Europe, even to New York City! All of the above make trips to our less exotic locations (Gloucester, Leicester, The Stoop) worth it!

So we take our usual space on the terrace behind the posts. The game happened, we lost. There are plenty of highlights and reports elsewhere. My thoughts, our defence from set moves was very poor, as was our scramble defence. The display was littered with individual missed tackles. And going forward I thought the decision making cost us. We kicked to the posts when our attack was beginning to look dangerous. We let Bath off the hook two or three times early on by taking the points, whereas they were far more clinical and went straight for the corner.

We nearly stole a rather undeserved bonus point at the end but the new boy Tonks saw his touch line conversation hit the post. Another poor display, and as expected another away loss, I begin to wonder, why do we bother? For me, it’s because if you don’t endure the painful losses, you’ll never see those wonderful victories. Beating Sarries at Allianz Park, Shane's drop goal against Exeter. One of our biggest regrets around LI is that we could have gone to THE Wasps game (Wasps 37-56 Irish, 30/04/06) all those years ago at Adams Park. We missed that great victory. So now, despite the losses, witnessing those great surprise victories makes it worth it!

There was a great atmosphere on the terrace on Saturday. The support seemed especially vocal, it was great to be congregated in a good number. And there were some of the usual suspects and some new faces. As always, the Craic between us and the Bath supporters was great. We’re a funny bunch, London Irish supporters. We come in all different shapes and sizes, all different backgrounds. Wildly optimistic, cynically pessimistic or cold hard and realistic. And there in, for me, lies ultimately why we bother.

On Saturday a group of completely different people came together, all wearing green, screaming the team on. Strangers becoming great friends all for the love of London Irish. Whether we agree or not, whether we are positive or negative, whether we hopeful or fearful, we’re in it together. Why do we bother? For me, being a London Irish supporter has never been about winning, but about having a great time with great company on the journey. Its about the shared passion that we support our team with (Just put ‘Declan Danaher’ into YouTube). And whether in the Premiership or Championship, whether in Reading or New York, when we do it together, that makes it worth it!

Come on you Irish!

#StrongerTogether

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Why do we bother?
Discussion started by The Craic www.londonirish.org , 09/03/2016 11:50
The Craic www.londonirish.org
09/03/2016 11:50
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TheRealBigEasy
09/03/2016 11:56
Best report ever, well done Sam.

SirBurger
09/03/2016 12:06
Agreed - very well written.

APigUnderEachArm
09/03/2016 12:07
I kind of thought we deserved an LBP but I agree about needing the lows to appreciate the highs.

Finno
09/03/2016 12:42
Great report!!

You've just left me wondering that category you've put me into...stood up behind you guys last Saturday ?? winking smiley

p.s. The banter on the terrace with the Bath guys was particularly good this week! A big part of every away trip in my view.

Iron Lung
09/03/2016 13:07
Great report Sam. I have to say every away trip regardless of result brings back fond memories for one reason or another, thanks for reminding us of that.

Liamk
09/03/2016 13:19
great report sam - looking forward to seeing you in the big apple

b.q.f.m
09/03/2016 15:33
💚Excellent report Sam. X

Shawshank
12/03/2016 22:02
Today sums up why we will be relegated.

Utter lack of game management in the second half and the last 4 mins.

Why try to score a try from deep against the best defence in the Northern Hemsisphere.

And Allinson's kick was very poorly executed indeed.

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