History does show that the weather could play an important part in the game. Those with long memories, or maybe even short memories, will recall 2004 when London Irish visited Newcastle and it had been snowing. Dave Walder celebrated a try by throwing a snowball. On that occasion that was a significant event as Newcastle Falcons ended the season with victory in the Powergen Cup. This season however there is no Walder, no Powergen Cup, and possibly no snow. It could be that another snowball will mark a turning point in the fortunes of the Falcons, a good omen for the cup campaign that is all that remains of the season for Newcastle Falcons. It could be that the whole game will hinge on the weather, as too much snow will mean no game at all, or it could be sunny. One thing for certain is that there will be more weather on Sunday, and the history of these two teams shows that there has always been weather at Kingston Park when London Irish have visited.

The Teams

The Season so far...

Secret Tactics - An exclusive!

Perhaps the tactics used by the two teams will be the deciding factor. Here at last we find the major difference between the two otherwise closely matched teams, as London Irish will be attempting to move the ball to one end of the pitch, and Newcastle Falcons to the other end. A source close to the hairdresser of the wife of a friend of the kit man at Kingston Park was able to let me in on a closely kept secret. He has heard that both teams intend to change tactics at half time and switch to trying to get the ball to the other end. This could be an exciting game indeed with both teams trying to outwit the other using this clever strategy.  

I tried to get some hot news from inside the London Irish camp. Eventually I managed to speak to a bloke called Lea’aetoa, but he could only give me 45 minutes on the phone and it took that long for him to tell me how to spell his name so I didn’t learn anything. I phoned Micky Ward to get the Newcastle perspective but he was at the pub. I made one last effort to prise information from inside the Newcastle camp by phoning our Director of Rugby, Steve Bates (pictured), but I was told that he was acting, presumably in a theatre somewhere.

We're all green...

Terrace Menace

That of course could be unfair, perhaps London Irish are indeed popular but the green wigged supporters could be just too terrified to visit Kingston Park again. None of us will ever forget the terrible carnage when they visited last season, the screams, the panic, and the headlines that swept the world. The ground staff have worked hard to rid Kingston Park of these menaces of the terraces, but occasionally one would be seen and the memories came flooding back. Well the visitors from Reading can once again feel safe. It was only Monday this week when the club was able to announce that the last nest of these blighters had been found behind one of the advertising hoardings, and the last plastic bottle top was hunted down & shot.

True Home Of The Black Stuff

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