You've Been Tangoed!
By Props Are Not Stupid
February 19 2007
London Irish welcomed Bath Rugby to their Sand-Pit. The Craic's drumming Spaniard, Props Are Not Stupid, tells his story of the match.
February 19 2007
London Irish welcomed Bath Rugby to their Sand-Pit. The Craic's drumming Spaniard, Props Are Not Stupid, tells his story of the match.
What would you do if your best friend who is going through a bad time as his wife is divorcing him and his heart has given him a couple of scares, asks you to spend the weekend with him in Eastbourne? Yes, as a good mate I was there, apart from a few hours on Saturday as I had a game to watch. Sorry about being so selfish, but I had a horrible week at work and I was in need of a good day out.
I also had to tell you about the game as earlier in the week I volunteered to write the match report. There are two basic tools that you may need to do the report: pen and paper. Right, so far I had two problems. Mulledwinemarie kindly lent me a pen and the receptionist at the Madejski hotel gave me the paper, so thanks to them this report will have more than two lines.
I decided to give the £7.50 curry at the hotel a miss as there were no seats available, and I went into the Cowshed, not before declining the London Irish Mastercard offer no less than five times. I have already got one. I know they wouldn’t believe me, but it is actually true. Rip the Calico were on stage again after their debut at the Sale game. Hopefully this time our luck would change. Still a great band, though.
I get my seat in the drums next to Cheffy, who told me about Beefy’s breakfast. He had a coffee, an orange juice and 10 pints of Guinness and was there for 10 hours! That’s a proper breakfast in my book.
As the players take their positions before kick off, everybody is amused by Tagi’s bright orange boots. Jokes start flowing as someone behind me says that he has signed a new marketing contract with Tango, and a few minutes later he scores. Chants to the Bath supporters start: “You’ve been Tangoed!” It couldn’t have been any funnier if we tried. According to the touch judges Shane missed the conversion, but I am pretty sure it was in.
Tagi could have given us another try or two in the first half but it was Topsy Ojo who scored between the posts after a great run of play by Geraghty. We are 12 nil up and it’s only gone 16 minutes.
Somehow everyone is expecting Bath to get back in the game using their strong pack to drive us back in scrums and mauls, but so far it is all Irish and Bath are looking like the worst team that have visited the Madejski this season.
Irish are on top of things, and Casey carried the ball only to be tackled 5 metres short of the try line. Who said he couldn’t run? Kennedy was also very active and had a great game. They definitely won the second row battle against England internationals Borthwick and Grewcock.
The rest of my notes in the first half are all about Irish try scoring chances narrowly missed by both of our wingers. We only got 3 more points in this half by Shane. Bath were never in contention and they really never looked like scoring. Bath used to bank on Barkley, but he also missed a penalty kick on the 37th minute. 15-0 at halftime and we are thinking on the chances of getting a winning bonus point, as the four points for the victory are looking pretty safe.
The second half entertainment didn’t come from the rugby field, but from the drummers. I give you Beast, a Bath supporter with a serious appetite for drumming and singing. He had such a good time signing “the Fields” and drumming that he looked like the Duracell bunny – it never went off. I understand that 20 minutes after the game had finished he finally returned the drum to Marie’s car, promising to come back soon.
The second half was all about muscle and a few off the ball incidents, starting with Prop Idol Matt Stevens, whose boot came off a ruck like a rocket, Robbie down on the ground for over two minutes after an unfriendly Grewcock hand off, Short (who came in for Beattie) giving Leguizamon an almighty punch, which amazingly was only worth a quiet word by referee Mr Chris White and a penalty to Bath.
The rest of my notes in the second half are all about handling errors by both teams, although the most embarrassing moments were had by Abendanon (who was sin-binned in minutes 26-37), Stephenson and Fuimaono-Sapolu (what a cracking name, he should play for us!).
I have never seen that many people leaving the stadium a few minutes before the end of the game as I did today, although when I was in my car stuck in traffic outside the Madejski from 5 to 6 it became more understandable. Well, those of you who left early missed a try by Grewcock in the 76th minute, this time converted by Barkley, and a decision by Catt to end the game kicking to touch instead of taking an easy penalty in front of the posts. Despite the bright orange boots, this is still rugby…
I also had to tell you about the game as earlier in the week I volunteered to write the match report. There are two basic tools that you may need to do the report: pen and paper. Right, so far I had two problems. Mulledwinemarie kindly lent me a pen and the receptionist at the Madejski hotel gave me the paper, so thanks to them this report will have more than two lines.
I decided to give the £7.50 curry at the hotel a miss as there were no seats available, and I went into the Cowshed, not before declining the London Irish Mastercard offer no less than five times. I have already got one. I know they wouldn’t believe me, but it is actually true. Rip the Calico were on stage again after their debut at the Sale game. Hopefully this time our luck would change. Still a great band, though.
I get my seat in the drums next to Cheffy, who told me about Beefy’s breakfast. He had a coffee, an orange juice and 10 pints of Guinness and was there for 10 hours! That’s a proper breakfast in my book.
As the players take their positions before kick off, everybody is amused by Tagi’s bright orange boots. Jokes start flowing as someone behind me says that he has signed a new marketing contract with Tango, and a few minutes later he scores. Chants to the Bath supporters start: “You’ve been Tangoed!” It couldn’t have been any funnier if we tried. According to the touch judges Shane missed the conversion, but I am pretty sure it was in.
Tagi could have given us another try or two in the first half but it was Topsy Ojo who scored between the posts after a great run of play by Geraghty. We are 12 nil up and it’s only gone 16 minutes.
Somehow everyone is expecting Bath to get back in the game using their strong pack to drive us back in scrums and mauls, but so far it is all Irish and Bath are looking like the worst team that have visited the Madejski this season.
Irish are on top of things, and Casey carried the ball only to be tackled 5 metres short of the try line. Who said he couldn’t run? Kennedy was also very active and had a great game. They definitely won the second row battle against England internationals Borthwick and Grewcock.
The rest of my notes in the first half are all about Irish try scoring chances narrowly missed by both of our wingers. We only got 3 more points in this half by Shane. Bath were never in contention and they really never looked like scoring. Bath used to bank on Barkley, but he also missed a penalty kick on the 37th minute. 15-0 at halftime and we are thinking on the chances of getting a winning bonus point, as the four points for the victory are looking pretty safe.
The second half entertainment didn’t come from the rugby field, but from the drummers. I give you Beast, a Bath supporter with a serious appetite for drumming and singing. He had such a good time signing “the Fields” and drumming that he looked like the Duracell bunny – it never went off. I understand that 20 minutes after the game had finished he finally returned the drum to Marie’s car, promising to come back soon.
The second half was all about muscle and a few off the ball incidents, starting with Prop Idol Matt Stevens, whose boot came off a ruck like a rocket, Robbie down on the ground for over two minutes after an unfriendly Grewcock hand off, Short (who came in for Beattie) giving Leguizamon an almighty punch, which amazingly was only worth a quiet word by referee Mr Chris White and a penalty to Bath.
The rest of my notes in the second half are all about handling errors by both teams, although the most embarrassing moments were had by Abendanon (who was sin-binned in minutes 26-37), Stephenson and Fuimaono-Sapolu (what a cracking name, he should play for us!).
I have never seen that many people leaving the stadium a few minutes before the end of the game as I did today, although when I was in my car stuck in traffic outside the Madejski from 5 to 6 it became more understandable. Well, those of you who left early missed a try by Grewcock in the 76th minute, this time converted by Barkley, and a decision by Catt to end the game kicking to touch instead of taking an easy penalty in front of the posts. Despite the bright orange boots, this is still rugby…
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleuponSPORTNETWORK SPECIALS
More London Irish headlines
London Irish latest threads
London Irish Poll
