MOTM Again?

 

London Irish 32 Saracens 10

 

Saracens came to Reading brimming with confidence on the back of two straight victories, whilst Irish were still looking for that victory that had eluded them since the Cup Final. The Officials were dressed in a nice shade of blue under a very grey sky, on a perfectly calm day.

Saracens had made quite a few changes from the team that had won the previous week, with Goode, Yandell and Hooper on the bench. Was this a measure of Shelford's thinking that Irish were there for the taking?

The emphasis on performance was exemplified today by a team that was firing on all cylinders from the off. If anybody is in the scrap business near Sunbury, there is a load of boot-sized lead weights somewhere. 

Saracens kicked off to start the game, Irish gained possession and Barry Everitt found touch just outside the Irish 22. O' Sheasby made a nuisance of himself in the lineout, which was to serve as a warning to the opposition for the rest of the day. How good was it to see the great man back doing what he does best? The sight of him being helped off in the 61st minute does not bode well for next weeks visit to The Stoop. With Sheasby back in the fray, the pack seemed to gel, Declan's new haircut seems to have fired him up no end. He looked hungry and definitely up for it.

A high tackle on Pieter Rossouw by Nicky Little, set the tone for Littles game as that and at least two other high tackles went unpunished. Bob Casey had offloaded to Pieter following a 10M run. All this and the game was still less than four minutes old. It was game on, big time.

The pack were on fire, Drotske leading the way, with Beefy and Co. not far behind. I take back everything bad I have ever said or thought about Kieron Dawson, his work rate was phenomenal in keeping the attack moving or cleaning out on the floor. In fact, Beefy at one stage decided to try his hand at playing Centre, but won't be getting that berth next week due to ignoring the 3 man overlap.

It was 11 minutes before the first score was registered, with Saracens drawing first blood through a Nicky Little penalty given for offside. From the restart, Irish were off again, with Daws passing to Edwards then on to Sheas, ending with Barry throwing a pass behind the advancing Rossouw when only about 15M from the line.  The turn of pace probably caught him out. 

Haven't I said all along what a class act Rossouw is? In the first half he found his vocal cords big time, shouting directions to the line, organising the cover and looking dangerous generally. The be-mittened Bracken made a good run, but really should have looked to pass sooner, well, before Bish the Tiger got to him in any case. I've written a note here saying Beefy SO much better this week, I was obviously impressed.

It wasn't all one way traffic, but Irish were playing the territory game so well. Sarries were camped on or inside their 22 for most of the first half. On the 19th minute, Barry equalised with a penalty kick from 20M out.

A well-worked move which saw Rossouw cutting inside and he really should have scored his first try for Irish. Instead, he chucked the ball back over his head where Barry Everitt managed to catch it and go over for his first try of the season. Barry duly slotted the conversion, 10-3. Barry's all-round game was super today, his kicking again not 100% but if he keeps going like this, surely he must figure in an Ireland squad this season.

There followed some great backs moves, the ball flying to hand with ease. The Saracens defence was being stretched but held firm. Drotske drove for the line when a quick pass out to what was a 3 man overlap would have resulted in a certain try. Digby was having a rare old time of it, good service, running backs and forwards to offload to. He must have thought it was his birthday. it was a testimony to Declan and Kieron who were winning the battle in the centre of the park.

Barry missed a penalty on 32, from about 35M out. This had followed from another move involving Appleford, Rossouw and Bish. The logic and merits of Bish at centre seem to have been well-founded in this game. Shortly after this, Barry threw a poor pass when there was another overlap on the left wing. Barry missed another penalty when Roche was penalised for pulling back.

With 40 minutes on the clock, Saracens were awarded a penalty for offside, Little tapped and a drive was on. Bracken went on a short run, Bish saw to that, and after some fierce defending, Sackey appeared on the right wing and blazed away, kicking ahead, the ball bounced kindly (Conor said afterwards that last week it would have gone out for a lineout) for Paul and he stretched a long arm over for a try in the corner. The conversion hit the post, 10 - 3 half time.

At half time, I finally met up with Large, who summed up the first half along the lines of this is the first team to play rugby against us, and it shows.

After the game, Conor said "we wanted to put some water in their lights", well that was certainly happening.

 

From the kick-off for the second half, Irish won a scrum for a knock-on from which followed a penalty 18 - 3. The resigned look on Brackens face when yet another of his moves came to nowt said more than words at this stage. Sarries were awarded a penalty for holding on to the ball on the ground, a quick tap and the Irish defence was earning it's corn once more.

Mike Worsley came on to make his 100th appearance for London Irish (another shirt for MWM to try to get her grubby mitts on!) with Beefy going off to tremendous applause for his contribution. Wors was to get his chance straight away as Irish were awarded a scrum for a knock on, this saw Barry kicking to within 5M of the Sarries line. Sarries won the lineout, but the kick only went as far as the waiting Paul Sackey who, having looked around, decided to set off on one of his runs. This was to take the shape of the run in the first half, with the kick ahead, but he was impeded when chasing, the referee didn't see it though. Sarries couldn't clear their lines quickly enough and Irish gained possession. Strudders decided it was his turn to score a try at this point, much to the delight of the Irish faithful. Barry obliged with the conversion, 25 - 3, 50 minutes on the clock.

At this point, Shelford decided to ring the changes, with Goode coming on for Haughton who had had a good game, under serious pressure and Yandell coming on for Roche.

The execution of the moves and passing from Irish was much better, not perfect, but much better. Sarries were under immense pressure, but were not conceding penalties as Irish had last week. A signal of what was to come for Goode when his 58th minute penalty didn't find touch and Irish set off again, getting to within 10M of the try line before being bundled over. Winnan was replaced by Thomas Castaignede immediately afterwards.

Benazzi was replaced by Hooper for Sarries and Hardwick was replaced by Pierre Durant, getting a run against his former team mates. He didn't have to wait long for his first scrum and looked as if he was making life very difficult for his opposite number. Casey was doing his bit both in the lineout and around the park.

Shortly after, Sheasby limped off to be replaced by Gustard coming in at 6, with Dec moving to 8. Sheasby got a standing ovation from Peters Patch and rightly so.

Sarries were awarded a penalty for Irish going over the top, only for Goode to kick it dead. From the scrum, Irish made a lot of ground with Rossouw featuring heavily, Sarries defence again holding solid. Sarries were awarded a 5M scrum, from which Digby emerged with the ball, having nicked it from Bracken. Those mittens didn't have Velcro  on them after all.

Kevin Barrett made an appearance in place of Digby  in the 72nd minute. He was in the thick of the action immediately, getting involved in a move with Dec and Daws which ended with an unlucky knock on from Sackey. There followed a frank exchange of views, which resulted in Horak being binned, Nurse being replaced by Flav, scrums, defending like demons, kicking for territory, resulting in a scorching run from Awesome to score a try under the posts in the 81st minute. This secured a crucial try Bonus Point.

Once Barry had slotted the conversion, subs galore appeared, Burke for Casey and Tofty for Barry. The ref obviously decided that it was unfair that Sarries hadn't scored in the second half and played on until from a scrum in the 86th minute, given for a forward pass behind the Irish posts, they scrambled over for a try scored by Sorrell. Goode added the conversion 32 - 10, Full Time. Conor's MOTM was Paul Sackey, but he could have chosen from any one of the rest.

" A side full of ambition to play rugby, at a pace which probably surprised Saracens", said Conor O' Shea afterwards, "But it will mean absolutely nothing if we can't produce this kind of performance week in, week out. This was a great performance from 1 - 22 out there today. We played 50 minutes of good rugby against Leeds, but the Force was with us today. The ball bounced kindly for Sackey to send us in at half time with a try in the bag".

Wayne Shelford conceded that the pace of the game had surprised Saracens, but added that the team only performed to 40% of its potential. He reckoned he needed a beer at half time, as the "blow hot/blow cold" Irish certainly blew hot today. "As we always say, you can only play if you've got the ball, and we didn't have it at all in the first half. We decided to change the team, and I stand by that decision completely. We showed too much respect to Irish today, we didn't attack the lineout enough". When asked what his half time talk had consisted of, he answered simply "I introduced them to an oval ball. We're going to go down the pub, talk about it and see if we can put it right in training tomorrow".

 

SCORERS: London Irish: Tries: Everitt (22min), Sackey (42), Strudwick (48), Dawson (81). Conversions: Everitt 3. Penalty goals: Everitt 2 . Saracens: Try: Sorrell (86). Conversion: Goode. Penalty goal: Little (11).

LONDON IRISH: M Horak, P Sackey, J Bishop, G Appleford, P Rossouw; B Everitt , D Edwards, N Hatley, A Drotske, R Hardwick, R Strudwick, R Casey, D Danaher, K Dawson, C Sheasby.

SARACENS: A Winnan, R Haughton, B Johnston, K Sorrell, T Shanklin; N Little, K Bracken; J Ross, M Cairns, J Marsters, A Benazzi, K Roche, K Chesney, R Hill, B Russell.

Referee: C White (Gloucestershire).

Touch Judges: W Barnes (London), S. Terheege (Hampshire)

 

 

 

 

 

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