A Tale of two Cities*
By Griff
April 5 2009
It was the best of times and the worst of times... The seasons for LI and Bristol couldn't be more different. For Irish it could be the best season ever, for their opponents today it's the toughest part of the Guinness Premiership.
April 5 2009
It was the best of times and the worst of times... The seasons for LI and Bristol couldn't be more different. For Irish it could be the best season ever, for their opponents today it's the toughest part of the Guinness Premiership.
It's very easy to post messages on internet sites and chat to your mates about how relegation is key to the excitement and competition of the GP but when you're facing the prospect of the drop to National 1 it's very scant consolation that the competition is exciting for everyone else. Anyone who's followed London Irish more than a couple of years well knows that. Although we've never had to face the grim reality, we have come very close.
Irish started the match needing maximum points to keep a challenge on for a play-off position and to try and guarantee Heineken Cup rugby next season. Bristol needed maximum points to keep slim chances of survival alive (they also needed Worcester to lose to Saracens). From the off it was clear that Irish's hopes meant they would play as well as they could, Bristol looked more wary and virtually from the kick-off - knocked-on by the visitors - Irish pushed hard into Bristol territory. The pressure told as Chris Hala'ufia crossed the white-wash only to have Welsh referee Nigel Owens call the teams back as he'd blocked a tackler to put Chris in space.
The pressure continued but Bristol started to show some defence and held Irish well. The home team had to settle for a penalty for their efforts, Tom Homer stepping up to the mark to make the kick. The attacking from Irish continued and Bris looked very shaky giving away a further penalty which Homer missed.
From here, though, Bristol seemed to realise they'd have to play rugby if they were to have any chance and they gave it a good go. Getting to rucks early and hitting hard gave them much-needed possession and started gaining ground. A free-kick was given at the scrum and Chris Hala'ufia chose to prevent the quick tap whilst standing next to it - earning him a 10 minute sit-down. During this time, pushing the Exiles back into their half Bristol camped on the try line and set-up a number of set-moves. Incredibly, though, nothing came of their pressure until the number eight returned. A further scrum on Irish's 5m line led to a ruck and hooker Scott Linklater put the visitors ahead, Tom Arscott adding the conversion.
The effort of this, however, seemed to tell on the visitors. Soon their scrum started to creak and the front-row started standing-up. Mr Owens eventually saw fit to give the penalty but Homer, again, missed the kick. Irish, though, were spurred-on and started running the ball a bit more. Adam Thompstone put in a fine individual effort only to be relieved of the ball as he crossed the line but Irish weren't dis-heartened and re-doubled their efforts passing the ball through loads of hands back and forth until Bristol finally ran out of defenders and Nick Kennedy popped-up on the wing to score. Irish were back in the lead but Tom, following the trend for the day, missed the extras so it was only by one.
The lead seemed to spur the home-side on further and the Irish started running the ball from their own 22. James Hudson, who was massive all-day, made a few barracking runs. The first of these he was supported by Paul Hodgson who was only just pulled-down before scoring. His knock-on resulted in a scrum to Bristol, who were subsequently pinged for using their hands. Right in front of the posts is not a position Mr Homer misses from and the lead extended.
From the kick-off Irish, again, ran the ball back and, again, Jimmy Hudson put in a storming run. Not about to trust his efforts to a back to mess-up again, though, this time he off-loaded to a flying Steffon Armitage who showed his pace to head to the corner for a superb try. As he went wide, though, Tom's kick was difficult and, again, he missed.
The home-side were now in control and Bristol hoping for half-time. The visitors had to hold firm and defend. At the death the referee adjudged them handling on the ground and Delon Armitage stepped-up to take the long-range penalty. Sadly, he missed leaving the score at half-time 16 - 7.
The second half couldn't possibly have been as energetic as the first. With the glorious sunshine, the frenetic pace of the first half had taken it's toll on many. Tom Homer who'd played well at full-back despite his bad-day with the boot didn't return at half-time, Peter Richards took his place. Irish started-off as they had left putting serious pressure on the visitors and using the full-width of the pitch. Again, popping up on the wing, lock Nick Kennedy crashed over the line (doubling his lifetime try tally). Delon kept the kicking duties (and the tradition of missing the conversion).
At this point Paul Hull shuffled his deck and brought arguably Bristol's most potent attacking force, David Lemi, onto the left wing. Play had resumed for all of 5 seconds before the Irish back-line delivered Lemi a pass for the Samoan flyer to run back half the length of the field. Arscott (T) failed to follow the Irish trend of missing conversions and Bristol were back within a score.
Irish, hastened by the against-the-run-of-play score, resumed control and the slick passing. Running wide Peter Richards switched with Adam Thompstone and the youngster took his chance very well banishing the demon of losing the ball earlier. Delon, not one to buck a trend, missed the kick.
For Irish this was now job-done, the fourth try gave the bonus point and the men-in-green seemed happy to try and shut Bristol down rather than pouring-on the score. The game deteriorated into a very scrappy, kick-fest with Bristol mostly gaining the advantage in the in-field kicks and then Irish running the ball forward or deftly pegging the visitors back to their own 5 metre line.
Keeping Bristol in their 22 worked well and penalties were kicked to the corner, except one which Paul Hodgson took quickly, quicker than many in the stands (myself included) but I believe he touched-down. Mr Owens said he did and that's what counts. As it was just in front of the posts Delon scored the kick.
Irish seemed to remember that they were allowed to play, now, and poured forward again from the restart. Returning to the tactic of spinning the ball through many hands as wide as possible Irish put Adam Thompstone into the corner again. Delon was, by now, bored of kicking and Seilala Mapusua stepped-up to miss the kick this time.
Bristol seemed to have been taking notes from Irish, though, and stopped playing tight, which clearly wasn't working. The off-loading game seen last weekend against Worcester returned for the visitors and they ran a tiring Irish defence ragged. The pressure told as the game drew to a conclusion with Luke Eves breaching the home whitewash to give Bristol some pride. Arscott completed his kicking duties with a third conversion but it wasn't enough and the West-Countrymen left with no points. The news that Worcester Warriors had beaten Saracens at Sixways meant that Bristol were, as all feared, relegated.
Credit to the away support and their team who completed a much appreciated, poignant tour of the pitch. Good luck to them for a speedy return to the top-table.
For Irish, though, the news was very good. Quins had beaten Bath wit no BPs for either side and Saints had beaten Gloucester leaving Irish second in the table. Leicester beating Sale with four tries later meant they went top pushing Irish to third. Three points clear of Bath isn't quite breathing space but it is, at least, room to maneuvre. Bring on the trip to Franklins Gardens.
Irish started the match needing maximum points to keep a challenge on for a play-off position and to try and guarantee Heineken Cup rugby next season. Bristol needed maximum points to keep slim chances of survival alive (they also needed Worcester to lose to Saracens). From the off it was clear that Irish's hopes meant they would play as well as they could, Bristol looked more wary and virtually from the kick-off - knocked-on by the visitors - Irish pushed hard into Bristol territory. The pressure told as Chris Hala'ufia crossed the white-wash only to have Welsh referee Nigel Owens call the teams back as he'd blocked a tackler to put Chris in space.
The pressure continued but Bristol started to show some defence and held Irish well. The home team had to settle for a penalty for their efforts, Tom Homer stepping up to the mark to make the kick. The attacking from Irish continued and Bris looked very shaky giving away a further penalty which Homer missed.
From here, though, Bristol seemed to realise they'd have to play rugby if they were to have any chance and they gave it a good go. Getting to rucks early and hitting hard gave them much-needed possession and started gaining ground. A free-kick was given at the scrum and Chris Hala'ufia chose to prevent the quick tap whilst standing next to it - earning him a 10 minute sit-down. During this time, pushing the Exiles back into their half Bristol camped on the try line and set-up a number of set-moves. Incredibly, though, nothing came of their pressure until the number eight returned. A further scrum on Irish's 5m line led to a ruck and hooker Scott Linklater put the visitors ahead, Tom Arscott adding the conversion.
The effort of this, however, seemed to tell on the visitors. Soon their scrum started to creak and the front-row started standing-up. Mr Owens eventually saw fit to give the penalty but Homer, again, missed the kick. Irish, though, were spurred-on and started running the ball a bit more. Adam Thompstone put in a fine individual effort only to be relieved of the ball as he crossed the line but Irish weren't dis-heartened and re-doubled their efforts passing the ball through loads of hands back and forth until Bristol finally ran out of defenders and Nick Kennedy popped-up on the wing to score. Irish were back in the lead but Tom, following the trend for the day, missed the extras so it was only by one.
The lead seemed to spur the home-side on further and the Irish started running the ball from their own 22. James Hudson, who was massive all-day, made a few barracking runs. The first of these he was supported by Paul Hodgson who was only just pulled-down before scoring. His knock-on resulted in a scrum to Bristol, who were subsequently pinged for using their hands. Right in front of the posts is not a position Mr Homer misses from and the lead extended.
From the kick-off Irish, again, ran the ball back and, again, Jimmy Hudson put in a storming run. Not about to trust his efforts to a back to mess-up again, though, this time he off-loaded to a flying Steffon Armitage who showed his pace to head to the corner for a superb try. As he went wide, though, Tom's kick was difficult and, again, he missed.
The home-side were now in control and Bristol hoping for half-time. The visitors had to hold firm and defend. At the death the referee adjudged them handling on the ground and Delon Armitage stepped-up to take the long-range penalty. Sadly, he missed leaving the score at half-time 16 - 7.
The second half couldn't possibly have been as energetic as the first. With the glorious sunshine, the frenetic pace of the first half had taken it's toll on many. Tom Homer who'd played well at full-back despite his bad-day with the boot didn't return at half-time, Peter Richards took his place. Irish started-off as they had left putting serious pressure on the visitors and using the full-width of the pitch. Again, popping up on the wing, lock Nick Kennedy crashed over the line (doubling his lifetime try tally). Delon kept the kicking duties (and the tradition of missing the conversion).
At this point Paul Hull shuffled his deck and brought arguably Bristol's most potent attacking force, David Lemi, onto the left wing. Play had resumed for all of 5 seconds before the Irish back-line delivered Lemi a pass for the Samoan flyer to run back half the length of the field. Arscott (T) failed to follow the Irish trend of missing conversions and Bristol were back within a score.
Irish, hastened by the against-the-run-of-play score, resumed control and the slick passing. Running wide Peter Richards switched with Adam Thompstone and the youngster took his chance very well banishing the demon of losing the ball earlier. Delon, not one to buck a trend, missed the kick.
For Irish this was now job-done, the fourth try gave the bonus point and the men-in-green seemed happy to try and shut Bristol down rather than pouring-on the score. The game deteriorated into a very scrappy, kick-fest with Bristol mostly gaining the advantage in the in-field kicks and then Irish running the ball forward or deftly pegging the visitors back to their own 5 metre line.
Keeping Bristol in their 22 worked well and penalties were kicked to the corner, except one which Paul Hodgson took quickly, quicker than many in the stands (myself included) but I believe he touched-down. Mr Owens said he did and that's what counts. As it was just in front of the posts Delon scored the kick.
Irish seemed to remember that they were allowed to play, now, and poured forward again from the restart. Returning to the tactic of spinning the ball through many hands as wide as possible Irish put Adam Thompstone into the corner again. Delon was, by now, bored of kicking and Seilala Mapusua stepped-up to miss the kick this time.
Bristol seemed to have been taking notes from Irish, though, and stopped playing tight, which clearly wasn't working. The off-loading game seen last weekend against Worcester returned for the visitors and they ran a tiring Irish defence ragged. The pressure told as the game drew to a conclusion with Luke Eves breaching the home whitewash to give Bristol some pride. Arscott completed his kicking duties with a third conversion but it wasn't enough and the West-Countrymen left with no points. The news that Worcester Warriors had beaten Saracens at Sixways meant that Bristol were, as all feared, relegated.
Credit to the away support and their team who completed a much appreciated, poignant tour of the pitch. Good luck to them for a speedy return to the top-table.
For Irish, though, the news was very good. Quins had beaten Bath wit no BPs for either side and Saints had beaten Gloucester leaving Irish second in the table. Leicester beating Sale with four tries later meant they went top pushing Irish to third. Three points clear of Bath isn't quite breathing space but it is, at least, room to maneuvre. Bring on the trip to Franklins Gardens.
* I will concede that nether Reading nor Sunbury are cities...
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StumbleuponA Tale of two Cities*
Posted by: The Craic www.londonirish.org (IP Logged)
Date: 05/04/2009 16:36
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Re: A Tale of two Cities*
Posted by: JamesC (IP Logged)
Date: 05/04/2009 16:38
I thought it was Cockney rhyming actually, Griff
Re: A Tale of two Cities*
Posted by: antoinog (IP Logged)
Date: 05/04/2009 19:27
Good write up Griff. Appreciate why Huff's try was disallowed now
Re: A Tale of two Cities*
Posted by: frank2u (IP Logged)
Date: 05/04/2009 19:57
Thanks for the read, better than all the journalists in the media put together!
I'm sure you are right about the reason for Mr Owens disallowing the try
...but at the time it looked like he was still facing the wrong way, on his @rse; having been bowled over in the rush!
I'm sure you are right about the reason for Mr Owens disallowing the try
...but at the time it looked like he was still facing the wrong way, on his @rse; having been bowled over in the rush!
Re: A Tale of two Cities*
Posted by: EXNOMAD77 (IP Logged)
Date: 05/04/2009 20:20
A very good report some very positive L.I. play, its a bitter pill how close we came to losing against Leicester.
Re: A Tale of two Cities*
Posted by: AMS (IP Logged)
Date: 05/04/2009 23:31
Wonder how "Steffo" Armitage likes the abbreviation of his name?
Re: A Tale of two Cities*
Posted by: Loobs (IP Logged)
Date: 06/04/2009 05:05
Tom Homer picked up a groin injury in the warm up, hence the poor kicking efforts.
Peter Hewatt returned after 20 mins and looked good if a little rusty. Looks like Toby's selection headaches are increasing but in the best possible way as all of injured start to return and the International players return to club duties.
Peter Hewatt returned after 20 mins and looked good if a little rusty. Looks like Toby's selection headaches are increasing but in the best possible way as all of injured start to return and the International players return to club duties.
Re: A Tale of two Cities*
Posted by: MadMonk (IP Logged)
Date: 06/04/2009 08:02
Great report, thanks.
I believe Reading has the largest population of any town not to be awarded city status (much larger than Worcester that is a city by virtue of its fine cathedral)
What we need is a Bishop. I could lend Justin my hat!
I believe Reading has the largest population of any town not to be awarded city status (much larger than Worcester that is a city by virtue of its fine cathedral)
What we need is a Bishop. I could lend Justin my hat!
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