Edinburgh Sunset
Irish back on form
Edinburgh Sunset
By Paddy69
October 21 2002
The weather was cold and wet, which wouldn’t have made for good rugby or so we thought. It was to be the opposite. Looks like the boys are back..
Edinburgh Sunset
October 21 2002
The weather was cold and wet, which wouldn’t have made for good rugby or so we thought. It was to be the opposite. Looks like the boys are back..
The day began with a moving tribute to Chris Kays of Abbey RFC and the others who were killed or are missing in the aftermath of the Bali bombing. Was I the only one who thought that the minute’s silence was rather shorter than a minute?
Right from the off, Irish were on the move forward which resulted in a second minute penalty for not retreating 10M from Digby’s tap effort. Barry stepped up to slot the first 3 of his 14-point tally for the day. Two notes on the housekeeping front, the lines from the footie were not greened out as they have been previously. Also, in the programme Declan’s surname was spelt Danagher.
A penalty for Kidzilla being taken out in the air from a lineout resulted in Barry putting the ball into touch on their 10M line. Danaher and Dawson were instrumental in setting up the driving maul that resulted in Darren Edwards touching down for the first try of the game. There was some discussion as to whether there was a knock-on in the maul, the Edinburgh players and management in addition to the East Stand faithful certainly thought so. When asked after the game regarding the standard of refereeing in Europe’s Premier Competition, Frank Hadden of Edinburgh would only answer with a meaningful “no comment”.
The restart was nicked by Strudders who fed to Barry who found touch on the Edinburgh 25M line. The crescendo of drumming in the East Stand was getting to fever pitch already and the game was only 6 minutes old.
From the lineout, Hall made a break then fed back to Hodge who cleared straight to Paul Sackey who fired an up and under and chased it, putting in a good tackle on the catcher (which obviously wasn’t as the ref awarded a penalty). From the lineout on our 22, we turned the ball over in our favour and Barry executed a very neat sidestep to evade the advancing Laney and clear.
Dawson was absolutely everywhere, if it moved he hit it, if it didn’t he hit it anyway! Just in case it was going to move. Easily his best game of the season. Irish were awarded a scrum for Edinburgh coming in from the side of the ruck, Barry cleared to just inside their 22. Daws nicked the lineout ball, which was overthrown and set up some good forwards play, which resulted in Blackadder being penalised for offside. Barry obliged, 11-0. Immediately afterwards, Barry attempted a drop goal which fell just short of the posts. His confidence was sky high.
Naka was Naka, driving forward at every opportunity whilst those trying to stop him knew about it. Mike Horak was showing some variation in his game too, whilst being his usual solid self at full back. Daws went off with a blood injury (Glen came on in his place)in the 18th minute following a lineout in front of the dear seats.
The referee penalised Edinburgh for the first of many pulling down the lineout jumper infringements. In the 19th minute, the Doc was spoken to for high tackling and our fears were mounting that he would be binned as last week. It didn’t look high to me, I have to say. Laney stepped up to take the penalty straight in front of the posts but 40M out and missed. Still 11-0.
Laney got his tail up a bit at this stage and started to try to kick for territory but he didn’t seem to be aiming for the touchline and Barry and Mike Horak had time to catch and clear without seeming to be too stretched. Alastair Dickson made a couple of darting runs, one following a chip and chase but found Naka waiting, ouch!
Martin Leslie and Todd Blackadder were to feel a couple of Naka softeners in this spell also. Some poor decision making by Laney and Patterson resulted in huge overlaps going a-begging as they chose to keep the ball in hand or go inside. This was Edinburgh's best spell of the game, but they had nothing to show for it.
Edinburgh won a lineout 5 metres into the Irish half, which saw a driving maul set up by Nathan Hines. Derrick Lee and Simon Taylor were combining well to assist. Dawson was tackling like a man possessed ably supported by Declan. Edinburgh’s recycling game was gaining them ground all the way and Irish gave away a penalty for going over the top 8M inside our half, which Laney again missed.
A good Irish move started by Appleford involving the Doc and Horak sent Declan heading off down the park with 3 Edinburgh players in hot pursuit, he was isolated but had gained 40M or so. Hodge sliced the clearance kick into touch 5M out in front of the West Stand. From the lineout, our forwards were on the move, sucking in defending players and when the ball was spun out to Michael Horak, the LI supporters were already on their feet, because they knew! A long slide on the wet grass over the line and Michael added another to his try tally. Barry slotted the conversion 18-0, 30 minutes gone. The restart followed a similar pattern, Strudders nicked it, out to Digby then to Barry to clear to touch, only the distances varied.
Then followed one of the talking points of the game. From a lineout a scrum was awarded to Edinburgh for a knock on. Some fierce defensive play from Irish saw a penalty awarded to Edinburgh, which Hodge put into touch in front of the West Stand about 25M out. Irish nicked the lineout but were pushed back 5M or so on landing. The ball came out on the Edinburgh side, Daws put in a big hot on Smith, I believe, was penalised and then binned. From the penalty, Hodge kicked for touch into the corner and Jacobsen scored a try from the lineout drive.
The Edinburgh kickers were not on song and Hodge missed the conversion. The referee went on a magical mystery tour of decision making at this point. Following a Horak chip and chase, Simon Webster caught and marked, Edinburgh then started to make some forward moves which involved more than a few forward passes all of which the ref missed.
The half ended 18-5.
The second half started with Irish firing on all cylinders again. The ref continued as before, Irish took a tap penalty but Edwards was tackled by players who had not retreated 10, not spotted by the ref. Sackey was taken out when he fired an up and under which did result in a penalty, which Barry converted to take he score to 21-5 with 43 minutes gone.
Laa Laa departed to make way for Simon Halford in the 44th. Edinburgh’s gloved players were spilling ball out of hand, do those mitts really work? Mike Horak took a tap penalty, which he managed to kick dead. It didn’t take Halford long to make his presence felt with Scott Murray and the ref had a word with both. Beefy came on for Worsley in the 51st. Gussie and Bish were finding some space and interlinking well. Bish was terrific again, whilst Gussie looks to be settling into the No. 8 berth. Mind you, he had a very nasty looking eye injury when I saw him in the Cowshed afterwards. Kidzilla had a stormer in the lineouts and the loose, some big hits going in all round.
In the 53rd minute, Edinburgh took Hall off and brought on Di Ciacca. Irish conceded a penalty for what I’m not sure, ref arm across chest I’ve noted. Bish was penalised for a high tackle, which Hodge converted to take the score to 21-8. Bish was making a nuisance of himself all over the place by now. But this spell of play was topped off by an outrageous attempted drop goal from Barry on the 10M line which hit the crossbar. Martin Leslie and the Doc were becoming further acquainted after a lineout when the ref had a word. Digby was giving some good ball to the back line, which was allowing Geoff Appleford and Mike Horak in particular to gain ground. Glenn Delaney made his second appearance of the day in place of Kevin Burke in the 62nd minute. The ref blew for hands on the floor and seconds later, Todd Blackadder was heading for a 10-minute rest. It was in front of me and I can only assume that it was for persistent offending.
Barry nailed the coffin lid well and truly closed with a stonking drop goal from about 2M inside our half, the drummers were off again, 24-8. Daws turned over, passed to Barry who found touch on their 10M line. Daws then nicked the lineout, Gussie put a big hit on Smith. Bish went to ground and a penalty was awarded for holding on. Edinburgh took Dickson and Blair off and Burns and Joiner took their places. This was the cue for the introduction of Kevin Barrett much to the delight of the Eastiebeasties. Virtually the first thing he did was to put in a try-saving tackle from a break from an Edinburgh lineout. Martin Leslie was replaced by Dall in the 73rd minute. The Irish scrum was pushing them off the park and went either through or round the Edinburgh pack.
Barry Everitt was named Man of the Match and the attendance was given as 6603.
Edinburgh did go over the line again but play was called back for a scrum on the Irish 5M. There was a bit of panic in the clearance tactic but we settled for a 22 drop-out. This was the last play of the game, full time 24-8.
“The Irish play with an incredible swarming intensity that is very difficult to master,” said Frank Hadden the Edinburgh coach. “After the first 15 minutes we were chasing the game and in these conditions and against a resurgent Irish team, that proved impossible. On a dry day that lead would have been worth 30 points. I believe it is the bounce of the ball that did for us today. By bounce of the ball, I mean a lot of things”. I took it he meant rub of the green.
“There was definitely a knock o for the first try and the 2nd try, the ball bounced neatly for Horak. The margin between success and failure at this level is tiny”.
“Kieron Dawson epitomised the real intensity and attitude that we wish to display in our play,” said Conor O’ Shea, “we are not out of the woods by any means, it’s only 1 win. I believe we played better against Wasps and Toulouse with no real success. Barry kept the scoreboard ticking over and meant that Edinburgh had to chase the game from early on. After the first 15 minutes, there was only going to be one winner. A lot of guys have been talking the talk in the dressing room and haven’t been taking it out onto the park. It’s out on the field it counts, where you gain the respect of your colleagues. I don’t believe it is anything to do with coaching, it is an individual decision”.
“We look to play a physical, intense game and to be hard to play against. I don’t know how you guys sit down and make predictions each week as you saw Bristol yesterday play outstanding rugby and have a well-deserved win, yet they are bottom of the Premiership. We could have scored more, but we are happy with the win”.
Right from the off, Irish were on the move forward which resulted in a second minute penalty for not retreating 10M from Digby’s tap effort. Barry stepped up to slot the first 3 of his 14-point tally for the day. Two notes on the housekeeping front, the lines from the footie were not greened out as they have been previously. Also, in the programme Declan’s surname was spelt Danagher.
A penalty for Kidzilla being taken out in the air from a lineout resulted in Barry putting the ball into touch on their 10M line. Danaher and Dawson were instrumental in setting up the driving maul that resulted in Darren Edwards touching down for the first try of the game. There was some discussion as to whether there was a knock-on in the maul, the Edinburgh players and management in addition to the East Stand faithful certainly thought so. When asked after the game regarding the standard of refereeing in Europe’s Premier Competition, Frank Hadden of Edinburgh would only answer with a meaningful “no comment”.
The restart was nicked by Strudders who fed to Barry who found touch on the Edinburgh 25M line. The crescendo of drumming in the East Stand was getting to fever pitch already and the game was only 6 minutes old.
From the lineout, Hall made a break then fed back to Hodge who cleared straight to Paul Sackey who fired an up and under and chased it, putting in a good tackle on the catcher (which obviously wasn’t as the ref awarded a penalty). From the lineout on our 22, we turned the ball over in our favour and Barry executed a very neat sidestep to evade the advancing Laney and clear.
Dawson was absolutely everywhere, if it moved he hit it, if it didn’t he hit it anyway! Just in case it was going to move. Easily his best game of the season. Irish were awarded a scrum for Edinburgh coming in from the side of the ruck, Barry cleared to just inside their 22. Daws nicked the lineout ball, which was overthrown and set up some good forwards play, which resulted in Blackadder being penalised for offside. Barry obliged, 11-0. Immediately afterwards, Barry attempted a drop goal which fell just short of the posts. His confidence was sky high.
Naka was Naka, driving forward at every opportunity whilst those trying to stop him knew about it. Mike Horak was showing some variation in his game too, whilst being his usual solid self at full back. Daws went off with a blood injury (Glen came on in his place)in the 18th minute following a lineout in front of the dear seats.
The referee penalised Edinburgh for the first of many pulling down the lineout jumper infringements. In the 19th minute, the Doc was spoken to for high tackling and our fears were mounting that he would be binned as last week. It didn’t look high to me, I have to say. Laney stepped up to take the penalty straight in front of the posts but 40M out and missed. Still 11-0.
Laney got his tail up a bit at this stage and started to try to kick for territory but he didn’t seem to be aiming for the touchline and Barry and Mike Horak had time to catch and clear without seeming to be too stretched. Alastair Dickson made a couple of darting runs, one following a chip and chase but found Naka waiting, ouch!
Martin Leslie and Todd Blackadder were to feel a couple of Naka softeners in this spell also. Some poor decision making by Laney and Patterson resulted in huge overlaps going a-begging as they chose to keep the ball in hand or go inside. This was Edinburgh's best spell of the game, but they had nothing to show for it.
Edinburgh won a lineout 5 metres into the Irish half, which saw a driving maul set up by Nathan Hines. Derrick Lee and Simon Taylor were combining well to assist. Dawson was tackling like a man possessed ably supported by Declan. Edinburgh’s recycling game was gaining them ground all the way and Irish gave away a penalty for going over the top 8M inside our half, which Laney again missed.
A good Irish move started by Appleford involving the Doc and Horak sent Declan heading off down the park with 3 Edinburgh players in hot pursuit, he was isolated but had gained 40M or so. Hodge sliced the clearance kick into touch 5M out in front of the West Stand. From the lineout, our forwards were on the move, sucking in defending players and when the ball was spun out to Michael Horak, the LI supporters were already on their feet, because they knew! A long slide on the wet grass over the line and Michael added another to his try tally. Barry slotted the conversion 18-0, 30 minutes gone. The restart followed a similar pattern, Strudders nicked it, out to Digby then to Barry to clear to touch, only the distances varied.
Then followed one of the talking points of the game. From a lineout a scrum was awarded to Edinburgh for a knock on. Some fierce defensive play from Irish saw a penalty awarded to Edinburgh, which Hodge put into touch in front of the West Stand about 25M out. Irish nicked the lineout but were pushed back 5M or so on landing. The ball came out on the Edinburgh side, Daws put in a big hot on Smith, I believe, was penalised and then binned. From the penalty, Hodge kicked for touch into the corner and Jacobsen scored a try from the lineout drive.
The Edinburgh kickers were not on song and Hodge missed the conversion. The referee went on a magical mystery tour of decision making at this point. Following a Horak chip and chase, Simon Webster caught and marked, Edinburgh then started to make some forward moves which involved more than a few forward passes all of which the ref missed.
The half ended 18-5.
The second half started with Irish firing on all cylinders again. The ref continued as before, Irish took a tap penalty but Edwards was tackled by players who had not retreated 10, not spotted by the ref. Sackey was taken out when he fired an up and under which did result in a penalty, which Barry converted to take he score to 21-5 with 43 minutes gone.
Laa Laa departed to make way for Simon Halford in the 44th. Edinburgh’s gloved players were spilling ball out of hand, do those mitts really work? Mike Horak took a tap penalty, which he managed to kick dead. It didn’t take Halford long to make his presence felt with Scott Murray and the ref had a word with both. Beefy came on for Worsley in the 51st. Gussie and Bish were finding some space and interlinking well. Bish was terrific again, whilst Gussie looks to be settling into the No. 8 berth. Mind you, he had a very nasty looking eye injury when I saw him in the Cowshed afterwards. Kidzilla had a stormer in the lineouts and the loose, some big hits going in all round.
In the 53rd minute, Edinburgh took Hall off and brought on Di Ciacca. Irish conceded a penalty for what I’m not sure, ref arm across chest I’ve noted. Bish was penalised for a high tackle, which Hodge converted to take the score to 21-8. Bish was making a nuisance of himself all over the place by now. But this spell of play was topped off by an outrageous attempted drop goal from Barry on the 10M line which hit the crossbar. Martin Leslie and the Doc were becoming further acquainted after a lineout when the ref had a word. Digby was giving some good ball to the back line, which was allowing Geoff Appleford and Mike Horak in particular to gain ground. Glenn Delaney made his second appearance of the day in place of Kevin Burke in the 62nd minute. The ref blew for hands on the floor and seconds later, Todd Blackadder was heading for a 10-minute rest. It was in front of me and I can only assume that it was for persistent offending.
Barry nailed the coffin lid well and truly closed with a stonking drop goal from about 2M inside our half, the drummers were off again, 24-8. Daws turned over, passed to Barry who found touch on their 10M line. Daws then nicked the lineout, Gussie put a big hit on Smith. Bish went to ground and a penalty was awarded for holding on. Edinburgh took Dickson and Blair off and Burns and Joiner took their places. This was the cue for the introduction of Kevin Barrett much to the delight of the Eastiebeasties. Virtually the first thing he did was to put in a try-saving tackle from a break from an Edinburgh lineout. Martin Leslie was replaced by Dall in the 73rd minute. The Irish scrum was pushing them off the park and went either through or round the Edinburgh pack.
Barry Everitt was named Man of the Match and the attendance was given as 6603.
Edinburgh did go over the line again but play was called back for a scrum on the Irish 5M. There was a bit of panic in the clearance tactic but we settled for a 22 drop-out. This was the last play of the game, full time 24-8.
“The Irish play with an incredible swarming intensity that is very difficult to master,” said Frank Hadden the Edinburgh coach. “After the first 15 minutes we were chasing the game and in these conditions and against a resurgent Irish team, that proved impossible. On a dry day that lead would have been worth 30 points. I believe it is the bounce of the ball that did for us today. By bounce of the ball, I mean a lot of things”. I took it he meant rub of the green.
“There was definitely a knock o for the first try and the 2nd try, the ball bounced neatly for Horak. The margin between success and failure at this level is tiny”.
“Kieron Dawson epitomised the real intensity and attitude that we wish to display in our play,” said Conor O’ Shea, “we are not out of the woods by any means, it’s only 1 win. I believe we played better against Wasps and Toulouse with no real success. Barry kept the scoreboard ticking over and meant that Edinburgh had to chase the game from early on. After the first 15 minutes, there was only going to be one winner. A lot of guys have been talking the talk in the dressing room and haven’t been taking it out onto the park. It’s out on the field it counts, where you gain the respect of your colleagues. I don’t believe it is anything to do with coaching, it is an individual decision”.
“We look to play a physical, intense game and to be hard to play against. I don’t know how you guys sit down and make predictions each week as you saw Bristol yesterday play outstanding rugby and have a well-deserved win, yet they are bottom of the Premiership. We could have scored more, but we are happy with the win”.
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