I also had to contend with looking after my 9 year old cousin who was experiencing her first rugby game so as you can imagine I was being bombarded with questions at every juncture! She was very excited though when Topsy’s face came on the big screen when the teams were being announced!

So to the game and Sarries were always going to be tough opposition but I felt that we should have beaten them last year at the double header so maybe we would make up for it this year. Here are my recollections during the game as it was going on:

4 mins in- one break for Sarries which is nullified

5 mins. Irish capitalize on a break and put sarries under pressure on their line with penalty after penalty. Irish trying to put pace on the game.

9 mins: 5 mtr scrum. To Irish is turned over and sarries clear. Should have taken points from that Sarries are putting in some big hits in defense

3 scrum penalties to Irish already and ref is having words

13 mins first kickable pen and lamby shanks it similar to last year. Irish with possession but not making it count. Hope we don't pay for it. The game is taking place between 22's with no one making the possession count. Lots of handling errors, game nerves maybe?

20 mins: still no score. Losi hardly has touched the ball.

22. Yellow card for Delon for high tackle, very harsh considering we had 4 penalties in their 22 without a card being shown.

25 mins: sarries score 1st try after ref has missed 2 forward passes in the build up, extra man makes difference as Joubert scores on right hand side. Unconverted

28 mins Irish have a penalty far left just outside 22 which lamb gets. Irish 3 sarries 5

34 mins: Irish scrum gets turned over on the 22 and Schalk Brits scores in left corner. Sloppy Irish. Unconverted. 10-3 sarries.

Straight from kick off Irish get a penalty which lamb scores. 10-6.

Inconsistent refereeing is doing my head in. We have had at least 6 scrum offences and not one card. We get to Half time and by all accounts We have been the better team, had more ball but Sarries have taken their chances. Kicking our goals may save us as Goode can’t hit a barn door for Sarries.

Second half Irish start brightly but not much penetration.

4 mins in and Irish break up the right hand side. Sarries cynically infringe with a deliberate knock on and Alex Goode gets 10 mins rest. Lamb kicks the points and it's 10-9. Game on. Must make this count.

9 mins after multiple phases, Irish get numbers and Delon finishes well in the left corner. 14-10 as lamby misses the tough kick. Numerous changes for sarries and Alex Corbiseiro and James buckland on for us.

11 mins another break by dan Bowden And with numbers over, lamb puts the cross field in for Losi to score on the left again. Lamb converts to make it 21-10 Irish. Still a long way to go can we keep it up??

14 mins- irish give away a penalty for being in front of the kicker and Hogaard who is on takes over kicking duties and gets 3. 21-13 Irish.

19 mins in and the ref makes a howler by missing a blatant shoulder charge on Losi Which forces him off injured. Irish are trying to control the game but Sarries making it tough

23 mins and another howler from the ref who yellow cards dodge for a deliberate knock on when he was blatantly trying to intercept the ball. 3 points sarries and it's 21-16 Irish. Getting very nervous now and hoping we don’t lose our heads and control the game.

32 mins a loose pass by sarries is hacked on by Topsy who is pushed by a sarries player when he is about to score. The ref goes upstairs (for what seems like an eternity!) and a penalty try is given. My cousin is laughing at me due to my somewhat over the top gesticulating and shouting! 28-16 with the conversion by lamb. Sarries try hard to break Irish down but good defense by Steffon gives Irish a penalty on the 22 and a chance to clear. Irish go looking for the bonus point try in the last 2 mins and Topsy scores the bonus point try with the Final play of the game and lamb misses the conversion. Final score 33-16 to Irish.

Even though this isn’t my first stint at a match report, I always give myself a bit of time to contemplate the game for 24 hrs and make sure I am not seeing things through my green tinted specs. However I felt at the time the referee had a poor game overall. It was interesting to see in the program that Sarries gave away more penalties than any other team last season and its easy to see why. I was pleased with the way we controlled the game and if we continue to show that level of ambition and maturity then we could do well this season. Man of the match for me was a tough choice. I thought Delon had a good game along with Elvis as well but my award goes to Ryan Lamb. His vision and distribution contributed to 3 of our tries and was not afraid to put in the hits. Also stepped in well when dodge was off the field.

Great result and looking forward to next week’s game at the Rec.

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