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Irish v Gloucester Preview


By Sam Browne
April 25 2014

This weekend the Irish bandwagon rolls on to Kingsholm for the penultimate match of the 13/14 regular season.

Visits to Kingsholm are always punctuated by comments about the 'special' atmosphere and the 'enthusiastic' crowd. I would most liken it to a medieval dog-fighting arena populated, in part, by a day-release programme from the Gulag. Sadly, I will not be able to make this visit. Something I greatly regret. On my penultimate visit I saw a chap with a bodhran told to 'shove it up' his posterior by a man who felt the need to run from the other end of the stand after Gloucester were put ahead by an Olly Barkeley penalty. On my last visit, I was told to go forth and multiply back to where I came from upon leaving the ground. Despite this, there is usually a select bunch of sad-masochistic Irish fans peppering the stands at Kingsholm and I'm sure they will do their best to make themselves heard over the howling, grunting and moaning from The Shed.

 

Irish go into the match with absolutely nothing to lose and absolutely nothing to gain (bar a bit of pride and form). However, this was the situation at Northampton and we turned in a very pleasing second half recovery despite being on the ropes at half-time. It must be an tough to motivate players to their peak for matches in which they have little to gain, but they are professional sportsmen so I'm sure they take a great deal of pride in their performances. It often says a lot about a team as to how they perform in this sort of match so I was particularly delighted to see our fightback last weekend.

 

I suspect that Brian will continue his policy of selecting players who will be with us next season ahead of those who won't. This has taken a bit of a blow with injuries etc and saw Marland make a reasonable appearance against Northampton. One big success of this selection policy is the form of Gerard Ellis, a bowling ball of a player, who carries superbly and seems really effective over the ball at rucks. If he does go on to be converted to hooker, he takes a skillset similar to Bismark, Mealamu, Ibanez or our very own Danie Coetzee. The other major plus for us has been the emergence of Andy Fenby. This guy has struck me as a classy player every time he has taken to the pitch. He runs great lines, glides through tackles, drives on for an extra metre or two when tackled and is superb at supporting line breaks. He is a real 'team winger' being unlikely to often catch the eye but equally as effective as a solo operator with the 'X factor'. I can see no reason for Brian to risk Skivs with far more important things to come next year so I anticpate Shane to be wearing the captain's armband yet again. Blair Cowan is, without doubt, our player of the season but Shane is tugging at his coat tails. There was talk on this board regarding England selection and, whilst I'm not sure Shane would be that high on the list due to non-rugby factors, his form is up there with the best in the league.

 

Gloucester have endured a miserable season culminating in the farcical derby match against Bath. They have some outstanding players in the likes of Trinder, Sharples, Kalamafoni and Evans but Nigel Davies' recruitment during the close season was very poorly thought out. They have struggled desperately in the scrum and, unusually for a Gloucester side, their pack has been regularly bullied. The form and commitment issues of Freddie Burns have conspired to keep Gloucester's back line potential in check. Twelvetrees has 'pedestrian' tattooed across his forehead and, despite doing his best, the pace of their back three has not been used to any reasonable effect. I believe Rob Cook to be one of the finest counter attack runners in the game but his early season form has not carried on for one reason or another. Their scrum is, quite frankly, a joke and the recruitment of Afoa and Hibbard is something that should have been carried out over the last close-season. Overall, they could still qualify for seventh, but this would require a great deal of interference from other sides and seems unlikely. As such, we have a lot in common.

 

The signs are that this will be a free-flowing game in which both sides will be happy to chuck the ball around. If the game breaks up, the likes of Shane, Fenby, Lewington, Trev, Mulchrone and Ellis could be deadly. If not, the forward battle could be like watching two old ladies wrestle at a bus stop.

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Irish v Gloucester Preview
Discussion started by The Craic www.londonirish.org , 29/04/2014 14:21
The Craic www.londonirish.org
29/04/2014 14:21
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SirBurger
29/04/2014 14:37
Great read (Sm152)

waltham
30/04/2014 08:40
(Sm152)

PV
30/04/2014 09:34
Anyone going? I'm being hosted by the son of an ex london Irish grest.

PV
02/05/2014 11:48
Hellllllooooooooo

Can anyone assist with above as in where to go for beers at 12 at Glaws, anyone else going btw?

Thanks

Jon_r43
02/05/2014 14:44
Teagues, Opposite the ground is usually open fairly early.

There were some stories at the end of last year about it closing but from a quick google search it appears to still be there.

Will be around on West Terrace for the game

PV
02/05/2014 16:33
Cheers Jon

Irish Wolf
02/05/2014 23:24
In the Worcester Road End this year with friends who are Glos season ticket holders.

Slightly disappointed not to be on the Shed to be honest, for those with a very thick skin, very funny!

Off to the Farmers club whatever that is..

Barrman
02/05/2014 23:46
Shame about Geraghty, I think in a game like this he would (again) have a stormer! It will be interesting to see IH gets on instead.

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