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It's Grim Oop North


By Sam Browne
April 25 2014

This weekend we welcome a bunch of northeners to the end of season party at the Madjeski. They sit some way above us in the league and have been flirting with playoff qualification all year.

It is always a day tinged with sadness as we say goodbye to the players who have donned the green to provide us with entertainment. I believe that we are in for a couple of surprise departees this year, although our retention of key players has been excellent. There will also be presentations for players who have stood out over the course of the season. That Blair Cowan receives at least one trophy must be the greatest certainty in the world of sport. An award for the stand out young player is perhaps less clear, with some having not quite made the step and others arriving at the party a little late. I imagine Tom Fowlie's name is near the top of the list.

 

Steve Diamond is a man with an unerring ability to divide opinion amongst rugby fans. However, the job he has done at Sale over the summer and through this season is nothing short of wonderful. His recruitment looked, to any but the most inciteful (I was not one of these), poor. He had brought in a few of the players involved in London Welsh's relegation season and a few journeymen. Their's was the only recruitment drive that made ours look reasonable. How wrong this thought was, however. Sale have performed with a well-drilled efficiency that only comes from the type of precise and prescriptive coaching that has made men such as Mourinho and Ferguson successful. Their pack, lead by the hugely impressive Daniel Braid and David Seymour, has matched some of the best and, whilst their scrum is quite fallible, their work at the tackle and breakdown is second to none. Their defence is phenomenal, and the period of battering they received towards the end of the Bath game was a display of pure determination and power. They will need to work hard to maintain their form through next season as they appear to be losing some crucial players and perhaps have fallen slightly short in bringing new ones in. Mind you, I said exactly the same thing last season and look where they are now. They can no longer make the play offs and yet are secure in their qualification spot. They, like us, have nothing to play for.

 

In contrast, we have been tumbling about rather like Alan Partridge's trainers in a washing machine (I recommend reading 'I Partridge' if you don't recognise the reference). As is traditional for London Irish, we have been plagued by injuries this season. I have never attended training at Sunbury but, judging by the sheer volume of injuries we seem to accumulate, I can only imagine that it is a cross between Takeshi's Castle and UFC. We hope to welcome back our departing Aussie for his final foray at the Madjeski. As a lad who came to us with the dodgiest of off-field reputations, he has covered himself in glory with his attitude, passion and commitment. Only the most biased would say that he has set the fields on fire for us, but he has been solid and dependable. I suspect that our style of play has not brought out the best in him, something that neither party could really do much about. In his absence, we have seen the return of Tom Homer. I really, really hope that Tom kicks on next year. The signs from the Gloucester game are that he still refuses to commit tacklers before passing (easily his biggest fault), until he does this he will struggle to make it big in the Premiership. Nonetheless, he has oodles of potential and, with some appropriate coaching, could be a fantastic weapon. We performed well against Gloucester, but came out on the wrong side of the score yet again. I would expect to see more chucking around of the ball and consequently would like to see a back three of Fenby, Lewington/Yarde and O'Connor (if Topsy is not fit). Lewington is a craicing counter-attacker if the game breaks up (even better if he doesn't have to pass or catch) and Fenby is a mercurial support runner. Having said that, Marland was at his best against Gloucester and it would be great to see him strutting his stuff in green one last time before his controversial departure for the Devil Worshippers. I have no proof that Harlequins are practitioners of the Occult, but nor is there any proof that they are not. Is that suspicious? Maybe. Their shirts are certainly a bit too colourful. The rest of the team picks itself in terms of who is fit and who is not knackered.

 

I think we will find Sale a tough nut to crack, but their 'backs to the wall defence' style will not be suited to a firm pitch and a game with little resting on it. I think we have a lively chance of signing off with a win, particularly if the game breaks up as it has in our past two matches. Sale will not be suited to this at all and I can see their hefty tight five puffing a bit by the second half. If we can play at a furious pace, we can beat them.

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It's Grim Oop North
Discussion started by The Craic www.londonirish.org , 06/05/2014 10:21
The Craic www.londonirish.org
06/05/2014 10:21
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