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It's all about the rugby!


By Griff
March 24 2016

The traditional St Patrick's game at the Madejski is very much the Marmite of the Irish season. Some love it, some hate it. It's hard to argue that as a club we shouldn't do it, it is invariably the highest gate of the season and a shop window to introduce new/occasional support to the "brand" (shudder). This year's, however was much less celebrated/complained about by either side of the argument because doom lies beyond Irish's next mis-step on the rugby field. Yes, boys and girls, this was going to be the Holy Grail of St Patrick's games - one based around the rugby!

The club had, it has to be said, done a fine job marketing the event. A crowd of just shy of 18,000 attended and the Guinness village with large stage and, to my eye, possibly close to enough bars and food outlets meant that there would be a party of some sort. I should qualify this, I didn't attend much of the festivities. Since I carry a large drum to our matches I tend to drive and, for me, the Paddies Day game is an opportunity to get away early since there are so few other drivers. I'm sure someone will put me right and say the village was its usual 7 hour wait for a flat pint in a plastic glass.

But I digress, as I said the rugby was the main event for a change. On Friday night Newcastle had run Bath a very, very close second and earned a losing bonus point on the way. A win for Falcons would've pretty much put the tin hat on Irish's season with the gaping abyss of relegation beckoning and rubbing its tummy. As it was Irish went into the game 9 points shy of the Geordies and a win was really, really needed. Everyone I met was nervous, resigned and worried. Gloucester have had a mixed season going from the sublime to the down-right terrible. We all know that they can play and win tight games, we just hoped Irish could emulate that.

I wasn't supposed to be writing this so there are no notes to go by - I will admit I have the Premiership Rugby report open in the background to remind me of the sequence.

The match started fairly predictably with the visitors running in a try. A chip and chase showed our defence's frailties and left the home support clutchng their heads in hands and planning trips to Jersey and Penzance. But wait... what's this?! The ref went to the TMO and... are we sure this is happening?! The try was disallowed since the attacker was off-side of the kick! Now, it may seem like I'm being dramatic but this seemed at the time to be a turning-point - we'd got something from the ref! Whether the turn was just this match or (could it be?) the season remains to be seen but it felt a little like the reverse of the decision to red-card Brendan McKibbin at the Bath home game.

The Exiles immediately took hold of their new-found luck and took the fight to Gloucester a series of strong drives from the forwards and darts from the backs got the home side to their oppo's 5m line and the Tongan Try-Scoring Terror (TM Caimh McDonnell) Halani Aulika forced his way over the whitewash for the first score. MadStad debutant Greg Tonks made the conversion and we were 7 - 0 up.

Gloucester inevitably, and fairly speedily, came back and a straight-forward penalty for James Hook gave the vistors three points. Irish renewed the gap with one from Tonks. The match became a cagey affair with both sides seeming to give up on tries for the moment and simply try and get into territory and draw a penalty from their opposition. Gloucester managed it but Hook, uncharacteristically, missed his attempt. Irish got their chance from a scrum penalty and, like all good hosts, charitably missed their conversion too.

So it was going to be 10 - 3 at half-time and the clock ticked-on, but of course this is Irish, we couldn't have it that easy. The men-in-green switched off, possibly because they were a man-up following a yellow card for the visitors, and let Lewis Ludlow bound away for a Cherry-and-White try which Hook gladly converted. At the break we were level: ten apiece.

It seemed unfair to me, we had been the better side in the first half 10 - 3 (maybe 10 - 6) seemed a more accurate representation but all-square it was and we were just going to have to get on with it.

Get on with it they did. A tense first ten minutes of the second half saw Irish win another scrum penalty with which Tonks put the Exiles back into the lead. Of course Gloucester came straight back with their own penalty but it could've been a lot worse since it was after concerted pressure from the visitors. The pressure told a second time with Harry Trinder gathering a chip-through with millimeters to spare for a try. Hook missed the conversion.

Another period of arm-wrestling left home-support wondering when the inevitable Gloucester try/penalty/drop goal would come and take-away the losing BP, however strong play put Irish in a powerful position camped on the visitors' 5m line with a scrum. Or more accurately a succession of scrums.

Here was the post-match talking-point: There were (I think) six scrum penalties from Gloucester before Sir chose to send their loose-head to the bin. Penalty try you say? Well, obviously... Not to the man with the whistle, though, who after a chat with 4th official Andrew Small discovered that this meant that Gloucester could now elect to go uncontested at the scrum - yes, the scrum that was being filleted wholesale by the Exiles. He didn't choose to give the PT, though and Irish were forced to choose - points or kick to corner. Corner it was and the resulting maul was stopped illegally by Gloucester. No PT. Same thing again, corner, line-out, maul, penalty. After a third one of these Sir - Matt Carley, for the record - binned the replacement Gloucester prop Yann Thomas. Still no PT, though so Man of the Match Blair Cowan took it upon himself (with massive help from the entire pack, and a few of the backline) to score the damn thing himself. Tonks needed to convert for the lead... and he did.

13 men for 6-or-so minutes followed by a further 4 with 14 took its toll on the visitors and all they could do was hold Irish out. Occasional madness from the home-side kicking good possession back to the visitors meant Gloucester did get chances to break and worry home support but it came to nought and a late penalty from Tonks pushed the home-side a further 3 away (and meant a try was needed to take the win).

Eventually Irish ran the clock down and kicked the ball from the field to ecstasy from the shocked and elated home-support.

Irish 23 - 18 Gloucester.

I imagine a bit of a party then ensued. I wouldn't know, I was heading home with my drum on the passenger seat and a massive grin on my face.

Of course, we're by no means out-of-the-woods. This was a must-win, and incredibly we did, there is a lot of hard-work (and worry, and heartbreak, and stress... etc.) still to do.

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It's all about the rugby!
Discussion started by The Craic www.londonirish.org , 24/03/2016 17:42
The Craic www.londonirish.org
24/03/2016 17:42
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Iron Lung
24/03/2016 17:55
Thanks Griff. Not sure about a party afterwards, I needed a lie down after being put through that!

Shawshank
24/03/2016 18:28
Cheers, great report Griff

bigbitty
24/03/2016 19:07
Exactly as I saw it from afar. Thankyou.

Props are not stupid
24/03/2016 21:47
The party afterwards was great, but it took me a couple of hours to get my breath back. Thanks Griff for the report.

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