Uh Oh!

Hopes before the game centred around Irish’s recent results and the Sharks’ indifferent away form. However it was soon clear that Sale were up for this game, and intend to push Gloucester all the way in the league.

After a minute silence in memory of Peter Deakin, the man behind many of the ideas that have helped expand the supporter base for club rugby, the match started brightly for Irish.

An excellent catch by Paul Sackey from a Sale up-and-under set up a strong attack that moved deep into Sale’s half. Nick Kennedy made an excellent break only to lose his footing and the ball was turned over in the subsequent ruck.

However the ball was soon returned to the Sale 22 and from a lineout on 10 metres, composed handling saw the ball fed along the back line for Mike Horak to score in the left hand corner. Barry missed the conversion for the touchline but with 5 minutes played Irish had their noses in front at 5 – 0.

The Sharks came storming back but were met with fierce resistance from the Irish defence. Unfortunately Barry Everitt received a bad knock above the left eye in tackling Graeme Bond and, although he continued after treatment, the fact that the lump over his eye was visible from half way up the East Stand did not bode well.

Nevertheless Irish were able to withstand Sale’s pressure and, with astute kicking from Barry and Tofty, they seemed to have a degree of control.

Luck also seemed to be going Irish’s way when Charlie Hodgson missed a straightforward penalty after Dawson failed to roll away from a tackle.

Soon after, Sale were penalised for not releasing in the tackle, but Barry’s kick from 45 metres missed narrowly to the left.

By now it was apparent that the Sharks forwards were highly motivated for this game, and also that the referee was not prepared to intervene where they became what might be called ‘overmotivated’.

This was summed up by an incident around half way. As Nick Burrows lurked on the fringes of a ruck one of the Sale forwards launched a swinging right hand that caught Nick on the side of the head as he ducked to avoid the blow. As the East Stand howled, the touch judge signalled the offence and eventually the referee came over. However, after consultation with the touch judge, no action was taken and the game continued with a scrum for a knock on. The message seemed clear - we were in an ‘anything goes’ kind of a game.

Sale began to increase the pressure and there were signs that the Irish game plan was unravelling. Although Nick the Ball secured one steal in the opening 10 minutes, the Sale forwards began to dominate the line outs and, as at Gloucester away, serious questions must be asked about why we persist with Plan A in the line outs when it clearly is not working.

Perhaps even worse, we seemed unable to read the Sale line outs, despite the fact they basically employed the same tactic the whole game (ie dummy to the back then throw short and pile through the gap left at the front of the line out).

With Sale stepping up a gear in the loose, and with virtually non-existent ball from the line out Irish struggled to achieve any sort of forward momentum. Nevertheless they continued to defend stoutly and it took until the 26th minute for Sale to register their first points. Rob Hardwick was harshly penalised for not rolling away as he ducked to avoid a vicious stamp aimed at his head as he tried to get to his feet. Hodgson kicked the penalty from 20 metres and after 26 minutes of frenetic activity Sale were on the board at 5 –3.

Almost immediately there was some aggro at a line out for which Sale were penalised (on the intervention of the touch judge). Tofty took over from ‘Barry one-eye’ but his kick from 30 metres swirled left of the posts in the last few metres of its flight.

My note for the next period of play reads “Sale pressure. LI defence. Niggle” which sums things up pretty well. (The next bit reads “LI throw – not straight. LI throw – stolen” which pretty well sums up the rest of the match!!)

As the ‘intensity’ of the game increased another intervention from a touch judge was required (this time on the West Side) as one of the Sale players indulged in some ‘afters’ on the Doc as he lay on the ground. Again, apart from a penalty, the offender got away unpunished.

Nevertheless it was a fair reflection of the game when an injury time Hodgson penalty for handling in a ruck meant the half ended with the score.

London Irish 5 Sale Sharks 6

The start of the second half was extraordinary. From Barry’s kick off the Irish forwards fanned across the pitch as Sale gathered the ball half way inside their own half. Before the Irish forwards had grasped what was happening 8 Sale forwards were charging up field in a maul with only Paul Sackey vainly trying to stem the flow of humanity as it steamed 60 metres up the field.

Although Steve Hanley tried his best to save the Irish blushes by then kicking the ball dead, Irish returned the favour by failing to clear the ball and eventually conceded a 5 metre scrum. From the scrum Irish defended frantically as Sale attacked at the fringes before swinging the ball out wide. With the Irish back line bemused by what seemed to be about 8 runners coming at them from all angles, a sweet inside pass from Bryan Redpath allowed Steve Hanley to stroll inside for an excellent score. Fortunately for Irish, Charlie Hodgson (who had a poor game with the boot) restricted the damage by missing the conversion.

Nevertheless in a tight game Sale had some daylight at London Irish 5 Sharks 11.

From the re-start the Irish forwards got some momentum into their recycling play and drove to within 5 metres of the Sale line, only to have the ball stripped by the Sale defence. Nevertheless a penalty had already been awarded and from 25 metres Barry took the shot at goal - only to miss wide right as Hodgson had done in the first half.

With Simon Halford on for Rob Hardwick and Neil Hatley on for Mike Worsley, Irish battled to keep in touch with Sale. However the controlled kicking from hand that had characterised much of Barry and Tofty’s first half display was replaced with hopeful punts that found only the waiting arms of the Sale back 3.

It was after Robinson had gathered one such punt that we saw the referee fall foul of International Player Syndrome (IPS). This is the phenomenon that causes referees to award penalties to International players that they would never think of awarding to lesser mortals.

From half way inside his own half Robinson hit a hopeful up-and-under that came to earth twenty metres inside the Irish half. Meanwhile after sprinting some 15 metres and still some twenty metres away from the ball, Robinson ran straight into the back of a stationary London Irish forward. Immediately IPS kicked in and the referee awarded Sale a penalty where the ball landed, and then extended this by 10metres when he got some backchat.

Sale kicked to the corner and although Irish forced a turn over, a mix up between Hentie and Barry saw them concede a 5 metre scrum. The scrum was defended and the ball cleared. However there had again been ‘afters’ on the floor and an incensed Doctor V had to be restrained by his teammates. After discussions with the touch judge, the referee sent Kevin Yates to the sin-bin.

With a one-man advantage Irish began to put pressure on the Sale defence, helped hugely by their ability to secure decent ball from uncontested lineouts. However the ability of the Sale defence to secure turnover ball was critical in keeping the Irish attacks at bay. However the pressure did result in two long-range penalties, the first of which Tofty converted from 45 metres in the 65 minute. The second followed 6 minutes later from 40 metres and against the odds Irish had battled back to parity at 11 points each.

However with Yates’ return Sale went back on the offensive. Irish conceded a scrum 8 metres out for another ‘not straight’ throw at a line out and Sale worked the ball to Hodgson for a drop goal attempt which he pushed wide from 15 metres. However the respite proved short-lived. After Declan (on for Dawson) had been penalised for offside after finding himself catching a horribly sliced positional kick from Tofty, Sale drove a maul deep into Irish territory. Frantic defence kept Sale at bay until suddenly a breakaway wing of the Sale pack found themselves in a maul with a 5 on 2 numerical advantage. Ian Fullerton’s surprise when he lifted his head to find himself 10 metres from the Irish posts with two teammates as the only people within hailing distance was obvious. So was his delight as he touched down between the posts. Hodgson converted and Sale had the game by the throat with 78 minutes played and the scoreboard reading: London Irish 11 Sale Sharks 18

As could be expected, Sale wasted no time in ensuring the kick off was returned to the Irish 22. From there sheer optimism convinced the Irish players that, despite the evidence of the previous 80 minutes, they could run the ball back the length of the field. Sadly, as had happened at Heywood Road in October, they failed to even get outside their own 22 and the move broke down with the Sale try line still 65 metres away.

The arrival of Adrian Flavin for Richard Kirke had done nothing to improve Irish’s line out woes and, trapped inside their own half, two more turnovers at line outs saw Irish pinned in the corner. As they had been doing all game, Sale threw short and set up Titterell to dive over the try line through the same gap at the front of the lineout that Irish had thoughtfully left open all game. Although Hodgson missed the conversion the final whistle blew moments later with the final score

London Irish 11 Sale Sharks 23

How would I sum up the match:

1) Sale/Sharks are an extremely good side and fully deserved to win by their performance over the 80 minutes. As Conor said elsewhere, they have the best back line in the Premiership bar none. They also have a pack that can hold its own. On the evidence of yesterday, they are also extremely well organised, prepared and coached and have acquired that spikey edge needed to win consistently at this level. In effect I think they are where we want to be.
2) However, I also think that a number of their players overstepped the mark, and the Referee appeared to give them licence to do so. Certainly the two attempts at decapitation that I saw (both carried out by the same second row player) went unpunished by the officials. I also cannot remember another game where there have been 4 interventions by touch judges for foul play by one side.
3) As has been commented elsewhere, and in respect of other games as well, we seem to have Plan A and are stuffed if it does not work. One of the areas where Sale had clear superiority was their ability to adapt their game to exploit Irish weaknesses or to respond to threats.
4) Our habit of conceding multiple tries in the final minutes of games is starting to get silly.
5) Potentially more significantly, our failure to defend against the maul (or even to recognise that one has formed) is a clear weakness that we need to address urgently.

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