The Weather Report from Reading
By OxonRob
January 12 2004
Match summary: A frantic encounter, inevitably scrappy in the conditions, but not dirty. Narbonne broke the offside rules frequently, and had two players to one sent off as a result. Rather more Frenchmen might have been sin-binned, too.
January 12 2004
Match summary: A frantic encounter, inevitably scrappy in the conditions, but not dirty. Narbonne broke the offside rules frequently, and had two players to one sent off as a result. Rather more Frenchmen might have been sin-binned, too.
After the game the Italian referee, Signor Mancini, apologised to at least one of our players for his “performance” but we can only blame ourselves for making the game so close until the final moments. We snuck the result, but we could and should have been home and dry well before the end, given our possession.
Paul Sackey was stretchered off early in the second half, but the cause and nature of his injury weren’t clear, and after the game none of his colleagues seemed to know, either. Hopefully, the stretcher was a precaution, and by the time this gets up on the message board, we’ll know more and Paul will be recovering.
Whether or not his injury is serious, I am sure we all send him our best wishes anyway.
Torrential hail was succeeded by torrential rain during the first half, but London Irish spirits – and play - perked up a bit in the slightly drier second half. Our investment in the state of the art all-weather pitch looked decidedly misspent, however, as the centre strip of the park was a muddy skating rink well before kick-off. This affected play for some reason!
Frozen fingers seemed to be the order of the Irish day. It wasn’t so much the catching as the passing that was the problem, with a considerable quantity of ball being delivered squirting along the deck. Several players were regularly at fault for this. We also had a happy time pretending to be crabs. It may have been the influence of so much water, but we had one hell of a job trying to get across the gain line, other than by grubber kicks, of which there were more than usual! The other lasting memory was the number of times we had an overlap and the ball-carrier went on his own, cut back inside or did both. Indeed, a certain full back had a decent overlap at the end - and still managed to die with the ball.
Inside track information has it that the gouging and other skulduggery of our game against Narbonne in August was not repeated, but who is to say what will happen on home soil? It may also be pertinent that their pack today differed materially from that one. If the away leg is an open running game, I suspect we could have trouble with the Narbonne backs next weekend. They looked quick and mean, and made a number of break-outs.
When the teams were announced before the game we found one significant change in our team, which was that Rob Hardwick was to be found watching from the stand, not yet fully recovered from his injury. His place was taken by Doug Wheatley, who went through the wars, but stayed on. 111kg Adam Halsey was our prop cover, but stayed on the bench.
After two minutes Beefy tried a burst through the middle and Phil Murphy took the ball into the tackle, where we looked likely to do something with it. However, the referee was playing the Italian version of advantage, and play was recalled for a penalty on the Narbonne ten metre line, in the middle of the park. Tofty missed it.
The Narbonne 22 metre drop-out went to hand, Tofty returned it and O’Strudders broke only for a melee of frozen hands to usher the ball into left touch. Following the line out, Geoff Appleford and Tofty tried to run it back, but an appalling final pass from Tofty to Geoff brought things to a halt. From the ensuing ruck Tofty’s grubber saw Sackey break onto it, but the referee called play back to the Narbonne ten metre line for a penalty to Narbonne. They kicked for touch and made steady progress.
LI had been doing most of the attacking up to this point, but when Narbonne got hold of the ball they were frankly looking more dangerous in what was already looking like a frantic game. Lots of mini breaks and possession being lost by both sides. While one maul continued on the west LI 22, the Narbonne 5 enthusiastically scragged Hatley yards away from maul and ball. We were hardly surprised to see the ref’s arm go up for the penalty, but were somewhat bemused when, after a bit of windmilling, it was awarded to the visitors, who took a short one, but were soon returned whence they came, to have another go, this time at the posts. 7 minutes. London Irish 0 - Narbonne 3. Tofty kicked off left and Narbonne took it in front of their ten metre line, but the ref nonetheless signalled that it had not gone ten and awarded a scrum back. Curious.
Shortly afterwards we saw the first of Digby’s many attempted kicks into the box, following a line out. We gain possession, drop the ball and lose it, but their kick through gives Geoff possession once more. He gives it to Strudwick. Horak breaks right, and Geoff’s through kick misses touch. The Narbonne winger in possession is forced out, and the hail starts, lasting just under two minutes (but a lifetime to the players). Edwards puts another one into the box, Sackey misses the take. Narbonne make some ground but knock on. With an overlap on their left, the Narbonne centre breaks back inside and gets scragged. Their 13 breaks up the middle to our 22 metre line, and it takes three or four of us to stop him. The pressure is on.
Following attention to Geoff Appleford and a very skew Narbonne line out, our French friends rampage over the 22 line once more. Their 13 breaks up the middle, passes to their 15 who passes to their 11 who dots down under the posts. We look porous. 13 minutes. London Irish 0 – Narbonne 10.
Tofty’s re-start is a grubber, to the sweet sound of jungle drums from the East stand. Their return kick is taken by the Mighty Spud who goes over the halfway line on the rampage. Following a ruck we have a massive overlap on the right but Appleford comes back inside. Hoadley switches play left, then right, a ruck and Tofty gets touch in their half. Narbonne return the favour, in touch on their ten metre line. Tofty zig zags from our line out but makes no real ground. We are all standing left of the ruck, with a big gap to the right. The ball is passed on the deck but Haslett cleans up, Digby takes it on, and passes to Tofty who loses it. Narbonne kick through to Strudwick . Horak kicks up the middle. Narbonne return the ball, Tofty goes right accompanied by Sackey who comes back in.
17 minutes. Penalty to LI for hands in the ruck on halfway. Bish’s quick one gets called back by the ref. Was he paying attention? It wasn’t that quick but the collapsed ruck was still on the deck. Horak kicks for the corner but just about makes it over the Narbonne ten metre line. A dreadful kick!
21 minutes. Some ragged LI attacking play later, the ref sinbins the Narbonne 9. Murphy takes our line out ball in front of the drums, Sackey goes up the middle, but with a huge overlap the ball is thrown along the ground well in front of Bish and we get pinged. The scrum turns more than 90 degrees, however, so we get the put in.
A Tofty grubber gets knocked on by Narbonne. We get a penalty in our half, which Tofty kicks to touch by Peters Patch. We drive from the back of the line out, but our attacks all come to nought for some long minutes. Half break by Horak. Inevitable ruck.
28 minutes. Yet another penalty to LI for hands in the ruck. Tofty does the business from in front. London Irish 3 – Narbonne 10.
From the kick off Tofty breaks and the ball goes to Gussie, Hoadley and so to Big Bob who manages to pass behind Bish, straight into touch. It’s that kind of day.
Penalty to Narbonne for LI closing the line out. A short one to a bunched Narbonne back line, but Hatley puts paid to their 4. The rain is coming down in buckets. Some hand bags in the ruck with a penalty to LI, which is kicked to touch and nothing much comes of it. The Narbonne scrum half returns.
Horak and Tofty break left. Naka knocks on. Narbonne break left, but Sackey takes their winger. Their 13 half breaks.
34 minutes. The Narbonne hooker is replaced by their 16. Horak does another of his short touch kicks. Wheatley is down on our 25. It’s all Narbonne for a while, but Gussie kicks through and chases towards the posts, in front of which he knocks on. To be fair, the ball was running quicker than he was and there were two Narbonne quickies in competition.
37 minutes. LI get one against the head and break left. Geoff makes good ground and passes to Bish who has a straightforward run-in past a stationary Narbonne tank. Tofty pulls the kick left. London Irish 8 – Narbonne 10.
Murphy charges up the middle from the restart, and is only stopped on their ten metre line. Having signalled against us, the ref changes his mind and sinbins the Narbonne 5, giving a penalty to LI on the Narbonne 10 metre line left of the posts. Tofty scuffs the kick. That was woeful. Looked a bit like David Beckham when he lost his footing, also taking a penalty. However, our kick goes under the bar!
At half time my companions all felt that we were getting back into the game, with the forwards exerting a bit more control, but unanimously voted to advise the team to cut out “panic passing” and play eight man rugby in the second half.
41 minutes. LI get yet another penalty from the restart which we take. London Irish 11 – Narbonne 10.
Bob Casey takes a low scudder of a restart from Narbonne. The ball is dropped in the LI centre. From a ruck the ball comes right to Gussie, playing 12, who passes to Big Bob, playing 13. Tofty chips from the ruck and we chase their winger into touch. Rough LI possession. Narbonne turn us over and break from their 22. We drag down their winger when he is nearly clear. LI are returning a bit slowly. Wheatley is down again, but recovers.
We are spinning the ball down the line, but get undone by a series of knock-ons. Very rough possession still. Scrappy play.
Narbonne go over the top of Tofty in the central mud patch. Penalty to LI. Strudwick takes a short one and goes. Casey follows and takes it further. Wild ball to Hoadley from Tofty, and Murphy (on the wing) tidies up. Penalty to LI for hands yet again. The Narbonne 8 comes off.
51 minutes. Rubbish ground level pass from Digby goes past Tofty, and Hoadley takes it up. Tofty goes skating again on the mud patch but is still behind the gain line. The same goes for Horak’s attempted break. Crabs have nothing on us. Eventually the ball reaches touch.
56 minutes. Penalty to Narbonne, after a try-saving tackle by Haslett in front of the posts. A small sacrifice of three points? London Irish 11 – Narbonne 13. Rob Hoadley is sin binned for a deliberate knock-on. Perhaps it was he who saved the try? Dec Danaher comes on for Mike Haslett.
From Tofty’s kick off, the Narbonne 15 breaks up the middle, through traffic and makes good ground into our 22. A Narbonne player jumps on Bob Casey way off the ball, and Big Bob pushes him away. The Narbonne player must have his Equity card for he goes to ground and we get a penalty against us. 59 minutes. The Narbonne 10 misses the easy kick. A fair result!
We turn over their ball, but a dreadful pass from Digby causes Tofty to knock on. Gussie intercepts their possession from the scrum. Sackey knocks on. Appleford puts in a good tackle. Narbonne knock on.
60 minutes. Welcome back to Glenn Delaney, as a Narbonne replacement. The London Irish tackling seems stiffer now that Dec is on, which seems a bit unfair on Haslett who tackled his guts out. Make a note to see if I can work out what Dec does differently.
63 minutes. LI scrum. Tofty kicks over the top into the mud patch and the Narbonne 15 knocks on. LI kick through, but their 6 kicks on into our 22, where Murphy runs it up. We kick into touch and Narbonne attempt a quick throw-in, but don’t execute it legally. They are called back for an LI scrum.
We are told that the attendance is 4,525.
65 minutes. Narbonne penalised again, between their 10 and 22 metre lines. No idea what for. Tofty kicks it. London Irish 14 – Narbonne 13. Thank goodness for that. I was getting worried.
Casey takes the kick-off and Narbonne concede yet another penalty for hands in the ruck! Their 5 must be lucky not to get another card. He gets a talking-to instead. Tofty puts the ball into touch outside the Narbonne 22 on the West side.
Digby fails with a blind side break but we keep possession, and go blind again. Tofty passes to Geoff who gets driven back in the tackle. Again we retain possession, but Tofty now gets driven back. Sackey grabs the pill somehow.
68 minutes. Greenstock on for the binned Hoadley. He goes to 12, and seems to be passing on messages to Digby and Geoff.
Sackey is down, and he is taken off on a stretcher. Kevin Barrett replaces him.
Greenstock spills the ball forward and I am getting too excited to note the time.
The Narbonne right wing breaks across and steams up the left wing, now occupied by Mr Barrett. Their 10 kicks on from the ruck, and Gussie returns it to touch.
77 minutes. Narbonne are trying a bit, mostly up the middle. They make what looks like a plain and obvious knock-on and the ref whistles it. Scrum to Narbonne! My neighbours are apoplectic at the injustice of it all. Our defence is up to it.
The Narbonne scrum half, who has had a generally good game, now delivers a ground-hugging pass. It really is one of those days. LI get the ball and Tofty makes a good touch. The Narbonne line out gets re-called as an LI scrum from which Murphy breaks powerfully. Narbonne turn it over, LI turn it over and it finally ends up back with Narbonne who promptly get pinged for crossing.
81 minutes. London Irish 17- Narbonne 13.
We spend a few minutes running around the half way line, running laterally or into cover. Umm. This game is not yet over. Oodles of injury time still. Flavin and Roche come on for Drotske and Gussie respectively. Gussie looks as though he has been working hard (which he has.)
Narbonne are having a right go at us, up the left wing, and then up the middle where their centre drops it. Bishop kicks ahead. Their 14 comes back at us. Tofty punts high and Narbonne knock on in front of their own posts. We gain possession as the ref plays advantage. Casey passes to Appleford to Flavin who chips through. Our visitors find touch. Strudwick takes a quick throw-in to Greenstock, and then plays scrum half, getting the ball down the line where quick hands put Horak away - but he hangs on with two men outside.
Penalty to LI. The offence unknown on our side of the pitch. London Irish 20 – Narbonne 13. Whew. How many minutes have elapsed?
The Narbonne 14 is tackled at our corner flag after the ball had been through five pairs of hands, with the 15 making big yards. We hoof the ball into the Eastiebeasties. Game over. Whew again.
It is all very well saying that the ref was blind, and that Narbonne were poor and gave away a cricket score in penalties. He was, they were, and they did, but when they had the ball in their hands they looked extremely dangerous. We cannot take the return fixture for granted.
However, on the plus side we played a great deal better in the second half, and deserved the result.
Paul Sackey was stretchered off early in the second half, but the cause and nature of his injury weren’t clear, and after the game none of his colleagues seemed to know, either. Hopefully, the stretcher was a precaution, and by the time this gets up on the message board, we’ll know more and Paul will be recovering.
Whether or not his injury is serious, I am sure we all send him our best wishes anyway.
Torrential hail was succeeded by torrential rain during the first half, but London Irish spirits – and play - perked up a bit in the slightly drier second half. Our investment in the state of the art all-weather pitch looked decidedly misspent, however, as the centre strip of the park was a muddy skating rink well before kick-off. This affected play for some reason!
Frozen fingers seemed to be the order of the Irish day. It wasn’t so much the catching as the passing that was the problem, with a considerable quantity of ball being delivered squirting along the deck. Several players were regularly at fault for this. We also had a happy time pretending to be crabs. It may have been the influence of so much water, but we had one hell of a job trying to get across the gain line, other than by grubber kicks, of which there were more than usual! The other lasting memory was the number of times we had an overlap and the ball-carrier went on his own, cut back inside or did both. Indeed, a certain full back had a decent overlap at the end - and still managed to die with the ball.
Inside track information has it that the gouging and other skulduggery of our game against Narbonne in August was not repeated, but who is to say what will happen on home soil? It may also be pertinent that their pack today differed materially from that one. If the away leg is an open running game, I suspect we could have trouble with the Narbonne backs next weekend. They looked quick and mean, and made a number of break-outs.
When the teams were announced before the game we found one significant change in our team, which was that Rob Hardwick was to be found watching from the stand, not yet fully recovered from his injury. His place was taken by Doug Wheatley, who went through the wars, but stayed on. 111kg Adam Halsey was our prop cover, but stayed on the bench.
After two minutes Beefy tried a burst through the middle and Phil Murphy took the ball into the tackle, where we looked likely to do something with it. However, the referee was playing the Italian version of advantage, and play was recalled for a penalty on the Narbonne ten metre line, in the middle of the park. Tofty missed it.
The Narbonne 22 metre drop-out went to hand, Tofty returned it and O’Strudders broke only for a melee of frozen hands to usher the ball into left touch. Following the line out, Geoff Appleford and Tofty tried to run it back, but an appalling final pass from Tofty to Geoff brought things to a halt. From the ensuing ruck Tofty’s grubber saw Sackey break onto it, but the referee called play back to the Narbonne ten metre line for a penalty to Narbonne. They kicked for touch and made steady progress.
LI had been doing most of the attacking up to this point, but when Narbonne got hold of the ball they were frankly looking more dangerous in what was already looking like a frantic game. Lots of mini breaks and possession being lost by both sides. While one maul continued on the west LI 22, the Narbonne 5 enthusiastically scragged Hatley yards away from maul and ball. We were hardly surprised to see the ref’s arm go up for the penalty, but were somewhat bemused when, after a bit of windmilling, it was awarded to the visitors, who took a short one, but were soon returned whence they came, to have another go, this time at the posts. 7 minutes. London Irish 0 - Narbonne 3. Tofty kicked off left and Narbonne took it in front of their ten metre line, but the ref nonetheless signalled that it had not gone ten and awarded a scrum back. Curious.
Shortly afterwards we saw the first of Digby’s many attempted kicks into the box, following a line out. We gain possession, drop the ball and lose it, but their kick through gives Geoff possession once more. He gives it to Strudwick. Horak breaks right, and Geoff’s through kick misses touch. The Narbonne winger in possession is forced out, and the hail starts, lasting just under two minutes (but a lifetime to the players). Edwards puts another one into the box, Sackey misses the take. Narbonne make some ground but knock on. With an overlap on their left, the Narbonne centre breaks back inside and gets scragged. Their 13 breaks up the middle to our 22 metre line, and it takes three or four of us to stop him. The pressure is on.
Following attention to Geoff Appleford and a very skew Narbonne line out, our French friends rampage over the 22 line once more. Their 13 breaks up the middle, passes to their 15 who passes to their 11 who dots down under the posts. We look porous. 13 minutes. London Irish 0 – Narbonne 10.
Tofty’s re-start is a grubber, to the sweet sound of jungle drums from the East stand. Their return kick is taken by the Mighty Spud who goes over the halfway line on the rampage. Following a ruck we have a massive overlap on the right but Appleford comes back inside. Hoadley switches play left, then right, a ruck and Tofty gets touch in their half. Narbonne return the favour, in touch on their ten metre line. Tofty zig zags from our line out but makes no real ground. We are all standing left of the ruck, with a big gap to the right. The ball is passed on the deck but Haslett cleans up, Digby takes it on, and passes to Tofty who loses it. Narbonne kick through to Strudwick . Horak kicks up the middle. Narbonne return the ball, Tofty goes right accompanied by Sackey who comes back in.
17 minutes. Penalty to LI for hands in the ruck on halfway. Bish’s quick one gets called back by the ref. Was he paying attention? It wasn’t that quick but the collapsed ruck was still on the deck. Horak kicks for the corner but just about makes it over the Narbonne ten metre line. A dreadful kick!
21 minutes. Some ragged LI attacking play later, the ref sinbins the Narbonne 9. Murphy takes our line out ball in front of the drums, Sackey goes up the middle, but with a huge overlap the ball is thrown along the ground well in front of Bish and we get pinged. The scrum turns more than 90 degrees, however, so we get the put in.
A Tofty grubber gets knocked on by Narbonne. We get a penalty in our half, which Tofty kicks to touch by Peters Patch. We drive from the back of the line out, but our attacks all come to nought for some long minutes. Half break by Horak. Inevitable ruck.
28 minutes. Yet another penalty to LI for hands in the ruck. Tofty does the business from in front. London Irish 3 – Narbonne 10.
From the kick off Tofty breaks and the ball goes to Gussie, Hoadley and so to Big Bob who manages to pass behind Bish, straight into touch. It’s that kind of day.
Penalty to Narbonne for LI closing the line out. A short one to a bunched Narbonne back line, but Hatley puts paid to their 4. The rain is coming down in buckets. Some hand bags in the ruck with a penalty to LI, which is kicked to touch and nothing much comes of it. The Narbonne scrum half returns.
Horak and Tofty break left. Naka knocks on. Narbonne break left, but Sackey takes their winger. Their 13 half breaks.
34 minutes. The Narbonne hooker is replaced by their 16. Horak does another of his short touch kicks. Wheatley is down on our 25. It’s all Narbonne for a while, but Gussie kicks through and chases towards the posts, in front of which he knocks on. To be fair, the ball was running quicker than he was and there were two Narbonne quickies in competition.
37 minutes. LI get one against the head and break left. Geoff makes good ground and passes to Bish who has a straightforward run-in past a stationary Narbonne tank. Tofty pulls the kick left. London Irish 8 – Narbonne 10.
Murphy charges up the middle from the restart, and is only stopped on their ten metre line. Having signalled against us, the ref changes his mind and sinbins the Narbonne 5, giving a penalty to LI on the Narbonne 10 metre line left of the posts. Tofty scuffs the kick. That was woeful. Looked a bit like David Beckham when he lost his footing, also taking a penalty. However, our kick goes under the bar!
At half time my companions all felt that we were getting back into the game, with the forwards exerting a bit more control, but unanimously voted to advise the team to cut out “panic passing” and play eight man rugby in the second half.
41 minutes. LI get yet another penalty from the restart which we take. London Irish 11 – Narbonne 10.
Bob Casey takes a low scudder of a restart from Narbonne. The ball is dropped in the LI centre. From a ruck the ball comes right to Gussie, playing 12, who passes to Big Bob, playing 13. Tofty chips from the ruck and we chase their winger into touch. Rough LI possession. Narbonne turn us over and break from their 22. We drag down their winger when he is nearly clear. LI are returning a bit slowly. Wheatley is down again, but recovers.
We are spinning the ball down the line, but get undone by a series of knock-ons. Very rough possession still. Scrappy play.
Narbonne go over the top of Tofty in the central mud patch. Penalty to LI. Strudwick takes a short one and goes. Casey follows and takes it further. Wild ball to Hoadley from Tofty, and Murphy (on the wing) tidies up. Penalty to LI for hands yet again. The Narbonne 8 comes off.
51 minutes. Rubbish ground level pass from Digby goes past Tofty, and Hoadley takes it up. Tofty goes skating again on the mud patch but is still behind the gain line. The same goes for Horak’s attempted break. Crabs have nothing on us. Eventually the ball reaches touch.
56 minutes. Penalty to Narbonne, after a try-saving tackle by Haslett in front of the posts. A small sacrifice of three points? London Irish 11 – Narbonne 13. Rob Hoadley is sin binned for a deliberate knock-on. Perhaps it was he who saved the try? Dec Danaher comes on for Mike Haslett.
From Tofty’s kick off, the Narbonne 15 breaks up the middle, through traffic and makes good ground into our 22. A Narbonne player jumps on Bob Casey way off the ball, and Big Bob pushes him away. The Narbonne player must have his Equity card for he goes to ground and we get a penalty against us. 59 minutes. The Narbonne 10 misses the easy kick. A fair result!
We turn over their ball, but a dreadful pass from Digby causes Tofty to knock on. Gussie intercepts their possession from the scrum. Sackey knocks on. Appleford puts in a good tackle. Narbonne knock on.
60 minutes. Welcome back to Glenn Delaney, as a Narbonne replacement. The London Irish tackling seems stiffer now that Dec is on, which seems a bit unfair on Haslett who tackled his guts out. Make a note to see if I can work out what Dec does differently.
63 minutes. LI scrum. Tofty kicks over the top into the mud patch and the Narbonne 15 knocks on. LI kick through, but their 6 kicks on into our 22, where Murphy runs it up. We kick into touch and Narbonne attempt a quick throw-in, but don’t execute it legally. They are called back for an LI scrum.
We are told that the attendance is 4,525.
65 minutes. Narbonne penalised again, between their 10 and 22 metre lines. No idea what for. Tofty kicks it. London Irish 14 – Narbonne 13. Thank goodness for that. I was getting worried.
Casey takes the kick-off and Narbonne concede yet another penalty for hands in the ruck! Their 5 must be lucky not to get another card. He gets a talking-to instead. Tofty puts the ball into touch outside the Narbonne 22 on the West side.
Digby fails with a blind side break but we keep possession, and go blind again. Tofty passes to Geoff who gets driven back in the tackle. Again we retain possession, but Tofty now gets driven back. Sackey grabs the pill somehow.
68 minutes. Greenstock on for the binned Hoadley. He goes to 12, and seems to be passing on messages to Digby and Geoff.
Sackey is down, and he is taken off on a stretcher. Kevin Barrett replaces him.
Greenstock spills the ball forward and I am getting too excited to note the time.
The Narbonne right wing breaks across and steams up the left wing, now occupied by Mr Barrett. Their 10 kicks on from the ruck, and Gussie returns it to touch.
77 minutes. Narbonne are trying a bit, mostly up the middle. They make what looks like a plain and obvious knock-on and the ref whistles it. Scrum to Narbonne! My neighbours are apoplectic at the injustice of it all. Our defence is up to it.
The Narbonne scrum half, who has had a generally good game, now delivers a ground-hugging pass. It really is one of those days. LI get the ball and Tofty makes a good touch. The Narbonne line out gets re-called as an LI scrum from which Murphy breaks powerfully. Narbonne turn it over, LI turn it over and it finally ends up back with Narbonne who promptly get pinged for crossing.
81 minutes. London Irish 17- Narbonne 13.
We spend a few minutes running around the half way line, running laterally or into cover. Umm. This game is not yet over. Oodles of injury time still. Flavin and Roche come on for Drotske and Gussie respectively. Gussie looks as though he has been working hard (which he has.)
Narbonne are having a right go at us, up the left wing, and then up the middle where their centre drops it. Bishop kicks ahead. Their 14 comes back at us. Tofty punts high and Narbonne knock on in front of their own posts. We gain possession as the ref plays advantage. Casey passes to Appleford to Flavin who chips through. Our visitors find touch. Strudwick takes a quick throw-in to Greenstock, and then plays scrum half, getting the ball down the line where quick hands put Horak away - but he hangs on with two men outside.
Penalty to LI. The offence unknown on our side of the pitch. London Irish 20 – Narbonne 13. Whew. How many minutes have elapsed?
The Narbonne 14 is tackled at our corner flag after the ball had been through five pairs of hands, with the 15 making big yards. We hoof the ball into the Eastiebeasties. Game over. Whew again.
It is all very well saying that the ref was blind, and that Narbonne were poor and gave away a cricket score in penalties. He was, they were, and they did, but when they had the ball in their hands they looked extremely dangerous. We cannot take the return fixture for granted.
However, on the plus side we played a great deal better in the second half, and deserved the result.
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