Charm, Strange-ness and Tiesi – A narrow win in windy Bristol

Bristol 20 London Irish 21

Early Bristol penalties by Strange were reeled in by a short-range try from David Paice before he was sin-binned for his defensive indiscretions. In his absence Mark Regan scored following the penalty lineout and drive for Bristol to go in 13-7 ahead at half time.

In the second half Irish made the most of the strong wind at their backs to pressurise the home side and eventually went ahead from a Flutey try under the posts after great creative work from Hodgson.

The win was sealed by an excellent try from debutant Gonzalo Tiesi, again converted by Flutey to make the score 13-21 with 10 minutes remaining. Bristol closed the gap with a late try following a series of penalties conceded at the tackle area, but Irish comfortably saw out the final seconds for the deserved win which takes them to 3rd in the table.

Pre-match travel and socialising

I travelled on the supporters' coach again and viewed the Irish win over Northampton on DVD among pleasant company, arriving 2hrs before kick-off. Some of the group visited the Wellington, while the majority de-camped into the Bristol Clubhouse bar with their small drums and bodhrans, mini flags, wigs - general paraphernalia for generating noise and colour in breezy Bristol.

I visited the club shop to buy a metal cap badge, and bought a program, £5 of souvenirs. Snow was on the hills as we drove in, and was still in evidence on car roofs and the programme sellers hut, and the sharp wind made us glad to be inside the bar with plenty of time to socialise. With the sponsors beer at £2.30 a pint and 4-pint jugs available for a tenner, service was brisk and efficient from the bright-eyed bar staff.

The clubhouse is shared with the football club and so is decorated with memorabilia from each, with comfortable seating, legendary pasties, views of the walkup supporters, and excellent toilets. Hospitality has pitch side views, but I mingled with the herd.

Some knowledgeable locals discussed their season-so-far, and their away travel experiences and soon the bar was packed. We discussed their rivalry with the “village down the road”, the four-letter B-word, and I was enlightened that it is 99% banter. I also got a chance to learn how the match day experience worked for charming single-mum Yvette; taking her two kids into the Family Stand before I joined our massed drums behind the posts on the clubhouse terrace.

First half.

London Irish played into the stiff wind in the first half, and soon annoyed referee David Rose with penalties at the tackle area. Offside, coming in at the side, hands in the ruck, stray fists all characterised an undisciplined physical start in which Rose blew, and Bristol no10 Jason Strange kicked two penalties for a 6-0 lead for the home side.

Early Bristol tactics were to test out the catching abilities of the Irish backs under the high ball. From Leguizamon collecting the deep kick-off, Armitage, Tagicakibau, and Horak were all tested in the first half, all showing perfect technique, even with a difficult ball over the shoulder.

The first Bristol penalty was after 8 minutes and second after 14 minutes before we switched to plan B, this was to stop giving away kickable penalties and to give them away inside our own half - a marginal improvement.

So after 15 minutes we committed a high tackle, and we heard the local cry – “Ave a wurrrrrd, ref”. This is a request that the referee speaks to the player in question, and is answered by “off, off, off,” in an attempt to influence the outcome of the conversation. I assume that a warning only was given, and Bristol wasted the penalty on the Irish 10metre line by kicking the ball dead, too long, so the result was an Irish scrum.

From that first attacking possession we gained territory but eventually knocked on and were pinned back by another long kick aided by the wind. We cleared to touch and stole the lineout, yippee!

Shortly after we gained a penalty for Bristol holding on and exerted some more pressure, re-cycling in attack for at least 8 phases of close drives by the forwards. Irish gained a scrum from an attempted knock down some 10 metres from the Bristol line, in front of the posts. We attacked left, driving individually for 3 phases and committing men to the breakdown. I expected the ball to go wide as we’d sucked in the defenders, but the nimble and alert David Paice received the ball from Flutey or Hodgson on a short pass, and leapt over the prone Bristol defence and powered up to the line for his second try in as many games. It was at the other end of the field and I wasn’t using by binoculars, but it was neat and unexpected showing once again how quick thinking the side has become lately. Flutey converted easily from in front of the posts and we led 6-7 with 16 minutes of the first half remaining.

Bristol stepped up a gear and there was a quick burst of furious attack where we held a player back in attack, a new indiscretion to our playbook, and they kicked to the corner showing some ambition. David Paice was then yellow carded but I didn’t see why. That’s not an Arsene Wenger “I did not see ze incident” – I just didn’t see it.

With their one-man advantage Strange kicked to the corner, Regan threw straight to impressive captain Matt Salter. The Bristol pack gathered the maul and powered over for a classic forwards try, with Mark Regan coming up with the ball from under a pile of 10 men.

Strange made an excellent conversion from wide out in the stiff and swirling wind to give Bristol the lead 13-7 with 10 minutes of the half left. The undernourished Bristol mascot, Brizzley Bear made an appearance to remind the Irish fans of the score, and show his claws. I searched for him after the match, hoping to sing a couple of chorus’ of “Suzie Bear” with him, but he was probably a tearful grizzling bear by then.

Russell came on for Roche, although it was announced as Leguizamon and then corrected. Confusion due to the need for a hooker for the scrums, this was temporary whilst Paice was in the bin.

Irish attacked and worked hard recycling the ball time and again. Soon they fashioned a large midfield gap and just as hopes were raised the killer pass was not held on the 22m and we let out a collective groan. The ball was then cleared long aided by the wind, and Russell was penalised for not throwing straight at the resulting lineout. So Bristol had a scrum on our 22m and with 4 minutes to go Strange saw his drop goal attempt to slightly wide.

A series of penalties to Irish saw us finish the half with a flourish, attacking 10m from the Bristol line when the whistle went.

Half Time: Bristol 13 London Irish 7.

Discussion with the local fans centred on the strength of the wind and what a large factor it was on the tactics; each side using it to their advantage. I was optimistic and positive that it was at least a 6-point advantage, and opined that we would win this. Michael Collins replaced Neal Hatley at half time for what I understand to be a leg injury.

The second half began well for us with the touch judge bringing some stamping to the referees’ attention. The kick failed to find touch, but Robinson the Bristol wing was penalised for holding on whilst running the ball back into the strong wind. From the scrum Hodgson swerved using the referee as a shield and stepped finding Flutey with a clinical pass, which put the Irish fly half in next to the posts. It was beautiful work by Paul Hodgson with another monumental game against his former employers. An easy conversion and Irish were again ahead, 13-14 with a full 34 minutes to go.

Bristol were awarded a penalty shortly afterwards. There was some more “Ave a wurd, ref” but Strange narrowly missed and there were 32 minutes left on the clock.

Soon afterwards a promising attack from the home side was halted as a static Robinson received the ball with no room and he knocked on. The resulting possession was used by Mike Catt to cleverly kick down the touchline channel for Sailosi Tagicakibau to chase, the ball just found touch 3m from the Bristol line.

Declan Danaher replaced Nick Kennedy, and shortly after there was a penalty awarded to a Bristol player who had been attacking some Irish fists with his head. Juan Manuel Leguizamon went off shortly afterwards with bruised knuckles to be replaced by Richard Thorpe, the young Thorpedo.

The next big Irish attack led to a major team conference after being awarded a penalty on the 5m, and going for the lineout, which we threw to Big Bob Casey and got a maul going. It appeared to be collapsed by Bristol but the referee incensed me by going for a tractor n trailer manoeuvre. My notes say ‘amazingly crap decision’ but even though it happened in front of me, Mr Rose was closer so I respect his view with hindsight.

So Bristol had a scrum on their own 5m, and managed to clear to their 22 into the strong wind with 22 minutes remaining of the match. An infringement at the lineout gave Riki Flutey a chance to improve the narrow lead, but it was pushed wide beyond the far post. So there was still only one point in it with 20 mins left.

Robbie Russell came on for David Paice, permanently this time.

An electrifying break from Hodgson saw him stepping inside and beating 5 men before being tackled from behind and losing the ball 5 metres from the line. Bristol replaced the tiring No8 Dan Ward-Smith with Geraint Lewis. I was glad to see him go, he’d played well getting through a lot of work.

Irish had another throw on the Bristol 22, once again caught by the towering Casey, again giving a master class of faultless lineout play. This time we gathered and we got the shove on, without the tractor this time. Flutey broke from behind the maul, and fed Catt with a sweet inside pass, a great running angle so close to the line. However some strong defence held Catt up over the line. The score was still 13-14 with 16 minutes left, worrying close. We’d had almost 100% possession in the second half, and hadn’t scored for 20 minutes. Territory and possession but no points, would we regret it?

On our next attack we lost the ball at the breakdown, and Bristol cleared to halfway. Casey took the next lineout, but shortly after there was another turnover, and Bristol advanced in the Irish half for the first time in the second period with 14 minutes to go.

Maybe that was the catalyst because we scored our finest try from that lineout, which was controversial. There seemed to be some messing around with the numbers as some guys went in, some came out, then Declan Danaher shook it about. More like the hokey-cokey than a lineout, and one of the Bristol forwards, possibly Salter waved his arms at an unimpressed ref.

But we had quick ball and a distracted defence on the halfway line, as every forward became a back in an Irish attack. The break came with quick passing to Declan Danaher who exploited a gap. Then tackles were burst, the cover was drawn and the ball went wide. Some excellent running cutting back in from the touchline got the ball to Gonzalo Pedro Tiesi who burst through the full backs tackle and crossed the line. The excellent Mr Rose got in the way of the chasing defender allowing Tiesi to run the ball another 10 metres in to the posts. This made the conversion considerably easier, and the score was a comfortable 13-21 with just the 10 minutes remaining.

It was impressive strength from young Tiesi. I’ve described him as the Brian O’Driscoll of the Pampas, which is an exaggeration, but I honestly wouldn’t swap him for BOD given the players’ respective ages. 20yr old Pedro had a man outside him, but showed impressive confidence in his own ability and the strength to blatter Vaughan Going.

It was a great team try, with lots of passing and support. No forward passes, well none that I’ve seen on Sky Sports News this morning, not even weak tackling. It was a determined move, with an excellent finish by Tiesi.

We are now scoring some very good tries, and I’m happy they’re coming from the youngsters. It bodes well for the future.

So with 10 minutes to go, Bristol had a mountain to climb to score twice to win, Fluteys conversion being crucial, and I have no further match notes. The referee gave Bristol a barrage of penalties which the kicked down the left touchline 10 metres at a time before scoring through the fresh No8 Geraint Lewis. Strange converted but there was only 2 minutes left, which Irish comfortably saw out. At the final whistle the local fans congratulated us, and views on the game were exchanged, as were wishes for the future. It was as nice a feeling as the narrow win; we’d seen a good match where the wind dictated the majority of the tactical play.

I took some pictures of the drummers in the clubhouse bar, but the majority of the travelling support were at the opposite end. Although drumless in their seats we could hear them singing.

Final score: Bristol Rugby 20 London Irish 21

The losing bonus point leaves Bristol still involved in the relegation battle following Saracens surprise win, level with them on 32 points, and 7 points ahead of bottom placed Leeds. We move in to 3rd place in the table narrowly above Leicester and Gloucester. These two narrow wins over Bristol by one point away, and by two points at home, have been contributions to the positions of both teams. In fact if you look at the points difference column of the table you’ll see the Irish are on +10, and Bristol are –26, which is tight.

Post-Match socialising.

The Bristol clubhouse was rammed with people watching the England match, so I strolled to the Wellington, which was similar. So I struck out for the John Cabot, which was busy but not uncomfortably so. As well as innumerable screens there was live music from a chanteuse. They sold Thatcher’s cider on draft, which went down very well. It didn’t have an ABV%, just a note say “will get you drunk”. Well just like the Ronseal, it did exactly what it says on the tin.

Somehow I rejoined our party in the clubhouse at full time and we coached back to the Swan, near Reading. Strangely the Swan closed at 7pm, which monkeyed with my temporal perspective. 1 pm kick-off, arrive 2 hrs early, 2 matches, 3rd in the table, 4 points gained, thrown out of pub before 7pm. Just too many numbers.

Many thanks to Richard & Marie for getting me home. In fact I began the match report last night in alcoholic euphoria before slumping at the keyboard. This morning it was as though elves had helped with the prose, I can’t remember writing it. Such is short-term memory loss; luckily it has just needed a little expansion, clarification, general editing and spell checking.

Man of the Match.

I’m going for Gonzalo Pedro Tiesi; I liked his try that finished a fine move. Not only did he burst through the fullback Going, but he ran the try in towards the posts in order to gain the position for the conversion. That made the difference between a 1-point win, and a 1-point loss.

There were many good contributions from Hodgson, Flutey, Catt and Casey, while Horak, Tagicakibau and Armitage had solid games fielding the high balls in the tricky wind. A high tackle again laid out Armitage, following up his kick ahead. That’s an annoying habit he’s developing as a punch bag. Because we know he can win every footrace. Why don’t we see people yellow carded for this?

Next match

The next match is at home against table toppers Sale, on Saturday 25th March at 2.45pm. It will probably be in front of the largest crowd we’ve had all season, as well as the Sky cameras. I hope for a warm sunny day for the party, and that we can pick from a full strength squad. A win will keep us in the Top 4 ready for our European Quarterfinal tie v Bayonne the following week.

Bristol: Going; Robinson, Higgitt, Cox, Stanojevic; Strange, Perry; Hilton, Regan, Crompton; Blake, Llewellyn; Salter, Short, Ward-Smith.
Replacements: Hayes for Going (79), Lima for Cox (73), A Clarke for Hilton (73), Nelson for Regan (73), Lewis for Ward-Smith (69).
Not Used: Sambucetti, Nicholls.

London Irish: Horak; Armitage, Pedro Tiesi, Catt, Tagicakibau; Flutey, Hodgson; Hatley, Paice, Rautembach; Casey; Kennedy; Roche, Dawson, Leguizamon.
Replacements: Bishop for Armitage (80), Collins for Hatley (40), Danaher for Kennedy (53), Russell for Roche (32), Thorpe for Leguizamon (55).
Not Used: Penney, Flavin, Gustard, Willis.
Sin Bin: Paice (29).
Att: 7,258
Referee: D Rose (RFU).

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

London Irish Poll