Alas it was not to be and despite some great play, (do you remember that great try from Bruce Reihana in the first two minutes?) and the fact that the lead changed hands no less than five times, the Irish proved to have the better of us as they continued their impressive premiership challenge. Roles are slightly reversed this season and we go into the game four places and fifteen points above our hosts this time around.

LONDON IRISH vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

GP: Saturday 8^th May 2010. 15:00

MADEJSKI STADIUM, READING

MATCH PREVIEW

And so, at the end of what has already been a great season for us Saintly ones (I don’t think any of us would have honestly believed we go into the last game of the season with silverware in the bag, Heineken Cup rugby guaranteed for next season, and a definite premiership play-off to come) we travel to the Madejski in what should be the start of some warm summer sunshine with two teams that still have a lot to play for as Saints want to secure a home play-off match, whilst Irish could, dependant on other results, grab fourth place and vault past Wasps and Bath into a play-off place. Realistically though, this needs Bath to lose at home to Leeds and not get a losing BP, Newcastle to beat Wasps, and Irish to beat us with a try bonus something that, unlike last season, they have only achieved three times this season. All of this and Bath and Wasps both know that they need to win as well if they are to make a claim for the fourth play-off spot whilst Newcastle and Leeds can do no more than they have already done this season and maintain premiership status for next season, so, with all games this week kicking off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon, the final positions in the league will be confirmed about 4:30pm and only a fool would bet against a very strong Bath team beating Leeds although Wasps may have their work cut out to get an away win as Falcons do play a strong game at home and Wasps form is not as strong as in recent seasons.

The exiles season has been a frustrating one for their players, management and fans alike with some memorable wins (Beating Heineken Cup semi finalists Leinster away in the cup pool stages 12 points to 9 in October and back-to-back wins against Brive in December) being cancelled out by some poor losses (home to Newcastle and Leeds) and some ‘how on earth did that happen?’ draws (home to Worcester and away to Newcastle). Last week saw them totally outclassed by the resurgent Gloucester compounding a woeful April seeing them win only one of their last four games.  On top of this, we have only played Irish once this season and they ran us very close at FG losing by only 2 points after one of those, nail-biting, last minute Flash try’s with a conversion successfully taken by Exiles own prodigy, Shane Geraghty – incidentally, one of the few occasions that Tin-Tin has pulled the points from the bag in the nick of time.

This is the last league game of the season and we already know that, win, lose or draw we have at least one more game to play after this as we go into the premiership play-off and the result of this week’s game against Irish will likely confirm where that play-off match will take place but I will let Red Saint provide the delectation of that preview for you next week.

Toby Booth is, however, making all the right noises about ending the Exiles season on a high saying that this season will be deemed a “failure” if his side do not reach the premiership play-offs

But realises the enormity of the task ahead of him and how he is reliant on other top teams losing suggesting that he will use this match to “try some different players”. This predicament has been forced on Booth in many respects with recent injuries to some key play makers like Mapusua, Tagicakibau, Topsy Ojo, Declan Danaher, Nick Kennedy and Clarke Dermody.

As for the Saints team, well we have had a lay-off of a couple of weeks to lick our wounds after losing our unbeaten home record to a very formidable Saracens team preceded by a close loss away at the Rec. Let’s hope those two games were our glitch in what has been a fantastic season so far. I’m not aware of any injuries to our current squad as I write this preview with the continuing exception of Christian Day, and frankly, the fact that we have lost our last two games by just one point to two very good teams, I see no reason to make any changes to the starting XV and the bench for this game.

Recent premiership history between our two clubs when playing at the Madstad is not in our favour. Our Paddy’s day trip down there last season saw us lose 32-27, in November 2006 we lost by a demoralising 40 points to 5, in February 2006 we lost 30-3, we did win in December 2004 21-22, and in January 2004 15-36 and back in October 2002 we won 12-14. But despite our recent run of losses there we should go into this game as favourites mainly due to the injuries Irish have suffered and our vast improvement in away form this season.

Well, I’ve said it before but I always enjoy this match because the Madstad is the closest premiership club to where I live, so I shall be jumping on a train for the 20 minute journey which means that I will be able to enjoy a few beers at the game. I also hope that, as it’s the last game of the season, there will be lots of Saints fans there and Irish need their supporters, horns and drums and all, to help them try to achieve a play-off spot.

Some peculiar stats for you when you do compare this match to the same match last season, albeit not in the same month, Saints were lower in the table than Irish last season, 3^rd against 8^th, (this season we are higher), we had won our two games in the run up to this one (this season we have lost both), and Irish had won their two games in the run up to this match, (this season they have lost both). It probably doesn’t count for much but hey, I’ll take all the omens I can get.

So Irish vs Saints this weekend should be a fast and furious encounter as both teams target the win to gain, either a possible play-off place, or securing home advantage in a play-off place. Toby Booth and Jim Mallinder will be focused on winning this match but Booth will be keen to know what is happening at The Rec and at Kingston Park, whilst Mallinder will only be interested in the score from Welford Road if we are losing.

Possible Teams and score Predictions:

Despite the fact that they are missing a few key players, Irish still have a quite formidable line up with potency through the backs especially.

Possible London Irish team

15 – Peter Hewat

14 – John Rudd

13 – Elvis Seveali’i

12 – Tom Homer

11 – Delon Armitage

10 – Chris Malone/Ryan Lamb

9 – Paul Hodgson

1 – Alex Corbisisro

2 – Danie Coetzee

3 – Faan Rautenbach

4 – Kieran Roche

5 – Bob Casey

6 – Jamie Gibson

7 – Steffon Armitage

8 – Richard Thorpe

Possible Saints Team

Pretty much unchanged from what you would expect although I have opted for Lobbe and Myler to start as I would like to see us make a big push up front from the off, and Myler simply because he and Bruce can get the score board ticking over with penalties whilst Shane can get a run out in the second half as a play maker.

15 – Ben Foden

14 – Bruce Reihana

13 – Jon Clarke

12 – James Downey

11 – Chris Ashton

10 – Stephen Myler

9 – Lee Dickson

1 – Soane Tonga’uiha

2 – Dylan Hartley

3 – Euan Murray

4 – Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe

5 – Juandre Kruger

6 – Courtney Lawes

7 – Phil Dowson

8 – Roger Wilson

Replacements

16 – Brett Sharman

17 – Regardt Dreyer

18 – Brian Mujati

19 – Mark Easter

20 – Neil Best

21 – Shane Geraghty

22 – Joe Ansbro

Let’s hope that Shane gets as warm a welcome from the London Irish fans as we give to any visiting ex-Saints players, oh and by the way, with injuries what they are for the Irish, we may see what will turn out to be the last run out for Mike Catt so a round of applause for him wouldn’t go amiss.

Saints by 10.

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