By Turniphead
August 26 2007

It was only as I sat on the train leaving Clapham Junction that I realised I had in fact forgotten a pen, let alone a pad on which to take any notes so I had to make to with using my phone. As a result exact details are sketchy (not helped by the fact that this was the second of the two games

and much Guinness had been consumed by the time the 5:30 kick off came about) so I shall give you my impression of the game in general.

This was the game against the supposedly weaker side and our selection reflected that; a greater focus on getting the academy boys bulked up by Nick the Ball and a few other regular faces and senior players. I say “supposedly weaker” as the Esher lads had the measure of us up front at scrum time without a doubt. 

 

The First Half

 

The game began brightly enough with Irish dominating the line-out and that theme continued throughout the game (aside from one of two lost throws). The game, for the most part was characterised by the ref’s whistle. A bit of shame in my opinion during what was a pre-season friendly. The penalty count was very high for all sorts of infringements with the favourite being killing the ball. The count was probably in Esher’s favour with our back row being particularly zealous at scrabbling. What was nice to see though (and to have been expected) was that all kickable penalties went to the corner.

 

From a running point of view we looked good; the lines being run were all the right ones with spaces being created and chances opening up. What let us down however was the handling. All too often we would create something with real potential only to see a pass not go to hand or go forward (how many of those were there compared to a ‘normal’ game!). Early-doors rustiness? I hope so!

 

Eventually though some moves came together and we saw Fisher go over for the first LI try. Hickey added the extras and it appeared as though the form book was beginning to be adhered to. Esher however were not prepared to roll over. They came surging back and nearly forced their way over but for some excellent goal line defence.

 

My notes at this point indicate an ‘average passage of play’ which I’m afraid to say was the tone for the majority of this game.  There was very little of note or too inspiring to witness for the rest of the first half aside from De Vedia ‘s converted try which came at the end of another piece of good running by the backs. 14-0 as the players headed in to the dressing room.

 

The Second Half

 

This half belonged to Esher, and fair play to them! They battered away at the Irish line for most of this half and were rewarded with two tries (one a penalty), both of which were converted.

 

One of the positives to take out from this half was our goal line defence. The Esher forwards had our number up front at the set piece but were unable to roll over half as many tries as they would have liked. The theme for the half was very much one of sustained Esher pressure a clearance kicks from Irish. One thing we didn’t do was keep our lines clear; every time we kicked the ball back towards the 10 metre line, back would come the red and yellow jerseys and once again we would be camped on our 5, kick back and repeat.

 

Once or twice we cut loose and indeed scored a third try through Johnson, again converted by Hickey, to take the score to 21-7. It did not deter Esher however who were back again and very rightly awarded a penalty try with 10 minutes to go. 21-14 was how it ended.

 

It was towards the very end of the game that Clark collided with one of the Irish players in what seemed a rather innocuous meeting of head and back. However, he was down for some time with the medical team removing him on a spinal board. In addition as I walked up the avenue on my way back to the station an ambulance flew down the road so I hope it was nothing too serious; get well soon James Clarke!

 

Impressions

 

Don’t get me wrong; I didn’t think this was a bad performance by Irish. It was a largely Academy team who closed out the game against a determined bunch of whiley old heads. Inspiring is not the word I would use to describe it. Compared to the Nottingham game, despite some of the lacklustre defence, we did not look as inventive nor did we have the forward dominance to be able to get clever in the backs.

 

As a day out though: top drawer! Excellent time had by all it appears. Can’t go wrong at £2.50 a pint (take note MadStad!) and the BBQ was simply fantastic. It was also good to see Tonga, Catty, Bob and Shane (I’m sure some other non-playing squad were there as well) milling with crowd and enjoying the sun as well.

 

Well done the club!