By Glossopshark
October 6 2004

The dream start continues. Now Glossopshark locks up his Guinness stocks, dons his plastic shamrock and contemplates the upcoming Oirish invasion. Gobshoites at 5 o'clock, sir! :-D

LOCK UP YOUR GUINNESS, THE IRISH ARE COMING!

There comes a time in every rugby fan's life where, no matter how much you support your team, buy the new shirt, watch them beat Leinster in their own backyard, you take a look at another group of supporters and, just for a second, wish you were one of them!

Yup, the bloody ‘Oirish’ are here again to drink our black stuff, eat our pies (good luck!) and have a fantastic time and Edgley Park will be a better place for it.

On the face of it, you would not class London Irish at Edgeley Park as a game that strikes fear into the hearts of fans: 11 months without a premiership win, fighting off relegation last season and only winning 1 so far this season, but forget form, as last year they put us to the sword on both occasions but, after a great start with a win in the ‘Super Saturday’ fixture at HQ against Quin’s, they seemed to be hit by the Sale disease of inconsistency.

So, how will we fare? Well up front, they certainly have the muscle and nous to create problems for any side. The front row of Rob Hardwick, Neil Hatley & the Scottish hooker, Robbie Russell, do not lack grunt or experience, with both Hatley and Hardwick having been on the fringes of the England senior squad.

For Sale, the return of Dougie could be a timely boost and the key decision will be whether Bruno replaces Titterell and if we continue the experiment of Big Ted at Tighthead or stick with either of the two reliables, Barry Stewart and Stuart Turner.

At lock, the pairing of Bob Casey and the ever-improving Nick Kennedy, seem to have established themselves as the first choice, meaning that the ubiquitous Ryan Strudwick is playing at Blindside, and this may well give the Irish an extra dimension at the lineout.

Sale's policy of squad rotation may well continue, but we may need a bit of beef in the pack, so it would not surprise me to see a recall for Schoey and for him to be partnered with the excellent Christian Day. A lack of another natural second row (coz it ain’t the Flying Emu!), means either Jonesy or Tam White covering in emergency.

In the back row it looks like an embarrassment of riches, with the likes of Kieran Roche, Phil Murphy (ex-Perpignan) Irish international, Kieron Dawson, and one-time England wunderkind, Declan Danaher, vying to fill the spots alongside Strudwick. The decision may be to sacrafice Danaher as a lineout option and stick with a traditional openside terrier in Roche.

It will be interesting to see if the squad rotation policy affects Sea-Bass. He has been an ever present and his cheering of his unofficial fan club at the Leeds game, has further enhanced his reputation as a cult hero at Edgeley Park. I am guessing that he will survive the culling as will Magnus Lund.

Lund has been on the fringes over the past couple of years, behind Pinkerton and the Axe, but this season he has shown himself to be a player of undoubted class, who has been tipped by the ever-reliable pundit (sic), Stuart Barnes, as an England player of the not too distant future.

The lineout expectations may be the deciding factor on whether Big Tam or Jonesy will make up the trio, with the other on the bench as back five cover.

To the backs. At halfback, they have 2 solid if unspectacular scrum-halves in Paul Hodgson and Darren Edwards, supplying the points machine that is Barry Everett. Whilst sometimes pilloried for his all round game, there is no doubting that giving away penalties in your own half could be a problem.

I would expect either of our halfback combinations to be more creative, although I do like the quicker service of Redpath to compliment our policy of moving the ball wide and I would also like to see if Mike Hercus can continue the form he showed early season, although Charlie isn’t a bad replacement!

In the centres, Mike Catt and Geoff Appleford seem to make an excellent pairing, with Catt’s vision and Applefords running lines, I can see them causing the Sale defence some problems.

If Jos is fit they may be tempted to pick him for his all round game intelligence and his ability to bring the back three into play.

Finally to the back three. With lightning fast winger, Paul Sackey, out with injury, the ever-reliable Justin Bishop will team up with Michael Horak and former Wallaby international, Scott Staniforth. Staniforth is a balanced runner who can cut excellent lines and will be a handful for any defence, whilst Horak was once tipped for future greatness, but seems to have fallen behind in the England pecking order to the likes of Lewsey, Robinson and Voyce.

Speaking of Robinson, I think he will be hoping for a better performance from the players inside him, than he got against Leeds. His wingmen will also be hoping for more chance to shine and will look to work in tandem as they have done so often, to create try scoring opportunities for each other.

As for the result: well, whilst not the form team, a win against London Sale at the weekend will certainly have given them a boost, and their robust pack will be a test. However, at home Sale are pretty good and even when playing poorly (v Sarries) we still managed to win.

I foresee a much improved performance, with both our wings getting in on the action and Sale to win by 10-15