Exiles stung by clinical Wasps
By Green White and Gary Gold December 30 2003
A 34-19 reverse at home and outscored four tries to one makes sober reading for Irish fans but these bare facts don’t tell the story of what was a pulsating afternoon at the Madstad.
A 34-19 reverse at home and outscored four tries to one makes sober reading for Irish fans but these bare facts don’t tell the story of what was a pulsating afternoon at the Madstad.
By your craicing correspondent, from the Madjeski Stadium.
The bumper Christmas crowd of over 20,000 meant that all roads that led to the Madstad were grid locked (no doubt the Irish taking our famous hospitality a little too far in trying to make those Wycombe Wasps feel at home!) and so your correspondent arrived later than anticipated and so missed the engagement car park party and only caught of a glimpse of the Flatulent fairies vs. Lardon Wasps ‘exhibition’ match. After shoehorning myself into the east-stand (in the Gods above the drummers) I settled down to ‘enjoy’ another roller coaster, cardiac stressing London Irish experience. The traffic delays and large crowds queuing for tickets meant that kick-off was delayed half an hour and the crowd were treated to some pre-match entertainment from Ronan and Digger’s favourite singer (!).
Paul O’Sackey led the team out on the occasion of his 100th League appearance and Irish started brightly with Tofty making a half-break followed by a grubber kick through, Rob Hoadley appeared to be baulked as he chased through allowing the Wasps’ Full-back to gather cleanly and launch a counter-attack which almost resulted in a Voyce try in the left-hand corner. O’Sackey seemed to have averted the danger by cleaning up the loose ball, back to Digby who flicked out a pass the where Tofty would have been (except he was supporting O’Sackey in the middle of the ruck). Instead, and I’m sure to his surprise, the ball was winging its way to Big Bob under our posts. I can still see what happened next in slow motion, Bob tried to take the ball, change direction and contemplate the spiral punt to the halfway line all in movement. Alas, Bob failed to take the ball cleanly and the on-rushing Wasps defence picked up the ball and bulldozed over the line resulting in a try from Birkitt. Converted by Alex King (7-0 to Wasps).
Irish started brightly from the re-start and a spell of pressure in the Wasps 22 followed. Irish spun the ball right, but the Wasps’ defence was up very quickly and Voyce intercepted but somehow failed to take full advantage and Irish managed to clear their lines after some scrambling defence. More Irish pressure resulted in a penalty 40 yards out and in front of the posts; Tofty was off in the blood bin and unfortunately Ed Thrower’s kick drifted just to the left of the posts. Tofty returned in time for another penalty goal attempt, again just wide. All through the game the Wasps’ defence was up very quickly (and as far as I can remember not penalised once for being in-front of the back foot). On 21 minutes Irish tried plan B, and as the Wasps defence rushed up Tofty executed a masterly little chip, caught by Applestrudel with Bish outside and only (a distant) fullback to beat. 7-7? Unfortunately not Mr Chris (Cherry and) White felt the backs were offside and penalty to Wasps – converted, 10-0, on such margins are matches decided.
Irish continued to apply pressure but through turnovers and poor handling allowed Wasps off the hook and the opportunity for the pacey and impressive Wasps’ back three to counter-attack. After 27 minutes a simple miss-move in the centres and a missed tackle allowed the Wasps’ centre (?) Denny to scythe through the Irish midfield and feed Voyce who cantered over for another try (converted). 17-0 to Wasps.
Further Irish pressure after the re-start was undone as Rob Hoadley picked a fight with Simon Shaw – Irish penalised for what seemed to be ½ a dozen of one and six of another. Irish managed a penalty just before the interval to leave the score 17-3, a score line that, I believe did not truly reflect the balance of play but did show how clinical Wasps had been in taking the opportunities presented.
Stuart Abbott and Lawrence Dayglo with ‘Old Bill’ provided the interval entertainment and were given a very generous ovation by both Irish (as in God’s Own Country) and English fans alike. There was even the attempt to sing ‘Swing-low’ (Joe if you read this I have the names of the culprits and will gladly divulge the names to you for thirty pieces of silver (well a pint of AG anyway). Irish began the second half well and for long periods were the dominant team in terms of possession and territory. However Wasps always looked dangerous when in possession. Two penalties from Tofty reduced the arrears to 17-9. Wasps responded with a spell of concerted pressure and despite his absence the Irish defence was ‘awesome’.
After 63 minutes Tofty dropped a long-range goal and Irish were within a score of the ‘best team in Europe.’ However we failed to cleanly gather the re-start and were penalised giving Alex King an easy kick extending the Wasps lead to 20-12. Wasps continued to exert great pressure on Irish and a prolonged period camped on the Irish line resulted in massive defence from the boys in green around the fringes but Wasps retained the ball well and inevitable ‘developed’ a 4 on 2 overlap allowing van Gisbergen to skate around under the posts untouched, another converted try (27-12). The crowd, led ably by the well-oiled drummers (!), were still giving the Irish good support and Irish responded by scoring a well-worked try under the posts. A lineout on the Wasps 22 was quickly fed to Tofty who ran a dummy scissors and fed Orac on the burst who shrugged off a tackle to score. Try converted 27 – 19 to Wasps and hope of at least snatching a bonus point in the remaining few minutes. It was, however, not to be as Wasps spent the remaining few minutes in the Irish 22 and managed to score another try as the substitute centre (Erinie) broke through the Irish midfield and scored under the posts, converted 34-19. Irish had one last opportunity but were unable to convert a lineout on the Wasps’ 5-metre line. Final score 34-19 to Wasps.
A very disappointing result but I actually came away from the game encouraged by the overall performance and the huge crowd, which will go some way to helping the club achieve their aim of breaking even. Irish kept the ball well in hand and showed plenty of invention and guts to come back from 17-0 down to be within a single score of, what many people regard to be the best club side in Europe. Sure there were unforced errors and we lost but if we use last year as a yard stick I believe we have made great strides without breaking the bank and much credit must go to Connor, Gary Gold and Paul Hull. With regard to Wasps, what impressed me most was their confidence to run the ball from anywhere, confident in their ability to retain ball and confident that support would be available if needed.
Are they the best side in Europe? I hope so because I don’t think that we are a million miles from them. Time will tell as they face trips to places such as Perpignan and meet some of the other major players in the knockout stages of the HC. As for Irish, onwards and upwards, I would have taken much of that performance (but not the result) and I believe we can face the rest of the season and to entertaining the Saints this weekend with some confidence of continued success. C’mon you Irish.
The bumper Christmas crowd of over 20,000 meant that all roads that led to the Madstad were grid locked (no doubt the Irish taking our famous hospitality a little too far in trying to make those Wycombe Wasps feel at home!) and so your correspondent arrived later than anticipated and so missed the engagement car park party and only caught of a glimpse of the Flatulent fairies vs. Lardon Wasps ‘exhibition’ match. After shoehorning myself into the east-stand (in the Gods above the drummers) I settled down to ‘enjoy’ another roller coaster, cardiac stressing London Irish experience. The traffic delays and large crowds queuing for tickets meant that kick-off was delayed half an hour and the crowd were treated to some pre-match entertainment from Ronan and Digger’s favourite singer (!).
Paul O’Sackey led the team out on the occasion of his 100th League appearance and Irish started brightly with Tofty making a half-break followed by a grubber kick through, Rob Hoadley appeared to be baulked as he chased through allowing the Wasps’ Full-back to gather cleanly and launch a counter-attack which almost resulted in a Voyce try in the left-hand corner. O’Sackey seemed to have averted the danger by cleaning up the loose ball, back to Digby who flicked out a pass the where Tofty would have been (except he was supporting O’Sackey in the middle of the ruck). Instead, and I’m sure to his surprise, the ball was winging its way to Big Bob under our posts. I can still see what happened next in slow motion, Bob tried to take the ball, change direction and contemplate the spiral punt to the halfway line all in movement. Alas, Bob failed to take the ball cleanly and the on-rushing Wasps defence picked up the ball and bulldozed over the line resulting in a try from Birkitt. Converted by Alex King (7-0 to Wasps).
Irish started brightly from the re-start and a spell of pressure in the Wasps 22 followed. Irish spun the ball right, but the Wasps’ defence was up very quickly and Voyce intercepted but somehow failed to take full advantage and Irish managed to clear their lines after some scrambling defence. More Irish pressure resulted in a penalty 40 yards out and in front of the posts; Tofty was off in the blood bin and unfortunately Ed Thrower’s kick drifted just to the left of the posts. Tofty returned in time for another penalty goal attempt, again just wide. All through the game the Wasps’ defence was up very quickly (and as far as I can remember not penalised once for being in-front of the back foot). On 21 minutes Irish tried plan B, and as the Wasps defence rushed up Tofty executed a masterly little chip, caught by Applestrudel with Bish outside and only (a distant) fullback to beat. 7-7? Unfortunately not Mr Chris (Cherry and) White felt the backs were offside and penalty to Wasps – converted, 10-0, on such margins are matches decided.
Irish continued to apply pressure but through turnovers and poor handling allowed Wasps off the hook and the opportunity for the pacey and impressive Wasps’ back three to counter-attack. After 27 minutes a simple miss-move in the centres and a missed tackle allowed the Wasps’ centre (?) Denny to scythe through the Irish midfield and feed Voyce who cantered over for another try (converted). 17-0 to Wasps.
Further Irish pressure after the re-start was undone as Rob Hoadley picked a fight with Simon Shaw – Irish penalised for what seemed to be ½ a dozen of one and six of another. Irish managed a penalty just before the interval to leave the score 17-3, a score line that, I believe did not truly reflect the balance of play but did show how clinical Wasps had been in taking the opportunities presented.
Stuart Abbott and Lawrence Dayglo with ‘Old Bill’ provided the interval entertainment and were given a very generous ovation by both Irish (as in God’s Own Country) and English fans alike. There was even the attempt to sing ‘Swing-low’ (Joe if you read this I have the names of the culprits and will gladly divulge the names to you for thirty pieces of silver (well a pint of AG anyway). Irish began the second half well and for long periods were the dominant team in terms of possession and territory. However Wasps always looked dangerous when in possession. Two penalties from Tofty reduced the arrears to 17-9. Wasps responded with a spell of concerted pressure and despite his absence the Irish defence was ‘awesome’.
After 63 minutes Tofty dropped a long-range goal and Irish were within a score of the ‘best team in Europe.’ However we failed to cleanly gather the re-start and were penalised giving Alex King an easy kick extending the Wasps lead to 20-12. Wasps continued to exert great pressure on Irish and a prolonged period camped on the Irish line resulted in massive defence from the boys in green around the fringes but Wasps retained the ball well and inevitable ‘developed’ a 4 on 2 overlap allowing van Gisbergen to skate around under the posts untouched, another converted try (27-12). The crowd, led ably by the well-oiled drummers (!), were still giving the Irish good support and Irish responded by scoring a well-worked try under the posts. A lineout on the Wasps 22 was quickly fed to Tofty who ran a dummy scissors and fed Orac on the burst who shrugged off a tackle to score. Try converted 27 – 19 to Wasps and hope of at least snatching a bonus point in the remaining few minutes. It was, however, not to be as Wasps spent the remaining few minutes in the Irish 22 and managed to score another try as the substitute centre (Erinie) broke through the Irish midfield and scored under the posts, converted 34-19. Irish had one last opportunity but were unable to convert a lineout on the Wasps’ 5-metre line. Final score 34-19 to Wasps.
A very disappointing result but I actually came away from the game encouraged by the overall performance and the huge crowd, which will go some way to helping the club achieve their aim of breaking even. Irish kept the ball well in hand and showed plenty of invention and guts to come back from 17-0 down to be within a single score of, what many people regard to be the best club side in Europe. Sure there were unforced errors and we lost but if we use last year as a yard stick I believe we have made great strides without breaking the bank and much credit must go to Connor, Gary Gold and Paul Hull. With regard to Wasps, what impressed me most was their confidence to run the ball from anywhere, confident in their ability to retain ball and confident that support would be available if needed.
Are they the best side in Europe? I hope so because I don’t think that we are a million miles from them. Time will tell as they face trips to places such as Perpignan and meet some of the other major players in the knockout stages of the HC. As for Irish, onwards and upwards, I would have taken much of that performance (but not the result) and I believe we can face the rest of the season and to entertaining the Saints this weekend with some confidence of continued success. C’mon you Irish.
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
More London Irish headlines
London Irish latest threads
London Irish Poll
