The London Irish Naivety Play
By Richard Fitz December 16 2004
Christmas comes but once a year and if I were Pau I wouldn’t expect anything else this year. The gift they received from Irish today was a relatively trouble free passage through to the next round of the European Challenge Cup.
Christmas comes but once a year and if I were Pau I wouldn’t expect anything else this year. The gift they received from Irish today was a relatively trouble free passage through to the next round of the European Challenge Cup.
Whilst the scoreboard will say that Irish won the battle it was quite clear who won the war.
I felt extremely confident and fully expected Irish to rack up at least a 10 point win. As Irish kicked off and Pau knocked on via the head of Tabacco things looked promising however a forward pass by Irish resulted in a scrum and Pau quickly moved the ball forward. On the Irish 20 metre line, Irish stole the ball and Rodd Penney hacked on only for the referee to call a penalty to Pau for Irish being offside
3 minutes – Irish 0 - Pau 3
From the kick off, Morgan knocked on for Pau and Irish were then awarded a penalty as Pau, playing a very high line, were pinged for offside. The penalty was kicked to the 20 metre line and from the resultant line-out, Phil Murphy broke free evading at least 4 tackles before touching down Tofty slotted the conversion
6 minutes Irish 7 – Pau 3
The game then settled into Catt kicking for Irish, the ball being collected by the Pau 15 and Pau looking to push on. Neither side were making much progress until Pau were again caught offside and Tofty slotted the penalty
15 minutes Irish 10 – Pau 3
From the kick off Irish continued to build and I felt that the game was there for the taking however in a flash the game was settled in one rare moment of true class. A flat pass by Catty sent Bish racing down the line and as he was tackled 10 metres from the try line he passed inside. Unfortunately for us there was no-one inside, Pau picked the ball up, passed it along there own try line before Cistacq broke and proceeded to take the ball over the halfway line. Like all good wingers, O’Neill was on his shoulder, took the pass and proceeded to finish an excellent move. For what it’s worth I thought Pau made a forward pass under their posts however it would be churlish to deny them what was a great score. Mercier, who should be re-christened metronome, duly kicked the conversion.
22 mins Irish 10 – Pau 10
From the sublime to the ridiculous, on 31 mins Mercier took a shy at a drop goal which dropped under the posts. However Mr Dickson (the son was silent) called it a score to the bewilderment of the Irish players and the crowd. As mass booing broke out in the East Stand Mr Dickson decided to consult the touch judge nearest to the East Stand and he duly reversed his decision.
However Mercier soon made amends as another Pau rolling maul created space and time for Mercier to put over the drop goal.
36 minutes Irish 10 – Pau 13
The half finished with Catt and Mercier exchanging kicks and quick lineouts without either side threatening.
Half Time Irish 10 – Pau 13
Second Half
Pau kicks off
Irish really needed to up the tempo in the second half and Hodgson did his best to get them moving as he dummied three tackles before kicking into the corner. After Mercier cleared the Pau line with another huge kick, Irish pushed on and Pau were again penalised for offside on their own 22. Tofty took a quick penalty and kicked high to the try line, Irish recycled the ball and pushed over the line. This reporter was far too far away to see and was celebrating the try when the referee said that Irish were held up and awarded the penalty for Pau being again offside. This time Tofty kicked for the points.
45 minutes Irish 13 – Pau 13
The match then drifted as Pau set up their rolling mauls making small gains, with Irish not showing any invention in their play to break that solid Pau defence. As Pau looked to break, a short kick by one of the Pau backs (white numbers on light grey shirts – sheesh!) completely caught our defence flat. Catt took the kicker out and Mercier scored the penalty
57 minutes Irish 13 – Pau 16
From the kick off Irish recycled the ball and Tofty delicately kicked to just the right side of the try line. A hilarious quick line out by Pau was correctly punished by the referee and Murphy took the quick penalty. Hodgson pushed on but surprise surprise Pau were offside and Tofty levelled the scores again.
60 minutes Irish 16 – Pau 16
From the kick off Pau recycled the ball and Mercier had his first attempt at a drop goal from the halfway line this was well short as was his second effort but like much of Pau’s play it forced the ball back into Irish’s half and ensured that the game was played well away from the Pau try line. On 65 minutes Phil Murphy was replaced by Roche due to injury and Barry was bought on to replace DA, Catt dropping back to Full Back. Irish really needed to push on and two good breaks from Sackey, ably supported by Barry pushed Pau back to their 22 where they were guilty of going in from the side. Tofty kicked the points and Irish moved back into the lead.
71 minutes Irish 19 – Pau 16
The game finished with neither side making much ground, at one point an Irish rolling maul broke free and three of the pack pushed on only to be pinged for Truck and Trailer. Bizarrely Pau then had their own rolling maul until they too were penalised for Truck and Trailer. The game finished where it began on the halfway line.
Full Time Irish 19 – Pau 16
Aggregate Score Irish 38 – Pau 41
For me Pau put in a professional away leg performance whereas Irish showed naivety and a real lack of imagination. For Irish, Murphy was excellent and was well supported by the forwards in general with Nick the Ball having another good game in the lineout. However the backs had a poor game, the promise that it will ‘click’ and we will really give someone a hammering seems to be a long way off. In my opinion Mike Catt at 10 doesn’t work and DA should be kept on the wing where he is at his best. The introduction of BE certainly made a difference and the coaching team need to ensure that when the Backs get the ball they really punish teams.
Finally the highlight of the game for those sat behind me, may well have been when my seat collapsed! The seat was broken before I sat on it however the sight of me going head first into the row in front of me certainly cheered up the group around me!
I felt extremely confident and fully expected Irish to rack up at least a 10 point win. As Irish kicked off and Pau knocked on via the head of Tabacco things looked promising however a forward pass by Irish resulted in a scrum and Pau quickly moved the ball forward. On the Irish 20 metre line, Irish stole the ball and Rodd Penney hacked on only for the referee to call a penalty to Pau for Irish being offside
3 minutes – Irish 0 - Pau 3
From the kick off, Morgan knocked on for Pau and Irish were then awarded a penalty as Pau, playing a very high line, were pinged for offside. The penalty was kicked to the 20 metre line and from the resultant line-out, Phil Murphy broke free evading at least 4 tackles before touching down Tofty slotted the conversion
6 minutes Irish 7 – Pau 3
The game then settled into Catt kicking for Irish, the ball being collected by the Pau 15 and Pau looking to push on. Neither side were making much progress until Pau were again caught offside and Tofty slotted the penalty
15 minutes Irish 10 – Pau 3
From the kick off Irish continued to build and I felt that the game was there for the taking however in a flash the game was settled in one rare moment of true class. A flat pass by Catty sent Bish racing down the line and as he was tackled 10 metres from the try line he passed inside. Unfortunately for us there was no-one inside, Pau picked the ball up, passed it along there own try line before Cistacq broke and proceeded to take the ball over the halfway line. Like all good wingers, O’Neill was on his shoulder, took the pass and proceeded to finish an excellent move. For what it’s worth I thought Pau made a forward pass under their posts however it would be churlish to deny them what was a great score. Mercier, who should be re-christened metronome, duly kicked the conversion.
22 mins Irish 10 – Pau 10
From the sublime to the ridiculous, on 31 mins Mercier took a shy at a drop goal which dropped under the posts. However Mr Dickson (the son was silent) called it a score to the bewilderment of the Irish players and the crowd. As mass booing broke out in the East Stand Mr Dickson decided to consult the touch judge nearest to the East Stand and he duly reversed his decision.
However Mercier soon made amends as another Pau rolling maul created space and time for Mercier to put over the drop goal.
36 minutes Irish 10 – Pau 13
The half finished with Catt and Mercier exchanging kicks and quick lineouts without either side threatening.
Half Time Irish 10 – Pau 13
Second Half
Pau kicks off
Irish really needed to up the tempo in the second half and Hodgson did his best to get them moving as he dummied three tackles before kicking into the corner. After Mercier cleared the Pau line with another huge kick, Irish pushed on and Pau were again penalised for offside on their own 22. Tofty took a quick penalty and kicked high to the try line, Irish recycled the ball and pushed over the line. This reporter was far too far away to see and was celebrating the try when the referee said that Irish were held up and awarded the penalty for Pau being again offside. This time Tofty kicked for the points.
45 minutes Irish 13 – Pau 13
The match then drifted as Pau set up their rolling mauls making small gains, with Irish not showing any invention in their play to break that solid Pau defence. As Pau looked to break, a short kick by one of the Pau backs (white numbers on light grey shirts – sheesh!) completely caught our defence flat. Catt took the kicker out and Mercier scored the penalty
57 minutes Irish 13 – Pau 16
From the kick off Irish recycled the ball and Tofty delicately kicked to just the right side of the try line. A hilarious quick line out by Pau was correctly punished by the referee and Murphy took the quick penalty. Hodgson pushed on but surprise surprise Pau were offside and Tofty levelled the scores again.
60 minutes Irish 16 – Pau 16
From the kick off Pau recycled the ball and Mercier had his first attempt at a drop goal from the halfway line this was well short as was his second effort but like much of Pau’s play it forced the ball back into Irish’s half and ensured that the game was played well away from the Pau try line. On 65 minutes Phil Murphy was replaced by Roche due to injury and Barry was bought on to replace DA, Catt dropping back to Full Back. Irish really needed to push on and two good breaks from Sackey, ably supported by Barry pushed Pau back to their 22 where they were guilty of going in from the side. Tofty kicked the points and Irish moved back into the lead.
71 minutes Irish 19 – Pau 16
The game finished with neither side making much ground, at one point an Irish rolling maul broke free and three of the pack pushed on only to be pinged for Truck and Trailer. Bizarrely Pau then had their own rolling maul until they too were penalised for Truck and Trailer. The game finished where it began on the halfway line.
Full Time Irish 19 – Pau 16
Aggregate Score Irish 38 – Pau 41
For me Pau put in a professional away leg performance whereas Irish showed naivety and a real lack of imagination. For Irish, Murphy was excellent and was well supported by the forwards in general with Nick the Ball having another good game in the lineout. However the backs had a poor game, the promise that it will ‘click’ and we will really give someone a hammering seems to be a long way off. In my opinion Mike Catt at 10 doesn’t work and DA should be kept on the wing where he is at his best. The introduction of BE certainly made a difference and the coaching team need to ensure that when the Backs get the ball they really punish teams.
Finally the highlight of the game for those sat behind me, may well have been when my seat collapsed! The seat was broken before I sat on it however the sight of me going head first into the row in front of me certainly cheered up the group around me!
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