London Irish
Too Many Errors and Penalties – Irish v Scarlets
By Jon_r43
October 18 2009
Irish lost their first Heineken game of the season at home to Scarlets in what was on paper the easier of the two pool openers. Following on from last week’s trip to the RDS the bookies and the press had Irish as strong favourites, with Rugby Times predicting an Irish win by 22 points and only 3 supporters on the Craic prediction league predicting a Scarlets win
(I know who one of them was and she lives in the same house as me!)
We arrived early and as is usual practice headed past the LISC tent to pick up chips and burgers, queues of people were waiting around the tent to buy merchandise or collect away tickets, it looks like we will have good support at Quins, Bath and Cardiff.
The Irish guards band marched around the corner past the entrance to the north stand with 2 stewards clearing the way for them (you wonder why this was needed as it would have been difficult to miss them!) Just behind the band was a green Leprechaun playing a Sousaphone to much laughter from the support. We made our way into the stadium just in time to catch an interview with Toby on the big screen. Toby was asked about last week’s statement by Big Bob Casey that last week’s result meant nothing if we didn’t keep winning and I think he confirmed what Bob had said which was that we needed to keep winning but I couldn’t hear him very well from my seat in the West Stand as the south stand had turned fairly red and the Welsh singing was beginning to roll down the terraces.
Caimh announced the teams and ours was as declared on Thursday until we got to the substitutes where Chris Malone was missing replaced by Jamie Lennard. The Scarlets took to the field with a red and muddy brown looking kit. Caimh announced the Irish side without his usual working of the crowd and the team came out. Players and officials were lined up and a silence was held to remember those killed in the tsunami (Further donations can be made in aid of the area at http://www.therpa.co.uk/events/samoan_tsunami_appeal.php) All 5 of the Pacific islands players in the team were standing “shoulder to shoulder” throughout the silence that was as usual impeccably observed.
Scarlets took the kick off and Irish made their first of a number of individual mistakes within the game with Peter Hewat knocking on (or at least that’s what I’m told as I was taking notes!) Irish held under the initial pressure and eventually Nick stole the ball on the ground allowing Irish to relieve the pressure. After 5 minutes a penalty was awarded to Irish when a Scarlets player failed to release the ball. The ball was kicked to left wing near the Scarlets 22 and possession was retained at the lineout. 3 phases later Maps broke a tackle and ran at the full back who managed to bring him down but Irish had men over to the left. The ball was recycled and on the wing was Declan Danaher (not Tagi!) who crossed for the first points of the game. (Dan cheered especially loud as he has Dec in his Fantasy team) Ryan missed the first kick from the touchline (That’s OK we thought as he often misses the first kick)
After 8 minutes Irish were awarded another penalty and this time Ryan kicked to the right wing, the lineout was again won but 2 or three phases of possession were rather slow and because of this the defence was well organised. Irish took the option of a drop goal which Ryan converted. 8-0 after 8 minutes and the predictions of an easy win were beginning to look correct.
Almost straight from the restart however things began to look less good. Paul put up a box kick which Evans chipped over the defence towards the left wing. Evans ran in seemingly unopposed by either Peter Hewat or Tom Homer and the conversion was made 8-7.
The next score is from a penalty for pulling down at a line out which Lamb converts from the 15 metre line to make it 11-7.
Another penalty was awarded to Irish on 21 minutes in front of the posts well inside our own half. Ryan used the new ball to full effect as it seemed to fly far enough but just missed to the left. Irish were beginning to get some possession and eventually there is a line out with Scarlets put in on their 22. A high ball is kicked to Tom who runs left and passes to Tagi. “Hospital ball” I say to my neighbour as three red shirted players immediately hit Tagi who holds on and gives away a penalty in front of the posts just inside our 22. Stephen Jones converts to make it 11-10.
Direct from the restart the ball is collected by a Scarlets player. Tagi closes in and pulls the ball from his hands. The ball comes back and Maps chips through Hewat and Elvis chases it. The ball bounces high and Elvis collects and scores Dan cheers again - more points for his fantasy side. Ryan makes the conversion 18-10.
Having just scored from a restart you would hope Irish manage a better one but no! The ball is chipped down the centre George misses the jump and 2 phases later the ball is fed wide (and forward!) Tom missed the tackle, the ball is chipped forward but Peter allows the winger to run round him and just get the ball down in the corner with Maps and Dodge trying to cover in the corner. 18 – 15.
I have a note about a high tackle on Tom giving us a penalty (but no card) which was missed and then a penalty which was awarded to Irish who went for the corner and kicked the ball dead leading to a scrum back near half way, more errors in a close game.
Nearly half time and Irish still had 15 players on the field maybe our discipline is improving, not for long though Tom and Peter both chased a cross field kick, unfortunately Tom had his eyes on the ball and managed to run underneath a Scarlets jumper. Yellow card with 5 minutes to go in the half
With 30 seconds to go Irish infringe again going offside in the centre leaving Jones an easy penalty to make the half time score 18-18 with 2 silly penalties contributing to a close game.
Although Scarlets have scored 2 tries wide down Tom’s wing I’m left reflecting that they seem to be making a lot of ground by running back up the centre channels and wonder what the coaching team will do at half time to address these problems and the penalty count.
At half time I took a look at the scores in the other games Munster and Leicester both had secured big wins against the Italian sides emphasising the difficulty in most pools without an Italian side that 2nd place is not usually good enough to maker the quarter finals so a good performance in the second half was needed. Immediately however we were under pressure, Dodge was caught at one scrum and fought to stay on his feet Mr Fitzgibbon seemed to blow saying the ball wasn’t coming out as soon as Dodge hit the ground. Shortly after Tagi had to kick a clearance from full back which only went outside the 22.
Scarlets were on top during this phase and up to the line, wejust held out several times but the reset scrums used the remaining 5 minutes of Tom’s yellow card penalty. Once back to 15 men Irish quickly took possession and the ball was kicked clear, Scarlets ran the ball straight back at us but a penalty was awarded for sealing off allowing us to clear.
Eventually, we conceded another kickable penalty meaning we were behind for the first time in the game 18 – 21 “Bread of Heaven” was heard from the south stand for the first time. Irish made a series of substitutions over the next 5 minutes: Paulica, Danie, Richard, Peter R and Andy all came on. Peter kicked the ball through going out in front of the drummers who must take an assist for the lineout steal that followed. The game seemed to be opening up and we were creating chances but we were also making more mistakes with knock-ons, balls not going to hand and penalties being awarded regularly. One example was on 62 minutes when a penalty was awarded for going in at the side on half way which bounced off the right post and was just cleared by the defence.
On 66 minutes Scarlets were attacking again. Tagi’s wing looked exposed with 3 on 1 and only Dodge coming across to cover but fortunately Tagi stepped up and the pass went into his hands. A clean break is made with lots of time for the supporters to celebrate before Tagi touches down under the posts. Dan cheers again as he thought he had his third fantasy try (Sorry Dan you still have Adam on the wing!) Ryan made the conversion and we were one try away from the bonus point and in front again.
Clarke came on for Dan Murphy during the next attack Dec went down and stayed down (which is unusual in itself), A penalty was awarded for Richard coming through the ruck the penalty was converted 25-24 Jamie replaced Dec who limped off round the side of the pitch.
The game restarted with the clock showing 72.24 Scarlets tried a high kicking game with a couple of overly long kicks which allowed Irish players to call the mark. From one of the high kicks Ryan had to return the ball and the only Irish player who chases was Danie!!
76.30 gone and you began to think that we might just hold out. Tagi has the ball and is going forward but the ball spills forward in a tackle. Scarlets now have the ball, it is chipped over by Evans and then through behind the defence. Ryan goes down and from my view in the west stand a long way away seemed to touch the ball. Peter Richards came in possibly from the Scarlets side and picked up the ball and a penalty was immediately awarded. My initial thoughts were that he had very little choice in picking the ball up as it would probably have been a try but looking at the TV replays afterwards Ryan knocks the ball backwards so according to Sam, a referee you remember, there was no offside line for Richards to infringe against. (Sam’s also concerned about a slap forward by Evans in the build up and for me Tagi may have been in touch when the ball was given away) anyway the penalty is easily converted and Scarlets lead. Irish have possession again at the end but can’t get the ball down the field and time runs out.
The Welsh support is jubilant and the Irish quiet we head to the bar and join in the discussion with many friends. The blame for the defeat is shared around players and coaches but maybe on reflection it shows how far we have come that a 2 point loss in a game we could have won is seen in quite such a negative way because the performance we expect
To progress in the competition now, especially as Lenister won at Brive, it looks like we need 8 points at a minimum from the next 2 games (against Brive) and we will then still be in with a good chance of topping the pool in January.
As I write this on Sunday morning assuming that we are given 2nd place in the pool then we are the worst placed second place team and would miss out on the quarter finals of either competition. Hopefully by the time we return to HC action we will have some of the injured players back and put together a better performances that will allow us to move up the table and mean that we have a serious chance when we get to the last 2 games in January.
Irish Team: 15 Peter H, 14 Tom, 13 Elvis, 12 Maps, 11 Sailosi, 10 Ryan, 9 Dodge, 8 Chris H, 7 George, 6 Dec, 5 Bob, 4 Nick, 3 Faan 2 David, 1 Dan. 16 Danie, 17 Clarke, 18 Paulica, 19 Andy 20 Richard, 21 Jamie Lennard, 22 Peter R, 23 Alfredo
We arrived early and as is usual practice headed past the LISC tent to pick up chips and burgers, queues of people were waiting around the tent to buy merchandise or collect away tickets, it looks like we will have good support at Quins, Bath and Cardiff.
The Irish guards band marched around the corner past the entrance to the north stand with 2 stewards clearing the way for them (you wonder why this was needed as it would have been difficult to miss them!) Just behind the band was a green Leprechaun playing a Sousaphone to much laughter from the support. We made our way into the stadium just in time to catch an interview with Toby on the big screen. Toby was asked about last week’s statement by Big Bob Casey that last week’s result meant nothing if we didn’t keep winning and I think he confirmed what Bob had said which was that we needed to keep winning but I couldn’t hear him very well from my seat in the West Stand as the south stand had turned fairly red and the Welsh singing was beginning to roll down the terraces.
Caimh announced the teams and ours was as declared on Thursday until we got to the substitutes where Chris Malone was missing replaced by Jamie Lennard. The Scarlets took to the field with a red and muddy brown looking kit. Caimh announced the Irish side without his usual working of the crowd and the team came out. Players and officials were lined up and a silence was held to remember those killed in the tsunami (Further donations can be made in aid of the area at http://www.therpa.co.uk/events/samoan_tsunami_appeal.php) All 5 of the Pacific islands players in the team were standing “shoulder to shoulder” throughout the silence that was as usual impeccably observed.
Scarlets took the kick off and Irish made their first of a number of individual mistakes within the game with Peter Hewat knocking on (or at least that’s what I’m told as I was taking notes!) Irish held under the initial pressure and eventually Nick stole the ball on the ground allowing Irish to relieve the pressure. After 5 minutes a penalty was awarded to Irish when a Scarlets player failed to release the ball. The ball was kicked to left wing near the Scarlets 22 and possession was retained at the lineout. 3 phases later Maps broke a tackle and ran at the full back who managed to bring him down but Irish had men over to the left. The ball was recycled and on the wing was Declan Danaher (not Tagi!) who crossed for the first points of the game. (Dan cheered especially loud as he has Dec in his Fantasy team) Ryan missed the first kick from the touchline (That’s OK we thought as he often misses the first kick)
After 8 minutes Irish were awarded another penalty and this time Ryan kicked to the right wing, the lineout was again won but 2 or three phases of possession were rather slow and because of this the defence was well organised. Irish took the option of a drop goal which Ryan converted. 8-0 after 8 minutes and the predictions of an easy win were beginning to look correct.
Almost straight from the restart however things began to look less good. Paul put up a box kick which Evans chipped over the defence towards the left wing. Evans ran in seemingly unopposed by either Peter Hewat or Tom Homer and the conversion was made 8-7.
The next score is from a penalty for pulling down at a line out which Lamb converts from the 15 metre line to make it 11-7.
Another penalty was awarded to Irish on 21 minutes in front of the posts well inside our own half. Ryan used the new ball to full effect as it seemed to fly far enough but just missed to the left. Irish were beginning to get some possession and eventually there is a line out with Scarlets put in on their 22. A high ball is kicked to Tom who runs left and passes to Tagi. “Hospital ball” I say to my neighbour as three red shirted players immediately hit Tagi who holds on and gives away a penalty in front of the posts just inside our 22. Stephen Jones converts to make it 11-10.
Direct from the restart the ball is collected by a Scarlets player. Tagi closes in and pulls the ball from his hands. The ball comes back and Maps chips through Hewat and Elvis chases it. The ball bounces high and Elvis collects and scores Dan cheers again - more points for his fantasy side. Ryan makes the conversion 18-10.
Having just scored from a restart you would hope Irish manage a better one but no! The ball is chipped down the centre George misses the jump and 2 phases later the ball is fed wide (and forward!) Tom missed the tackle, the ball is chipped forward but Peter allows the winger to run round him and just get the ball down in the corner with Maps and Dodge trying to cover in the corner. 18 – 15.
I have a note about a high tackle on Tom giving us a penalty (but no card) which was missed and then a penalty which was awarded to Irish who went for the corner and kicked the ball dead leading to a scrum back near half way, more errors in a close game.
Nearly half time and Irish still had 15 players on the field maybe our discipline is improving, not for long though Tom and Peter both chased a cross field kick, unfortunately Tom had his eyes on the ball and managed to run underneath a Scarlets jumper. Yellow card with 5 minutes to go in the half
With 30 seconds to go Irish infringe again going offside in the centre leaving Jones an easy penalty to make the half time score 18-18 with 2 silly penalties contributing to a close game.
Although Scarlets have scored 2 tries wide down Tom’s wing I’m left reflecting that they seem to be making a lot of ground by running back up the centre channels and wonder what the coaching team will do at half time to address these problems and the penalty count.
At half time I took a look at the scores in the other games Munster and Leicester both had secured big wins against the Italian sides emphasising the difficulty in most pools without an Italian side that 2nd place is not usually good enough to maker the quarter finals so a good performance in the second half was needed. Immediately however we were under pressure, Dodge was caught at one scrum and fought to stay on his feet Mr Fitzgibbon seemed to blow saying the ball wasn’t coming out as soon as Dodge hit the ground. Shortly after Tagi had to kick a clearance from full back which only went outside the 22.
Scarlets were on top during this phase and up to the line, wejust held out several times but the reset scrums used the remaining 5 minutes of Tom’s yellow card penalty. Once back to 15 men Irish quickly took possession and the ball was kicked clear, Scarlets ran the ball straight back at us but a penalty was awarded for sealing off allowing us to clear.
Eventually, we conceded another kickable penalty meaning we were behind for the first time in the game 18 – 21 “Bread of Heaven” was heard from the south stand for the first time. Irish made a series of substitutions over the next 5 minutes: Paulica, Danie, Richard, Peter R and Andy all came on. Peter kicked the ball through going out in front of the drummers who must take an assist for the lineout steal that followed. The game seemed to be opening up and we were creating chances but we were also making more mistakes with knock-ons, balls not going to hand and penalties being awarded regularly. One example was on 62 minutes when a penalty was awarded for going in at the side on half way which bounced off the right post and was just cleared by the defence.
On 66 minutes Scarlets were attacking again. Tagi’s wing looked exposed with 3 on 1 and only Dodge coming across to cover but fortunately Tagi stepped up and the pass went into his hands. A clean break is made with lots of time for the supporters to celebrate before Tagi touches down under the posts. Dan cheers again as he thought he had his third fantasy try (Sorry Dan you still have Adam on the wing!) Ryan made the conversion and we were one try away from the bonus point and in front again.
Clarke came on for Dan Murphy during the next attack Dec went down and stayed down (which is unusual in itself), A penalty was awarded for Richard coming through the ruck the penalty was converted 25-24 Jamie replaced Dec who limped off round the side of the pitch.
The game restarted with the clock showing 72.24 Scarlets tried a high kicking game with a couple of overly long kicks which allowed Irish players to call the mark. From one of the high kicks Ryan had to return the ball and the only Irish player who chases was Danie!!
76.30 gone and you began to think that we might just hold out. Tagi has the ball and is going forward but the ball spills forward in a tackle. Scarlets now have the ball, it is chipped over by Evans and then through behind the defence. Ryan goes down and from my view in the west stand a long way away seemed to touch the ball. Peter Richards came in possibly from the Scarlets side and picked up the ball and a penalty was immediately awarded. My initial thoughts were that he had very little choice in picking the ball up as it would probably have been a try but looking at the TV replays afterwards Ryan knocks the ball backwards so according to Sam, a referee you remember, there was no offside line for Richards to infringe against. (Sam’s also concerned about a slap forward by Evans in the build up and for me Tagi may have been in touch when the ball was given away) anyway the penalty is easily converted and Scarlets lead. Irish have possession again at the end but can’t get the ball down the field and time runs out.
The Welsh support is jubilant and the Irish quiet we head to the bar and join in the discussion with many friends. The blame for the defeat is shared around players and coaches but maybe on reflection it shows how far we have come that a 2 point loss in a game we could have won is seen in quite such a negative way because the performance we expect
To progress in the competition now, especially as Lenister won at Brive, it looks like we need 8 points at a minimum from the next 2 games (against Brive) and we will then still be in with a good chance of topping the pool in January.
As I write this on Sunday morning assuming that we are given 2nd place in the pool then we are the worst placed second place team and would miss out on the quarter finals of either competition. Hopefully by the time we return to HC action we will have some of the injured players back and put together a better performances that will allow us to move up the table and mean that we have a serious chance when we get to the last 2 games in January.
Irish Team: 15 Peter H, 14 Tom, 13 Elvis, 12 Maps, 11 Sailosi, 10 Ryan, 9 Dodge, 8 Chris H, 7 George, 6 Dec, 5 Bob, 4 Nick, 3 Faan 2 David, 1 Dan. 16 Danie, 17 Clarke, 18 Paulica, 19 Andy 20 Richard, 21 Jamie Lennard, 22 Peter R, 23 Alfredo
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Discussion started by The Craic www.londonirish.org , 18/10/2009 14:58
The Craic www.londonirish.org
18/10/2009 14:58
18/10/2009 14:58
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A very fair report and I agree with the overall assessment to many basic mistakes.
Taking nothing away from the Scarlets they deserved their win, but too many LI played well below par and without naming names they need to take a good hard look at their individual and collective performances and ensure that lessons are learnt. Unless they do so quickly, it will be bye bye to HC for another year and so much for winning some serious Sivlerware!
Come on Irish sort it out.
Taking nothing away from the Scarlets they deserved their win, but too many LI played well below par and without naming names they need to take a good hard look at their individual and collective performances and ensure that lessons are learnt. Unless they do so quickly, it will be bye bye to HC for another year and so much for winning some serious Sivlerware!
Come on Irish sort it out.
Cracking read and much as I remembered it - I recall sitting in silence for about a minute after the game wondering how we'd managed to get pushed into 2nd place at the 11th hour. Great game though - what an atmosphere in the Madstad - great travelling support from the Llanelli tourists
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