By BrianC
June 1 2006

The year 2006 starts with a tough home fixture against Leicester. Injuries are starting to hit us hard, we have lost ten first choice players. The Tigers are at pretty well full strength.

Despite this the game turns out to be, as Reading Fatboy describes it in his report, An Opportunity Missed. We go down 25 – 28. "Make no mistake though. This was not a bonus point won, it was four points lost. If we do not make the playoffs at the end of the season, this, along with Wuss and Saints must go down as opportunities missed."

One particular talking point from this game was a decision taken with less than two minutes on the clock. Barry had a long, difficult penalty which he missed. He question was, as JamesC puts it Should we have gone for the corner? "Did we lose a line out through the game ? One eyed memory suggests not but I am probably wrong. It would at least have put us closer for a Barry DG and we might have had a close penalty attempt. Catch and drive v Leicester would have been good to savour indeed."

Despite this loss we are still fifth. We will stay in this position for a few weeks as we complete our ECC pool games. First off is our much anticipated tour to Parma in Italy.

Some 700-800 of our faithful made the trip making this our biggest ever away tour. Parma itself is a beautiful town and those of us who made the journey were to find our weekend a very enjoyable one indeed. We had two Craic reports from this tour. Mine was cobbled together as I travelled back, complete with hangover. Bisach’s was a more thoughtful piece.

On the field Parma were not nearly as welcoming. We went into the game expecting a comfortable win. In the end, as Griff’s match report explains, the 11 – 19 scoreline flattered us somewhat. "To be fair, it was a resurgent Parma that made it difficult, with every man on the Italian side playing out of his skin for pride and for his club. It was a performance to wonder at and one that caused a great many headaches and frustrations for the visitors in green."

In part due to the Parma tour the gossip season starts early this year. Word has it that we have signed Josh Lewsey from Wasps. More good news comes when we learn that Bob Casey, who we had feared losing, signs for another two years. On the counter side the Leicester Mercury publishes a story saying that Mike Catt is favourite to take on the job of backs coach at Tigers. Other rumours are kicked around in Jonny_C’s Gossip / Rumour / Tittle-Tattle thread.

Our last pool game in the ECC is at home to Pau. Here we run out comfortable winners 75 - 12. Gnoo’s match report Topsy made me tipsy heaps praise on our young star. "Not one, not two but three top tries from Topsy Ojo had the crowd going wild yesterday at the Madjeski. For such a shy boy he certainly does put himself in the limelight."

We have won our pool and are placed as third seeds behind Gloucester and Newcastle. Our quarter final in June will be at home to Bayonne, should we get past that the semi will be away, either to Newcastle or Connacht. With this win we move up to 13^th in the Euro rankings. Our highest ranking since early in the 2003/4 season.

We round off January with a tough Premiership game when we take on Gloucester at Kingsholm (a.k.a. Castle Grim). We have not won here in the professional era so our 9 – 13 victory in a real forwards battle is greeted with great joy. Steven Dean in his match report We Won, We Deserved To tells the story thus: "4th played 5th, and 5th fecked 'em. We missed an easy penalty, 2 kickable ones, and saw 2 great drop goal chances screw wide. Those squandered points allowed Gloucester a losing bonus point which flattered them."

Joy on the messageboard is widespread. Blarney wonders if this match might mark A Turning Point Where, in the past, we have started to fall away, this years squad have taken it to a new level. A large amount of credit must be given to the coaches. At the rate things are going BS is working his way into the LI pantheon."

Given the Gloucester result confidence is sky high in the run up to our next fixture, at home to Newcastle. It turns out this confidence was misplaced as we go down 6 – 9 in a truly dire match. The title of my match report I Was Thinking About My Ironing gives some idea of how I felt about this match. "This was the dullest of dull matches. No doubt the conditions contributed to the dismal fayre offered on field but even allowing for that it was a singularly uninspired performance by both teams."

Of those posting their thoughts on the game Bisach, having suffered a fecent family bereavement, perhaps summed things up best in a thread entitled My thoughts about yesterday. "As to the game itself. Like other things this week, it's best left alone. Not LI's best ever performance but probably not the worst in the history of the club. Newcastle played the conditions better than we did."

The following week was remarkable in many ways. Many of us have come to know Baby Jack and his fight against cancer. His father Gordon came on to let us know that he was "Still Fighting". This prompted an amazing response from around the globe. The rugby family were as one offering their support.

The post-Newcastle gloom was lifted on the Saturday when we beat Bath at the Recreation Ground. Our first league victory there in the professional era. It doesn’t get much better than this wrote Steven Dean, and he was right. "Four tries before half-time away from home. London Irish took their first half opportunities to record a bonus point before half-time, and survived a second half fight back to close out the game."

Again people are very happy, particularly so with the performance of the backs. Is that our best back line? asked whoseyourdaddy. "Dodge is superb at 9 always a menace around the rucks and mauls and tackles like a demon, Flutey and Catt pull the strings from 10 and 12. Nils is defensively great and seems to have a little more pace now after playing sevens and with his great hands and passing is able to get the 3 fliers away. Delon was superb at 15 and always looked dangerous with ball in hand. Topsy well dont have to say anything about him as the people who watched on Sat will realise his talent. Salosi is a strong runner and also has great hands."

With the Six Nations now underway there is a two week gap between games. Our last fixture of the month is at home to Northampton. We ease past them 30 – 3. As the title of Loobs report Handbags and Gladrags indicates, there was some tension between the opposing players. David Paice, on his first full start played a blinder. "What can one say about David Paice today? I had pencilled him in for MOTM long before they announced it over the PA. He did everything right, set pieces were spot on, very high work rate in the loose and crowned with a fine individual run for the try. He can shift too! His throwing into the line out isn’t the bullet that Coetzee launches, it is almost a lazy ball by comparison, but it was unerringly accurate today. David should be rightly pleased with that performance."

The happiness in victory is soon forgotten however as it is announced that next season the East Stand will be reserved seating. There is uproar, not helped by very poor communication from the club. FrTed puts it quite succinctly in one of the threads that covered the subject. "There seems to be a lack of information from the club as to quite why reserved seating has been introduced in the East Stand for next season rather than further into the future (as we proposed). We have asked the club to explain their decision in writing and they are preparing answers - it is shame that no such document was sent out in the season ticket pack."