By Griff
June 12 2007

So, onto November with mixed-feelings and the suspicion that the team that had taken all-comers on in 2006 were still to find their stride. We hoped it would be soon. The delights of the running-rugby at Stade Ernest Wallon had whetted our appetites but the disappointment of so many losses had us feeling those familiar London Irish blues. Early November saw a fine fight-back at the Recreation Ground to start the month with a win. Victory in Bath is always sweet but this one didn't have the same panache as the previous season's (complete with Topsy Ojo pirouette). David Paice's spear-tackle yellow card and the fact that Bath didn't have all their players available thanks to money-spinning Autumn Internationals were the major memories.

The second foray into Friday-night rugby saw the tractor-boys and shed-heads follow Gloucester to the MadStad. The Friday gloom again descended as Irish went down to a very good west-country side in the pouring rain. The score was slightly flattering to Gloucester thanks to a late Simpson-Daniel intercept try but they were worthy winners.

A visit to Welford Road always brings worry. It's rare that anyone beats the Tigers at their lair and this visit was no rarity. Memorable only really for Michael Horak's horrible failure to spot a charging Tom Vardell and allow the speedy winger to touch down for a real steal of a try. Horak probably still has nightmares about it. Except for that it was a workman-like performance from the home-team that stopped a creditable stab at a win from coming into fruition.

To close out November we welcomed the already-struggling Saints to the Madejski. Well, "welcomed" probably isn't the word. We spanked them, horribly. Despite a raft of home-team errors the Carlos Spencer road-show demonstrated a complete inability to make anything count and allowed a still under-performing Irish side to run 5 tries in. It gave us real hope that if we did find our feet we might, just might, do that to a team with a bit more form.

December brought the return of the EDF Energy cup and a must-win game in the heartland of Welsh rugby. Live on BBC Wales we totally failed to turn-up. Cardiff were pretty-good but Irish simply weren't in the game and any hopes of making the closing-stages of the Anglo-Welsh went away. Whether that was the plan all along is up to the reader's interpretation.

With one cup out of the way for another year it was time to return to the Heineken games. A high-flying Ulster team came to the Madejski looking to show the English-Irish upstarts a thing or two. They went away disappointed, really disappointed. A spirited performance (possibly our match of the season) gave the visitors no space, no ball and no HC points. It was a bitter blow for them and one they would have to revenge...

Revenge came in short-order. The back-to-back fixtures meant Irish went with new confidence to a wounded Ravenhill. We were all hopeful much in the same way as Ulster had been visiting us and they thumped us in similar fashion. The score was a complete mirror of the home-match. There was also a fair amount of bitterness that came between two fine clubs. I hope the damage done at the time can be resolved sooner rather than later and that we can enjoy our Norn Iron friends' company in short-order. It really wasn't a great episode in either clubs' history.

With Heineken Cup shenanigans behind us for 2006 we resumed the GP campaign (our last hope for any silverware). Traveling to Sixways can be both enjoyable and painful. It's a lovely place with lovely people and we have a good record against the Premiership new-boys but they can also inflict wounding blows to any GP hopes by actually winning. Wuss are all about economy of effort and winning ugly. This game really wasn't pretty and in the end it was mostly a lottery. A lottery we luckily won.

Following such a struggle we welcomed Leicester for our Boxing Day game with fear and trepidation. With our HC disappointment and off-the-field tomfoolery and then to leave Sixways feeling more than a little relieved it seemed obvious that Tigers were going to spoil the Christmas Spirit. Santa, it seems, had other ideas. A late try brought the visitors to within one point at the end but the men-in-green pulled-off a quite remarkable rear-guard to take the win. Would this give us the platform in 2007 to launch ourselves up the table ?