By BrianC
September 11 2003

As the season starts London Irish have yet again been dismissed by all the pundits. Is this very much a case of history repeating itself?

When Paul Ackford in his Telegraph preview of the season described us as ‘More slack than slick’ he was only echoing what pretty well every rugby pundit up and down the land is saying. As far as they are all concerned we are favorites for the drop.

Some of you may remember the last time the pundits were looking on our prospects so unfavorably at the start of the season. That was at the start of the 2001/2 season where we ended up coming fourth in the premiership, qualifying for the Heineken Cup and of course, on that greatest of all days in London Irish history, winning the Powergen Cup. Indeed before last season most of the pundits were forecasting mid table obscurity for us. We all know, from painful experience, just how wrong they were.

Early in the 2001/2 season during our tour to Valladolid I happened to find myself on the team coach traveling from Madrid to that fine town. At the time I reported, ‘The atmosphere on the coach felt right, a good bit of banter, some more serious conversations, in general a group of people who feel happy with themselves and each other.’ If my memory serves me right we also had other regulars on the board at the start of that season saying how good things felt at Sunbury.

In Belfast I was fortunate enough to meet and chat with a few of the players. Again things felt good, more so for me than at any time since that coach trip two years ago. It’s difficult to explain where this feeling comes from, it may be misplaced, but again I am not alone in reporting this.

  As the season unfolds we will see who is closer to the truth. My prediction is that the pundits will once again be eating their words.

C’mon IIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!