By BrianC
September 21 2005

The warmest of possible London Irish welcomes is assured this weekend. Saturday rugby returns to the Madejski as we face Bristol. The team whose relegation we sealed in the final game of the 02/03 season.

Before I sat down to write this piece I chanced upon the preview I had written before that encounter. Our 41-21 victory ensured our premiership survival. Bristol were caught in a double whammy. They failed to pick up a bonus point against us. Bath, the other team in the equation, managed to pick up a bonus point against Newcastle thus Bristol were relegated on points difference.

Reading the preview I was reminded just what a parlous state Bristol were in at the time. Their sugar daddy Malcolm Pierce had pulled the plug. There was talk of a ‘merger’ with Bath or of relocation to Oxford. The very survival of Bristol Rugby Club was at stake.

Bristol managed to survive both relegation and the loss of their main backer. How they did this is a remarkable tale and a great compliment to those in and around the club. In their clubs darkest hour supporters and local businesses rallied to the cause. A supporters’ trust was formed, existing sponsors stayed loyal and new ones were found. The ship was first steadied and then strengthened.

It could be argued that relegation saved Bristol. Had they stayed up in 02/03 it is likely that some deal would have been cobbled together which would have seen the end of top flight rugby in Bristol and perhaps also of the name itself.

Faced with obliteration the club was forced to fully engage with the local community, something it had failed to do beforehand. In doing so they found their soul again. The very people that Malcolm Pierce was at the time complaining ‘didn’t support’ the club were the ones who saved it. Bristol is a club again, not a franchise.

The Bristol Club that has re-entered the premiership this season has already shown that they are not here simply to make up the numbers. They won their first two games, at home to Bath and away at Newcastle and even headed the Premiership table for a week. Last week they went down heavily at home to Gloucester.

After our great start against Leeds at Twickenham our season has faltered. With the attempt to play open, flowing rugby we were bound to have a bumpy ride. This was certainly the case last Friday when we went down by a margin of twenty-six points at Sale. Our heaviest Premiership defeat in almost five years. A particular area of concern is our scrummaging which was by all accounts very poor. It will be interesting to see if Skippy rings some changes in that area.

Both teams facing each other on Saturday failed badly last weekend. Both will have taken a knock to their confidence. Both will want to shake that off on Saturday with a victory. Something tells me this is going to be a very tense and tight game.