Drums Fall Silent on the Thames

Irish made the first significant move making a good touch and then disrupting the Bristol lineout to win the ball and make ground. The ball was whipped out to Mike Catt who kicked the ball high to drop it just outside the Bristol 22. Lee Robinson fielded it well, but the advancing Irish attackers made the tackle and he was forced to hold on as the Bristol support was slow to arrive. Flutey made short work of the resulting penalty and it was 3 – 0 with just over 3 minutes played. Irish continued to work their kicking game well, rather as Worcester attempted on the opening day of the season. The difference here was that Bristol were not clearing to touch. This remains a problem for Bristol were our kicking from hand is unreliable, with the exception of Craig Morgan. This failing could easily have lead to a try for Irish as Leguizamon latched on to a loose kick and made tremendous ground through a non-existent defence. He was telling his winger Ojo to go wide outside him for a long time, but inexplicable he remained too close and this allowed Shaun Perry to make a fine covering tackle from which Leguizamon lost the ball forward.

Bristol looked to be trying things in attack, but some poor execution allowed Irish to deal with the efforts with some ease. The referee was fairly generous in his interpretation of the offside and this was allowing the Irish to pressurise Bristol at the breakdown. It lead directly to a penalty as Bristol held on in the ruck, but fortunately Flutey was well wide with the kick. Bristol attempted to employ the high, hanging ball as a way out of defence. The Irish defender was unable to hang on to the ball and Rob Higgett pounced on the ball, gathered and kicked for Robinson to chase. Former Bristol scrum-half Paul Hodgson fielded it well and earned his side a penalty as Bristol infringed. Irish found a good touch and from the lineout got the ball quickly out to Ojo. He made a lot of ground and then the ball was worked back across the field. The Bristol defence was outnumbered and Irish let the ball do the work for Roche to cross the try line without a hand laid on him. Flutey was wide with the conversion attempt but it was 8 – 0 with 25 minutes gone. Bristol were looking pretty disorganised when Irish got the ball out quickly and Catt was giving the midfield a lesson in effective ball distribution.

Soon after came a nasty looking injury to Joe El Abd. He was down for a good long while and the angle of his ankle as he went over looked very painful. At this point there were three Bristol players on the ground. It might just be me, but is Matt Salter playing with an injury? Surprisingly it was Alfie To’oala who came on rather than Nathan Budgett. There was a feeling that To’oala might struggle to last the rest of the game.

Bristol then contrived to hand possession back to Irish; Robinson kicked long (but not dead) and failed to find touch. To’oala, following up like a large moving house, ran past, rather than through, the man with the ball. Irish made the most of the opportunity and got the ball back into the Bristol 22 where they promptly won a penalty. Eschewing the chance for points they went for the corner only to be held out by the Bristol pack. They then had another quick tap-and-go, but again the Bristol defence held firm as eventually the Irish forwards knocked the ball on. Bristol used their chance to ease the pressure and were able to work their way into the Irish half. As the Bristol forwards toiled into Irish territory the defenders conceded a penalty which Jason Strange, reverting to pre-Saracens form, slotted over to make it 8 – 3. The surprising thing at this point was that Bristol had played poorly but were still just 5 points behind and were perhaps starting to get some phases of play going.

Unfortunately, it was now that Dave Hilton was sent to the sin bin. I assume it was for not rolling away or preventing the ball going back on the Irish side. Frankly, as he could be clearly seen from the other side of the pitch on the side of the ruck it’s hard to fathom how he was interfering with play. Oh well, after last season’s match I suppose we must learn to expect such decisions over that side of the pitch. This time Flutey was on target and Bristol were down 11 – 3 with just three minutes left in the half. Bristol , of course now took the opportunity, a man down, to go on the attack.

Josh Taumalolo ran a good line onto Robinson’s pass as he went for the left corner. He was halted just a few metres out but was deemed to have knocked on. Again the officials seemed to feel that any ball that hit the ground had gone forward. In this case it clearly went backwards initially, but then rolled forward. This doesn’t make it a knock-on. In fairness, Irish too suffered from this misinterpretation of the law. Unexpectedly, it was the depleted Bristol forwards who got the drive on at the scrum, but they were unable to get hold of the ball as the Irish held on to deny Bristol an improbable score as the half came to an end.

I’d spent half time thinking that it had been a pretty poor first half performance from Bristol and that we were fortunate to be still in it. The value of resolute defence and poor Irish finishing was to be amply shown in the second half. The Bristol scrum was reinforced by the addition of Robinson on the flank (is this his true position?) and Bristol were able to get onto the attack. Taumalolo scythed his way into the Irish midfield and was caught by what looked a high tackle. Initially play went on without any sign from the referee, but he soon called play back for a penalty which Strange again slotted over. It was now 11 – 6. Bristol were then able to return to the attack from the restart. Alex Clarke, on in the front row, released Rob Higgitt who then made his way into the Irish 22 before being brought to a halt. The Irish defence, though, was forced into conceding a penalty which Strange was unable to convert. At this point Higgitt was forced from the field with his nose flattened and was then (very) slowly driven round the edge of the stadium apparently to star in an early evening performance of Phantom of the Opera.

Now it was David Lemi’s chance to show that his excellent form in the A League could be carried over into the Premiership. Lemi took the left wing berth as Morgan went to full back and Taumalolo into the centre. The enforced reorganisation seemed to reinvigorate the Bristol efforts. Robinson made a good break down his wing and the ball was moved into the midfield. At the ruck Irish were penalised and Shaun Perry tried to take a quick tap penalty but was held back by Coetzee. Given Hilton’s sin-binning the referee had to award a yellow card. Bristol rightly went for the points and Strange was on target to bring it to 11 – 9. after 49 minutes. An unlikely comeback certainly looked to be on the cards, and this feeling was strengthened when Flutey was well short with a penalty kick shortly afterwards.

Bristol then kicked deep into the Irish half and Armitage gathered the ball in and chipped the ball over the encroaching Bristol chase. As he followed up his kick he ran into Sam Cox and made the most of the light contact to fall as if stunned. Sam Cox certainly didn’t block Armitage; he didn’t get out of his way, but then he doesn’t have to. In my opinion Armitage was looking for the penalty because he had seen what a dreadful kick he had put in. Dreadful from Irish’s perspective but not from Bristol’s, as Dan Ward-Smith collected the ball and passed it on to Lemi on the wing, who surged down the touch line without any defender seeming to get close, for a stunning try. Strange converted from out wide to make it 11 – 16 with the final quarter to come.

Bristol seemed to really have the bit between their collective teeth and Ward-Smith again put the winger into space. This time it was Robinson on the right who was just forced into the corner flag by Hodgson as he attempted to touchdown. The referee called for the television official, but it was clearly no try, and the TMO duly agreed. Robinson was not to be denied for long as Bristol totally disrupted Irish’s attempt at a quick lineout by the pace and organisation of their chasing. The ball went quickly along the backline and Robinson was able to pick a fine arcing line to outpace and outflank the Irish defence. Strange despatched the tricky conversion with apparent ease and Bristol now led 11 – 23.

It was Irish’s turn to attempt a comeback and Catt launched a long kick over the Bristol defence which was allowed to bounce and, as is so often the way with the rugby ball, the bounce was back towards the attacking team. Fortunately the defence retained its composure and was able to clear the danger. Time was on Bristol ’s side and it looked increasingly unlikely that Irish would be able to fashion the scores they needed to overcome Bristol . A losing bonus point was still possible. Bristol then conceded a penalty at the scrum. Everitt went for touch and the Irish lineout went for a simple catch and drive. The forwards of both teams strove manfully to wrestle the ball their way, but Bristol drove in at the side to give a penalty opportunity to Irish. There was some debate over the course of action, which ate up more time. Finally they went for the tapped penalty. I don’t understand why more sides don’t opt for the scrum in that position, so close to line and freeing up space, but the tap-and-go it was. Sadly for Irish it didn’t go and the elderly Bristol pack drove their opponents back and came up with possession. Even now Irish were looking for a try and Everitt attempted a chip which ran dead. With the Bristol supporters counting down the remaining time Bristol were able to kick to touch to bring the game to a halt.

This is the first time I’ve visited the Madjeski and witnessed a Bristol win. It was all the more remarkable for the manner in which Bristol transformed their mediocre performance in the first half into one in which their opponents were unable to even add to their score. Credit to the Bristol coaches who had clearly seen that Irish were using the long cut-out pass to bring their wings into the game and then moved to prevent it. Bristol also ran completely different lines in the second half. Credit also to the team who clearly had the self-belief and fitness to take the game away from a London Irish team who were unable to convert their possession into points in the first half. Craig Morgan was solid when he moved to full back and once again his touch finding kicks took the pressure off the rest of the defence. Lemi too was excellent when he came on, not just for the quality of his finishing, but for the way he harried his opposite number into errors, making three tackles in succession in the move that led to Robinson’s try. He is someone who obviously wants to cement a place in the starting XV. The forwards were collectively good, with Alex Clarke looking to have taken the step up to Premiership quality. So, a clear win from another away game despite a failure to perform in the first half. Bristol have shown so far that they don’t concede points easily and have the mental and physical toughness to keep trying until the very end. Unbeaten so far in the league and top after three games this time (until Wasps play). Oh, and B**h lost!