LI v Saracens: Sarries missing more than a trick
Pantomime Villan v Star
By jeremy o'garibaldi/gorman
September 6 2010
So the season was finally underway, This time it was for real. A few beers and into the best seats I've ever had at HQ for what promised to be a Sarries victory. At least that's what my head and heart was telling me. The previous few days had passed in the sort of bliss that all those Saracens like performances were behind us and we would be like Tiggers: winning opening games. They lost as well.
The open twenty minutes or so were pretty cagey; Irish had most of the game but Sarries defence was rock-solid. The lineout unfortunately was missing Borthers; “you know who” wasn’t doing “what I’m supposed to do”. Part of the job is to throw the ball to your jumper – straight. Casey was having a field day, collecting his own ball and disrupting ours. So much so that the first few Irish penalties (there were a larger number of these than I thought were strictly required) were kicked to touch. However this was understandable given Lamb’s first attempt at the sticks; it barely made it to the 22 before bouncing. Cat-calls ran around the ground and I almost felt I was in Gloucester.
Enter pantomime villain; centre stage as Sarries got the first bit of possession in the Irish half. A good break looked promising before Delon Armitage took out Noah as he was about to collect a pass and he went back to the stands for 10 minutes. Goode probably had Lamb’s effort in his mind, as he spurned a similar kick (one which Glen or HooHaa would have had no hesitation over) and went for the corner. It certainly worked as after the first collect of the match and a couple of bits of sustained play, the ball came along the line. Sarries looked sharp and a driving run from Brad created a 3 on 2 outside. Quick hands and an over the shoulder from Wyles put captain Joubert in the corner. The first of many it looked like with the ease of which we had broken the Irish line. The conversion from the corner was missed.
Almost from the restart Sarries were adjudged to have offended again and this time Lamb had his kick lined up correctly; reducing the deficit to just 2 points. Delon returned, but the Irish scrummage was all at sea as the ball was turned over; Ernst picked up and made a driving run. The ball was run on almost to the line and desperate Irish defence saw about a dozen or their players in the heap on the floor. If the ball came out Sarries were in, as they had overlaps both sides. After a long delay it finally came out and Schalk was given the task of stepping inside Delon to drive over from 10 yards. Goode once again missed what was a reasonably straightforward kick.
Sarries gave away a simple kickable penalty and the first half finished at 6-10. I certainly was happy as the interval came. Irish did not seem to have any attacking options at all against a rock-solid defence and we seemed to be able to break the line at will. A bonus-point victory looked on. The only concern was the lack of a kicker; was this going to be another Bath game. I certainly felt that 5 points went begging and with another kicker on the pitch they certainly would have been scored.
After 4 minutes of the second-half it all went tits-up as Irish attacked on the 10 yard line. Goode seemed to have batted back an interception pass; it certainly seemed fair from where I was sitting; it was backwards and he was on-side. Mr Small seemed to see it differently; penalty and yellow card were the result. Lamb slotted over the penalty for 9-10. for the next 5 minutes Irish had a period of sustained attack, repelled by an excellent defence; we waited for the knock on or forward pass. Irish were however patient and kept the ball alive until finally 14 men could not cover the left flank. Delon skated around the edge for a good try.
Lamb missed the conversion, but from the restart Irish attacked again. The sustained thrust was having an effect on the defence as this time it took only 3 minutes before the gaps appeared. A drive down the left created a big overlap on the right and Lamb cross-kicked for the Irish Tagi to collect band run around. Lamb added the extras and a 15 point cost of Goode’s card seemed to be taking the match away from us.
Sarries finally managed to get a penalty decision from Mr Small and on came Hoohaa for Cato who looked as if he had taken a knock. Ratty also came on for Powell. Derek kicked the 3 points and shortly after this Goode returned to make it 15 against 15 again. The momentum seemed to have turned, as Sarries were getting as bit of possession at last. Brad broke the line almost every time he had the ball, but there didn’t seem the support to make it pay; I got the feeling that if Andy Saull had been playing he would have had a hat-trick. Goode was at full-back and Wyles on the wing. The movement of last season was beginning to make gaps. Then another batted interception this time from Hodgson when a try seemed on; this one was a bit more obvious and a lot more forward. Mr Small was consistent in the punishment (3 points, 10 minutes) as Derek converted to make it 21-16 and it was game on.
After a short period the ball came to Ratty inside the Irish half, but instead of taking the ball into contact he backed his pace against Ojo and kicked over the top. I felt he would have made the race, but the ball bounced too far and sideways and Delon was able to touch down behing the goal for the 22. Still it looked only a question of time before we scored with Brad and Wyles breaking the line seemingly at will. Goode seemed to have pulled something; perhaps his 10 minutes cooled the muscles down too much and he went off to be replaced by Kevin Barrett on the wing. Its always a bit of a problem playing someone so out of position, but I had high hopes, given the 7s skills.
Shortly afterwards, Derek shuffled sideways and a miss-pass opened up a gap on the wing; had Kevin collected it he would have been away. A combination of not a great pass and the out of position player not expecting it meant a missed chance. Then 5 minutes later a similar situation and a terrible pass behind two players gave Ojo the chance of a kick-ahead and a foot race. Winger against winger might have been a contest, but Ojo made it easily. Unfortunately, Kevin gave him a little shove as Ojo dropped on the ball. On another occasion he might have got away with it. But it went to the big-screen and replay after replay left the 4th official with no choice. Penalty try, down to 14 and game over.
Twelve points down now, 14 men and only 4 minutes on the clock it looked grim and throwing the ball about in search of a try for a bonus point the only option. It was costly as Irish; with the sniff of a bonus point ran one in against a defence already accepting of a loss. Ojo got on the score-sheet for real this time as a long floated pass bounced forward into the dead-ball area with no defender in sight. Lamb missed the conversion for 33-16.
Not a good result but there were some positives to take away. Brad and Wyles seemed to be able to break the line with ease; Andy Saull once he returns from injury will be getting on a few inside passes. Goode looked sharp with ball in hand and certainly got the line moving at pace. Carstens totally wiped the floor with the Irish scrum once he came on although Gill looked handy around the park. Burger munched up a few players in the tackle. I’m sort of left thinking that if Glen had played we would have won, because we would not have needed to chase the game with 15 minutes to go. Points are more important that looking good
London Irish (6) 33 Tries: D Armitage, Tagicakibau, penalty, Ojo Cons: Lamb 2 Pens: Lamb 3
Saracens (10) 16 Tries: Joubert, Brits Pens: Hougaard 2
London Irish: D. Armitage, Ojo, Seveali'i, Bowden, Tagicakibau, Lamb, Hodgson, Dermody, Paice, Rautenbach, Roche, Casey, Danaher, S. Armitage, Stowers. Replacements: Malone for Seveali'i (71), Mapusua for Bowden (61), Joseph for Tagicakibau (60), Buckland for Paice (44), Corbisiero for Rautenbach (41), Kennedy for Roche (61), Garvey for Casey (61). Sin Bin: S. Armitage (22), Hodgson (63).
Saracens: Wyles, Cato, Powell, Barritt, Tagicakibau, Goode, Wigglesworth, Gill, Brits, Nieto, Vyvyan, Botha, K. Brown, Burger, Joubert. Replacements: Hougaard for Cato (54), Ratuvou for Powell (51), Barrett for Goode (68), Carstens for Gill (51), Reynecke for Brits (75), Du Plessis for Nieto (51), Kruis for Botha (51), Melck for K. Brown (71). Sin Bin: Goode (44), Barrett
Att: 75,112
Ref: Andrew Small (RFU).
Eds Note: If John A is loitering; the singling out of your son for pantomime villain status is really a mark of respect (ish), not a criticism (maybe) ;o).
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Thanks to J O'G - It's always difficult to write a report about a game you would rather forget!
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010:09:17:20:35:10 by Kat..
That was the main source of disappointment, for me. The lack of guts, fight, whatever, at the end of the second half
Good teams dont concede 27 points on 40 mins
Still onwards and upwards
Lovely to hear from you again !
Mobbs aka Troll !
They'd bought in to the 'Florian Fritz Phucqing Fumbling Philosophy', hic
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!