Irish Eyes are Smiling (again)

Very regrettably, I’m forced by late work commitments (on a Friday as well…) to not only miss a Sarries game for the first time this season, but also the opportunity the game would have afforded us to visit Irish’s new home, after years of being the Exiles in exile at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, at Brentford FC’s new stadium – so this report is being written in front of our TV at home in leafy Hornsey Vale, which to be fair offers warmth, a comfortable seat, a decent selection of beer and Mrs Jonny’s always superb cooking….but it just isn’t the same…… I'm hoping that, in a week of bad news about the current crop of injuries in the Sarries squad, including the loss of Marco Riccioni for the rest of the season and the appallingly bad luck that continues to dog poor Duncan Taylor, our youngsters will give us something to smile about.

Irish have an experienced squad out tonight, with the likes of Rory Jennings – who more than ably replaced Paddy Jackson in the Premiership encounter at StoneX – Steve Mafi, Marcel Van de Merwe and Mike Willemse likely to provide a young Sarries side with a stern test.

Sarrries have gone with a blend of relative experience and raw young talent, with five changes to the starting XV from last week’s game against Quins, including Theo Dan, Sam Wainwright, Toby Knight and Brandon Jackson all starting, with Samson Adejimi, Obinna Nkwocha, Tom Mills and Francis Moore featuring on the bench.   

Andy Christie is captain tonight.

The teams run onto the pitch with the Metallica classic “Enter Sandman” booming out over the PA system; interesting choice of tunnel music, presumably designed to let tremulous away teams know that that they’re walking into a nightmare ……hopefully no-one in the Sarries ranks will be sleeping with an eye open or tightly gripping their pillow later…..   

Manu kicks off, and Sarries make a fast start with a promising dart from Van Zyl, but Christie fumbles and it’s a scrum to Irish.

Irish break quickly from the set piece but in their haste to get on with things there are a couple of handling errors; more worryingly, though, Harris appears to have injured a shoulder in collision, and although he winces in pain he looks to be in the condition to carry on, Sarries try to push forward again, working through the phases, but the spell of possession ends with an Irish steal; we’re looking positive at this early stage.

Sarries try to build again from deep in our territory, with Van Zyl kicking long, continuing to batter away at the Irish defence and Segun tries to jink through after a deft offload from McFarland, then Manu tries to break but good defensive work from Irish turns the ball over.

Back come Irish, only to be stopped short by another fumble under pressure from Manu and the emerging phenomenon that is McFarland. Irish are looking busy now, stepping the momentum up as a kick through the Sarries line goes a little long and in the first anxious moment for Sarries, Obatoyinbo gathers under pressure. The men in green continue to sweep forward and win a penalty from which a tap and go maintains the pressure, and the Sarries rock is getting a pounding; it’s another penalty to irish who kick to the corner on our right.  The pressure is relieved for now at least by a scrum to Sarries.

Irish are looking strong and hard-working and I sense that the this could be a long evening for the young Sarries squad. Sarries toil to get out from their end and Van Zyl  very long again, but Irish come straight back again as after some slick play Pearson breaks clear off a Sarries shoulder, then Williams looks to have been held up short of the line but cleverly flips it back to Hassell-Collins who gets over to score; Jennings converts for 7-0 at 17 mins.

Irish surge forward as they break from a maul following a penalty but are stopped by good work from Van Zyl who turns it over. Irish  are looking dominant now, with another push for the Sarrries line which is halted by what is adjudged - after much deliberation and murmurings about a possible penalty try - to be a deliberate knock on by Obatoyinbo (it is noted at this point that in NFL style the referee’s decisions are being broadcast over the PA system to the crowd) who gets a yellow, a slightly surprising (and relative) let-off due to Van Zyl being, according to the TMO, in a position to cover in defence and so a direct try-scoring opportunity was not denied by Obatoyinbo’s infringement.

The relative let-off is short-lived as five minutes later Irish work the ball quickly across the Sarries defensive line from a scrum penalty and Hepetema finds a gap to dot down on 21 minutes, with Jennings again converts and it’s 14-0.

Shortly afterwards we see another glimpse of what McFarland brings to the StoneX party as he soars above a lineout to show off his basketball skills and take the ball securely….in one hand; Sarries exit cleanly and try to push forward, driven by the excellent Van Zyl, and Morris carries hard but is thwarted by a scrum to Irish, who then get a penalty off Wainwright. 

Irish continue to sweep forward with a penalty advantage, again looking slick and well organised, Willemse drives hard and coming off a ruck on the 5 metre line Mafi finds a gap to cross the line as we approach the half hour mark; Jennings again converts and the score reaches 21-0. At this point it’s looking hard to see how Sarries are going to gain a foothold in this game and in my head James Hetfield is growling “something’s wrong, shut the light, heavy thoughts toni-ight”.

Sarries heap more pressure on themselves with a scrum to Irish who get another penalty off Wainwright who’s having a tough time of it this evening.

Another Irish push is stopped by a dropped ball, and the Browne household hopes Sarries can at least try and get something as we move towards a half time regroup-and-go-again talk from Kelly Brown. A good exit from the scrum through Christie and Manu clears, but back come Irish.

Morris and Knight both try in vain to punch through the gain line but it’s a penalty to Irish who again exit and break with pace;  Nott and White threaten but this time Sarries hold out and win a scrum.  Christie again works hard to get out and Van Zyl clears.

As the half draws to a close, Irish test Obatoyinbo with a high kick and he clears long – Sarries continue to try and step it up but an Irish clearance ends the half.

Irish, with an experienced squad, look stronger and more organised, breaking quickly and cleanly with more precision in taking their opportunities.

A relatively youthful Sarries have by contrast created no real opportunities, unable apart from the first ten minutes to apply any sustained pressure, or any moments of magic – Roti has only made the one break, early on, while Harris is soldiering on although he’s clearly in a lot of discomfort,  Christie and Morris are their usual industrious selves, McFarland is showing glimpses of his potential, and the other Theo, Dan, is showing promise.  

Jennings who has been excellent in the first half kicks off the second, and I see that Harris is still on the field.

Perhaps in a tactical change, Sarries opt to run the ball from an early scrum and, as in the open stages of the first half,  have started with a bit of urgency; Harris is hurt again in these early exchanges  but is still on his feet. Irish steal the ball, but back come Sarries with a penalty advantage for a high tackle.

Wainwright, after a chastening time in the scrum, comes off to be replaced by another debutant, Harvey Beaton. Sarries push towards the Irish line through Barrington, Van Zyl and McFarland, the ball  then worked across, and a trademark looping ball from Manu finds Segun in enough space to go over in the corner on 46 minutes; the conversion from wide is missed but at 21-5 and 34 minutes left there’s a glimmer of hope.

Irish push back following the restart, but the ball is spilled for a Sarries scrum but is stolen back and Irish drive forward; after a tussle on the line an offload finds Redmond on the line and it’s 26-5 with half an hour left.

A few profanities are uttered on the sofa; Jennings misses the conversion.

Sarries battle their way forward as the De Haas, who according to Nick Mullins is American (speak to your researcher, Nick…) replaces Van Zyl; Morris tries to chip through the Irish defensive line but the ball is cleared. Sarries try again to fight their way forward but are stopped by a huge hit on Hunter-Hill.

Crean, who always reminds me of a youthful Jamie George, comes on for Barrington, while in a tactical switch Earl replaces the towering Boon with McFarland moving into the second row.

A penalty and then a free kick to Sarries push us forward as first McFarland then Knight  go in hard before another  looping ball from Manu to Harris out on the right puts what the commentators are annoyingly referring to “the one armed man” (if it’s funny once it isn’t necessarily funny again, gents) over to close the gap with Manu adding the extras to take us to 26-12 as we approach the hour; can we possibly do what Irish did to Sarries a couple of weeks back???

After possession changes hands a couple of times, Jackson breaks at speed for Sarries in a good spell of sweeping rugby and eventually Harris, clearly in pain, goes over on the left for his second score after a setup by Obatoyinbo; Manu is unable to add the extras and with a little under 20 minutes still to go Sarries are within nine points at 26-17. Sarries continue to try and close the gap further as Jackson makes another good break, then Manu chips the ball through for a surprisingly mobile Crean to chase but both come to nothing.

A scrum to Sarries  sets up another hard drive forward in a much better second half and we with good work from Morris Christie and McFarland  as we push for the line with a penalty advantage – another piece of skill from McFarland then sets up Christie to dart through into space and over the line… we’re off the sofa and I nearly drop the laptop…..but we slump back down when tonight’s skipper drops the ball as he attempts to dot down, which had he done so would have taken Sarries to within at  four and potentially two points of the Irish…is this a pivotal moment? Some consolation is afforded when we go back for the penalty which Manu slots over for take the game to 26-20 with 10 minutes left.

 The game goes on, and Irish drive forward with a penalty advantage which when the phase of play ends the kick to posts from distance is opted for although, fortunately for Sarries, Jennings hits the posts to keep Sarries within a score as we enter the last 10 minutes.. 

A back-and-forth spell of play follows until Jennings goes long to touch and Sarries have to work their way out from inside their own 22.

Obatoyinbo creates a little excitement with a strong foray to Irish’s 40, and continuing to venture upfield makes another darting run, but this hopeful spell is ended by a penalty to Irish..

Irish break forward and ball is bobbled into touch deep into Sarries territory, but we’re brought back for a penalty to Irish then another, off Crean; this time Irish go for the posts, with the clock running down and Jennings taking his time before again kicking to the post  but this time the ball drops over the bar for 29-20 as we close towards the 80 minute mark.

In the last action of the match and with the scoreline now beyond our lads, the lineout from a  Sarries penalty is stolen, which allows Irish to kick the ball back over the try area and that’s that. 

I curtail my viewing when Craig Doyle starts bellowing incoherently…

It’s tempting to put this game down to the general malaise that seems to be affecting Sarries this season – slow starts, mid-game lapses, throwing away convincing leads – but I’m more inclined to attribute tonight's performance and result to a changed lineup from last week containing a number of talented but vey raw youngsters facing an experienced Irish side.

For me, then, there is a positive in that it’s been a learning experience for the kids and perhaps for Kelly Brown as he emerges as a key coaching figure at the club.

All of the young players acquitted themselves well, and although Sam Wainwright had a tough time in the scrum he stuck at it.

Special mention of course goes to Ben Harris who played almost the entire game with a painful shoulder injury, scoring two tries and never flinching in either contact or under the high ball

Theo McFarland is growing in influence almost by the game with his good all-round play supplemented by his basketball player’s handling skills – his offloads and one-handed lineout “takes” are something to behold. 

TEAMS & CHANGES

London Irish:

15 Henry Arundell, 14 Cillian Redmond (Rona, 53), 13 Matt Williams (c), 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins (Atkins, 63, Cook, 70), 10 Rory Jennings 9 Ben White (O’Sullivan, 53); 1 Facundo Gigena (Goodrick-Clarke, 49), 2 Mike Willemse (Cornish, 53), 3 Marcel van der Merwe (Parker, 49), 4 Chunya Munga, 5 George Nott, 6 Steve Mafi (Moore-Aiono, 78), 7 Tom Pearson, 8 Olly Cracknell.

Replacements:

16 Matt Cornish, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Jack Cooke, 20 Izzy Moore-Aiono, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Jacob Atkins, 23 Curtis Rona.

Saracens:

15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Ben Harris, 13 Brandon Jackson, 12 Dom Morris, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Manu Vunipola, 9 Ivan van Zyl (de Haas, 53); 1 Richard Barrington (Crean, 56), 2 Theo Dan, 3 Sam Wainwright (Beaton, 45), 4 Cameron Boon (Earl, 53), 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 6 Theo McFarland, 7 Toby Knight, 8 Andy Christie (c)

Replacements:

16 Samson Adejimi, 17 Sam Crean, 18 Harvey Beaton, 19 Obinna Nkwocha, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Tom Mills, 23 Francis Moore

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

Jonny Browne