Preview: London Irish 7 Nov 2004
Match Preview
By WSW
November 7 2004
The
first of many match previews supplied by the famous, the one, the only Wooden
Spoon Weilder. And a test of the news letter
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London Irish V The Warriors Preview Will They, Won't They by WSW |
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Well - a home win is a forgone conclusion is it not? Got to be an absolute 24-carot, guaranteed banker surely? Established London team (in name if not in geography) against the upstart country cousins from the National Divisions. But hang on a minute, isn't that exactly what those other London aristocrats, Harlequins, thought? Lets view the evidence:
1.
The ZP season so far
Irish:
Played 7; Won 3; Lost 4; For 131; Against 144; TB 0; LB 2;
Position 14th
Warriors: played 7; Won 1; Lost 6; For 109; Against 178; TB 1; LB 4; Position 9th
So
neither have got off to the best of starts - although Worcester
had to wait a lot longer for their first win than did Irish (an
opening day 18-12 win against Quins, at HQ, in front of 51,000).
2.
European Challenge Cup
Great
home win for Worcester against Brive, but we came unstuck when
the French team 'beefed up' for the return leg. Irish beat
their French opponents, Auch, 20-18 in France, and 42-18 at
home. How do Brive and Auch measure up? Well, for what it's
worth, Brive beat Auch earlier this season, 29-26 - Brive
currently 7th (played 10, 6 wins, 27 points), Auch bottom (P10
W1 pts9). This provides some sort of context I suppose.
3. Teams played
Both
have beaten Quins (Worcester's margin of victory being far more
impressive!), and both have secured losing bonus points against
Gloucester and against Leeds. Maybe it is significant that
Irish beat their other London opponents, Sarries, whereas
Worcester had to be content with another bonus point, and
certainly many will point to the fact that Sale put 50 points
past the Warriors at Edgeley Park while the exiles travelled
North and put an end to the Sharks' unbeaten run, with a 17-16
victory. But no, we all know such comparisons are far too
simplistic...aren't they?
So far then, a combination of the evidence above tends to add weight to the argument that the established team will have too much experience for the new boys. But results don't tell the whole tale - what about the players?
Class
abounds in the Irish backs, to be sure, so it does, with the
likes of Catt, Everitt, Mapeltoft and Horak. If their pack can
win enough clean ball, they have a lot of pace, nouse and
running power to cause us problems - reminiscent of both Sale
and Brive. But therein lies the rub - will they win enough
ball? The Irish pack, for me, is not amongst the strongest in
the premiership whereas Worcester are already building a
reputation for 'having what it takes' up front'.
Obviously all of the above is speculation (that's
the point, stupid!)
and none of it gets us closer to a prediction. So here we go,
head on the block, neck on the line time...Worcester are, quite
simply, due another win in the Premiership. We have been close
and closer on several occasions and have been unfortunate in
missing out. Through all that, however, the TEAM has been
gelling. Improvement has been tangable. Points will follow.
Irish have the reputation of blowing 'hot and cold', but
Worcester (led by a captain with a selection point to prove -
lets not forget that particular factor!) have the hunger. I
know, cliche upon cliche - apologies! All right, I can't avoid
it any longer...
WORCESTER TO WIN, 24-18. WSW |