Gathering of the Clans - St Patrick's Game Preview

By BrianC
March 15 2007

Throughout history and across the world there has long been a tradition for different clans or tribes to gather on an auspicious date. Often these gatherings have been based on, or have developed into, sporting occasions.

The practice continues unabated. In Scotland this gathering has developed into the Highland Games. In still largely nomadic Mongoilia the Naadam Festival continues pretty well as it has done since the reign of Genghis Khan. In Reading this festival is known as the London Irish Saint Patrick's Fixture.

This weekend they will come from far and wide. There will be many stories we do not know about, there are however others we do. Seamus, our man in Moscow, is flying in for the day. This will be his first ever London Irish game. The Casey clan again return mob handed. I can picture the combination of fear and delight on a landlords face as fifty plus of them enter a place looking to be fed and watered. No doubt we will have our usual sprinkling of Americans. Whilst I haven't been in touch with them recently I doubt if Kent and Teresa from Atlanta would miss this occasion.

What brings these people here? The auspicious date referred to in the lead paragraph is, of course, Saint Patrick's day. This day was long primarily a religious holiday in Ireland. The first recorded public celebration, a parade was in the US where, over two hundred years ago, an Irish regiment of the British army first marched to celebrate the day. Only in the mid 90's did the first Saint Patrick's parade take place in Dublin. Over time the day has become a worldwide celebration of all things Irish.

For London Irish the Saint Patrick's game has long been special. For many years at Sunbury it was a guaranteed sell out, although with a capacity of just over 4k that was not difficult. In our time at the Madejski things have come on leaps and bounds. Our first Saint Patrick's fixture here was against Northampton on 17th March 2001.

By today's standards the gate for that game of 12,037 was pretty modest. Set, however, against a backdrop of average gates that season running just over 5.9k the figure looks more impressive. Crucially, for many of us who were unhappy with the enforced move from Sunbury/The Stoop, it was the first time many of us saw the potential of the Madejski as a venue.

The records will tumble this weekend. It will be the largest gate in the history of the club and the largest ever in the Premiership. At the time of writing it looks like there could be a capacity crowd, just short of 24k. If so this will be the first time in our seven year tenure at the Madejski that we will have managed this.

In amongst it all we would do well to remember that there is also the not insignificant matter of a rugby match. An important one at that, against Wasps who currently sit fourth in the table, 8 points ahead of us. Victory will put us very much in the running for one of the much coveted Heineken Cup spots next season. Defeat will leave us quite a bit off the target.

Last season my St. Patrick's preview was entitled 'Stagefright'. I bemoaned the fact that we had not won one of our two showcase games since Bristol on 16th March 2002. We slayed that particular demon with our Boxing Day victory over Leicester. Let's hope we can now do it for the big one.

Happy St Patrick's day for Saturday. Enjoy your weekend one and all. I know I will.