Gloucester Match Report - Part II

By MickeyMouse
May 10 2015

Gloucester secure the ball after the kick off but Irish turn it over and start a good period of pressure against Gloucester. We hammered their line and got a penalty 5 meters out and by touch line. Our scrum holds firm and we are awarded a penalty. Shouts of "take the three!" ring around, but Irish realise they have the upper hand at the scrum and stick with it. Two more penalties to Irish are turned down in favour of scrums until the inevitable Irish infringement at the scrum takes place and Gloucester kick up field.

It's still an Irish lineout however and the ball is spread amongst the backs. An excellent line is run by (I pressume) Fenby and an absolutely magnificent tackle was made to stop a certain try, unfortunately the ball is turned and Gloucester clear their lines.

A magnificent kick from well inside our 22 is so magnificent it goes past the Gloucester deadball line, bringing a scrum around our 22. Penalty is awarded against us for boring in and Gloucester don't relinquish this opportunity. 3-0 to Gloucester.

Irish have the momentum however and work their way towards the Gloucester try line, pounding it repeatedly, ruck after ruck, but ultimately the ball is turned. The Gloucester clearance wasn't great and Irish get a line out inside the 22. The throw is good and the backs are used to find a hole somewhere in the Gloucester defence. Unfortunately Gloucester were not found wanted and we knock on before we can make anything of the possession and territory.

Then the turning point of the match. The Gloucester 7 tackles Tomas O'Leary slamming him head first into the turf. To be fair, the slow mo replays made it look worse than it probably was, it was extremely quick there's no way Kvesic was intending this to happen, there simply wasn't enough time to decide to be malicious. However, rules are rules and he was awarded a straight red card. Whilst we felt the red was a bit hard, the boos from the crowd were not very loud.

The only recognised scrum half was Academy lad Callum Watson, however Sheridon was brought into the centre and Noakes shifted to Scrum Half and Geraghty at Fly Half. This was an unfathomable decision at the time, however Glenn Delany's quote sums up why:

"Callum was in school yesterday and it was too early to bring him off [the bench]. "

This meant that whilst Gloucester were without a man for around an hour, Irish were without a scrum half for the same time, which would have more impact? Play continues, Irish again turn down a kickable penalty and aim for the corner. Irish claim the lineout and completely butcher an attempt. Then Shane makes a break and an absolutely shocking pass is picked up within an ants' whisker of reaching the ground by Cowan who passes to Lewington who touches down in the corner. Finally Irish's territory and possession is paying off! Noakes misses the conversion. 3-5 to Irish

Gloucester seem to have their own school boy playing at Fly Half (or I'm just getting old and bitter) he had been off for a while due to injury, but he returns and makes an immediate impact with a sweet kick over the Irish defence for Jonny May to collect. Covering tackle is made, but we don't hold on and May gets up and scampers away for a good try under the posts. The conversion is a formality. 10-5 to Gloucester.

At this point Gloucester have the bit between their teeth, Twelvetrees skips through some tackles and makes some space and a try is definitely on, Irish's desperate cover tackle again gets to him to stop the try, but ultimately Sheridon is awarded a yellow card for not releasing the tackler. To be fair, the try was on and Gloucester had man advantage in the race to the line, it was probably a fair result.

As the penalty was in front of the posts, there was none of that "lets have a scrum" or "let's kick it to the corner" nonsense that Irish are playing at and the score is now 13-5 to Gloucester. At the end of the half, I had to move out of the way because the entire row I was sat on came back from the bar and missed I try. It went upstairs and was judged as a forward pass in the build up so looks like I missed nothing, thank feck as that would have been embarrassing!

End of half

Now, bearing in mind we didn't know the reason why our only fit scrum half was still on the bench, the first half was very frustrating. We were giving away far too many turnovers and whilst our scrum was looking better than some games this season, we weren't finding any space despite being a man up. We were also giving away far too many penalties and we weren't kicking for territory. Each time we had the ball it was all left and right. Gloucester were taking everything they were given and were good for their lead. Hopefully a coach will coach Irish, if we're deep, kick to touch. If we have a kickable penalty, take it. The space will be there, but we need to apply pressure and there wasn't any, Gloucester were in control.

During the second half, tributes were made to two former Gloucester players, Harry Berry and Harry Barnes, both lost their lives during World War I. The announcer explained to the crowd their heroic stories and invited us for a minutes applause, everyone joined in. They are both remembered on the excellent website http://www.everymanremembered.org/

And now, onto the second half

It looked like some coaching had taken place and Irish's tactics were slightly different. Geraghty finally sent a long probing kick to gain some territory, unfortunately it was too long and we went all the way back. A game of rugby kicked off too until finally Irish were pinged for not releasing and it was 16-5 to Gloucester.

After the kick off, Irish get the ball and after a bit of ping pong get a lineout. From the throw-in a maul forms, the maul runs and runs and runs and runs and eventually someone from Gloucester hits the maul from the side and we are awarded a penalty. No nonsense this time, Irish take the three and now it's 16-8 to Gloucester. We may be behind, but our tactics are looking more suitable this half, who knows what could happen!

After the kick off, we obtain a lineout by sheer fluke, although I don't seem to have noted what the fluke was and drowning my sorrows has emptied my memory! Geraghty kicks the ball straight at Sharples who runs back at us. Yet again we don't release in the tackle and yet again Gloucester don't look a gift horse in the mouth, but they miss and it remains 16-8 for now until another penalty from what looked liked the half way line, Laidlaw doesn't miss this one and it's 19-8

After a bit more Rugby, the ref's whistle blows for, you guessed it, holding on! You'd think we'd learn our lesson by now but I guess 3 is better than a 7 if we do turn over. But the bigger question is how, when we're a man up, are we being pinged for holding on?! Where on earth is the support?! Anyway, it's 22-8 now and it's getting miserable.

As I am writing notes on the previous play, Irish kick off and Gloucester have worked their way to the 5 meter line, a try was only just stopped at the death, luckily we pushed their player in touch and we were able to take the line out and clear our lines. Unltimately though it was for nought as Tom Guest is pinged for a high tackle. 25-8. This is the exact quote in my notes:

"25-8. They're a man down remember"

Finally, with 13 minutes to go Irish bring on Callum Watson and now we have a proper scrum half, even if he is sitting his exams in a couple of weeks...

Gloucester get yet another penalty for not releasing the tackler, but they're so far ahead they give up on kicking and go to the corner, ultimately nothing comes of it. The ref finally gives up on the Irish penalties and sends Dan Leo to the bin. I couldn't see what for, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was a team card for all the infringements rather than anything in particular Leo had done. Gloucester again go to the corner. The lineout goes to a maul and Dan Thomas peels off the maul to score a try, the conversion is missed and it's 30-8.

Not sure what happened next as there was an incident with a beer being spilled, and when I looked up, Gloucester had yet another try and it was 35-8. They've been a man down for half this game and yet they're on for a try bonus point and it looks on. The Shed goes crazy for the bonus point break out try as a telegraph pass is picked off but advantage was being played and it's a penalty to Irish. I'm assuming the ref prevents Irish from taking a quick tap and go and 4 players are down in the wrong 22 jogging back, when everyone's back they kick it out for a lineout. Eventually, our 23 (sorry, don't know who) scores a try in the corner who was subsequently bood for ruining the Gloucester party and denying them a try bonus point.

Final score 35-13. And my god do I need a beer.

And with that, my season was over. I'll be back next year and will renew my season ticket on Monday. I have to be honest though, I'm glad of this result. A couple of years ago we had a shocker of a season and sneaked our way to 7th, which flattered us and didn't adequately demonstrate the performance on the pitch. This year, we have seen off London Welsh and only just seen off Newcastle. We picked up a couple of results elsewhere, but ultimately we've not been very good. New owners have come in and put some fresh air in. We were within a point of Gloucester in the table, but you can see the difference between the two teams. Next year looks exciting, but we have to be mindful of our starting point. It's going to be a long journey if Irish are to make their way up the table again, with many losses on the way.

Still, I'm here for the journey, I hope to see you on the coach next time. Cheers!