Top After Two Games!

After a morale boosting win over Agen Irish sent out a strong side to face Pau in our one and only game against European opposition at Brentford whilst we remain part of the EU.

An experienced forward pack with Cokanasiga and Parton in the backs joined by the returning Stokes. Always felt his first spell was a baptism of fire moving from Coventry to a constant rear-guard action so looked forward to seeing him in Irish colours again.

From the off I thought Irish were clearly the stronger side and the first exchanges saw us dominate the contact area albeit without any clear chances – I do love to see a back break the line rather than just bash a way through (not averse to that either by the way). Irish were going through some nice moved using the first runners as dummy carriers and passing to the second echelon as is the current vogue mixed with some carries from Albert Tuisue and Matt Rogerson. After 11 minutes Jackson provided a delightful pass to Stokes hitting the line at an angle which took him clear of the French defence and over for the opening score. Jackson converted to make it 7-0 and Irish looking pretty and well worth the lead. Irish seemed to be in control of the game but a spell of pressure lead to a converted try for Pau. Neither side were able to take hold of the game but it seemed that Irish were the more likely to score next and so it proved (easy to be prophetic in hindsight). Stokes once again came into the line at an angle and Jackson moved the ball on and Stokes cleared the defenders to dive over the line. Successful conversion and Irish lead 14-7. Improving as the game wore on Irish scored again as Rona chipped over the defence and the ball reached Cokanasiga stationed on the wing. A sensational hand off seemed to propel him forward at lightning speed and he finished with great aplomb launching himself up and over the line. A really good score and with another Jackson conversion Irish went in leading 21-7.

At this stage it seemed as though Irish might cruise the rest of the game and although they started strongly it didn’t turn out that way. Pau kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit to 11 even though Irish had continued where the let off by forcing the French side back. After 51 minutes another good move from Irish saw Parton score and gather the try bonus point for Irish. After that we seemed happy to let Pau have the ball and practice our defending and Irish seemed to go off the boil. Although the result didn’t seem in doubt the French side had a lot more of the ball and Irish made mistakes and gave away penalties absent in our first half performance. We had the game won and our concentration wavered. Pau scored late to make the final score 26-17. A good game and win for Irish which sees us top the standings after 2 rounds with two 5-point wins. Pau away next up on Friday 15 Jan 2021 followed by Agen at home. We look solid and as though the players are enjoying their rugby.