Time to Walk the Walk

By BrianC
January 20 2005

Our early exit from the ECC caused us to have what seemed like an interminably long break from rugby over the past couple of weeks. This comes to an end next Sunday when we take on Saracens in the quarter final of the Powergen Cup.

London Irish are now the first team to have made the quarter-finals of this competition eight times in a row. Of the previous seven quarter-final appearances we have fallen at this hurdle four times and at the semi-final twice. On that most wonderful of days at Twickenham, 20^th April 2002, we trounced Northampton to lift the trophy. The one and so far only piece of silverware our senior team has ever won in its one hundred and six year history.

Our opponents Saracens have had a lackluster start to the season. Those of us who saw them defeat Wasps in the London Double Header last September were impressed. Many, this author included, felt on the basis of that performance that they were sure to be in the upper half of the table this season. It was not to be. A string of poor results, not least their 20 – 3 defeat by ourselves in October led to a player revolt and ultimately the resignation of their coach Rod Kafer in November.

Mark Sinderberry has since taken over the reigns at Saracens; the bad news for us is that their play has improved since then. They currently stand one place behind us in the Zurich Premiership and are level on 27 points.

Perhaps the biggest unknown quantity here is what impact the respective break for LI and tough games against Brive (Resulting in an extra-time defeat) for Saracens will have had on the teams. From one side it could be argued that the break would have done us good, given a chance for injuries to mend and for the boys to regroup after a string of poor results. On the other side of the coin you could argue that Saracens are battle hardened and will be looking to avenge their defeat in the ECC. 

Let us make no mistake about it, our trip to Watford on Sunday will be a difficult one.  Saracens are the bookmakers and most neutral observers’ favorites to proceed to the next round. I lean towards the argument that the rest will have done us well and am cautiously optimistic about this game. As Conor so eloquently put it in his New Year missive, it is now time to ‘walk the walk’.