Bob Dwyer Rugby Workshops

Madjewski Stadium. Saturday, 24^th October

London Irish took the points at Madjewski Stadium on Saturday. They won’t be rejoicing about their performance against an injury weakened Tigers team, but they will be happy to have got the “monkey off their back”. They played Leicester three times last year in the Premiership - home and away, then in the final at Twickenham - for three defeats. All were close, with only six points in total between the two teams in the three games. The six points in their favour in this match, then, should do wonders for them.

I have written frequently about the quality of Northern Hemisphere rugby, in all of the leagues and premierships, but this was not such a top quality affair. There was still enterprise – and full marks for that – but execution frequently let down both teams. There was loads of pressure from both defences, but perfect technique will survive even the sternest of tests.

Both teams favoured the wide flat ball, but this only plays into the hands of a rush defence. When the ball is in the air for a long time the defence can easily find their target. The Lions in South Africa showed that rapid transfer of the ball, using much shorter passes and looping support players, coming from depth in behind the ball-carrier, can make life very difficult for the ‘rush’ and the ‘umbrella’ defence. I do handstands these days whenever a fly-half gets a second touch – and my arms aren’t tired!

London Irish deserved their win. They were well on top in the scrum and put some pressure on the Tigers lineout. Even though they remained tryless, they frequently tested the Leicester line and actually “scored” three times, only to be called back, entirely correctly, by the referee, on each occasion. Referee, Wayne Barnes, was generous to Geordan Crane on two occasions in the first half, when Crane cynically infringed with London Irish threatening. Had Crane gone to the sin-bin, on either occasion, the Irish may well have gone well clear.

The commentary team, curiously, spoke at length on the merits of not using the yellow card. I wonder if there are any other Laws of the Game which they would like ignored by the referee. If a defender chooses to pull back an attacking player who is chasing the ball and threatening the try-line, then this MUST be a yellow card. Any other ruling is wrong, and Wayne Barnes was wrong!

London Irish will be grateful to their front row of Dermody, Coetzee and Ion for the clear edge which they were able to establish in the scrum. This gave them an early penalty for their first points and then, soon after, they were able to gain a turnover from a wheeled Leicester five-metre scrum.  Even late in the game, they were still contributing when, from another strong ‘second shove’, the referee caught Lewis Moody for detaching and Ryan Lamb took them six points clear again. Tigers supporters will point to the early loss of Julian White, but Castrogiovani is a world class prop, by any standards, and the Tigers should have quickly adjusted.

It has always been clear that teams are frequently vulnerable immediately after a score, more often than not from the actual restart. This vulnerability, on the part of London Irish, allowed Leicester to keep London Irish in check and to stay in touch on the score-board. Failure on the part of the Irish to cleanly gather the restart, put them immediately under pressure just when they should have been looking to consolidate and to then reapply the pressure at the other end. This is an area of the game that the sports psychologists consistently address and, clearly, London Irish addressed the issue at the break. They were much better in the second half.

To me, it was almost as if the Irish were ‘frightened’ to break free and go away with the match. Perhaps the psychological damage from the Tigers’ clean-sweep in last season’s matches had left a scar and we saw an unusually restrained Irish attack. Most threats were the result of individual brilliance or opportunism. Peter Hewat threatened twice when nothing was on, Tagicakibau broke tackles and offered hope of a try and Mapasua’s strength always tested the Tigers’ defence, but there was not the shape to their game that we have come to expect. The dents in the defence which bring  into play the damaging runs of their backrow, were largely absent, and only one run, late in the game, by  Hala’ufia reminded us just how productive this can be for them. Full marks to the Tigers, of course, but, for me, the Irish were a little below their best. They won’t be unduly concerned, I guess. If you can play below your best and come away with the points against even a weakened Tigers team, then you can be happy – for a few days, at least.

Ryan Lamb was awarded man-of-the match. Fair enough, he did score all of the points. For me though, the front-row gave a lot to the performance and I thought that Coetzee led them and exhorted them, and was well worth a mention. In fact, I thought that most of the stand-out players came from London Irish. Mick Kennedy and Bob Casey led the lineout contest. George Blowers was damaging in attack and defence. Mapasua and Tagicakibau beat lots of tackles.

For Leicester, it was a great team effort which kept them in the game and gave them the valuable bonus point away from home. Their ability to scramble back in defence, in numbers, was an example to all, and speaks volumes for the qualities which keep them always at, or near, the top of European rugby.