Guinness is Coming Home
At long last we are about to embark on possibly the most important season for London Irish since the birth of the professional game. After a very poor season last term, the exiles must start to deliver on the field, having made great strides in restructuring off it.Goalkeeper Ian Taylor, gold medal winning hockey Olympian, has arrived to direct the business, and deflect all unwanted crap away from the coach.
Brian Smith has come in to beast the lads into a better physical, mental and skills state. He has recruited well during the summer to provide much needed depth to the squad, the size of which last season was the smallest in the Zippie. The lads have been put through their paces during a very tough pre-season, which included a week in Poland getting frozen in meat freezers, where Beefy is believed to still be residing now.
I was present at the Quins and Ulster warm up matches. Both games indicated that a new type of rugby is being sought in the Guinness Premiership for LI, which is a must for survival in the elite, although we had an excellent pre-season last time around!
And so to Saturday.
Leeds away at HQ is the perfect way to lay down the standard for the rest of the year. The first 4 games involve 2 of the teams fighting with us on the last day for premiership (Leeds and Wuss) survival and of course the newly promoted team, Bristol, so the opening game is already important and may well define our season.
Leeds played us 3 times last season, and won all 3. The match at the Madhouse was steeped in controversy, with a penalty try not being awarded at the death, which denied us the win after Leeds continued in infringe on six
5 metres scrums under the posts. The other 2 meetings took place at Headingly and provided all of us that travelled the most complete bag of shite performances ever witnessed in the London Irish shirt, well since Wuss away on the 1st January 2005.
After the 3 defeats, London Irish must now reverse these results and give to the Tykes. We all owe them a beating and an away game a few miles from our Sunbury home and a short train journey from the spiritual home of Reading must surely be the ideal opportunity, as well as an ideal event to socialise with other rugby fans over a few title sponsors black stuff.
The northern rugby league loving monkeys have recruited very well over the summer, in preparation for their assault on the Heineken Cup campaign. The notable signings would have to be our very own Ratty Reid and the world class Justin Marshall. Ratty joined us towards the end of the last campaign and helped us stay up with some excellent displays. He is fast and powerful from the breakdown and poses questions all over the park. Marshall is, for me, the best all round scrummie of his generation and definitely the best 9 ever, named Justin. He is quick to the breakdown and is always looking for quick ball, as well as being as big and strong as a back row forward. These
2 will be the ones to watch in a good squad the tykes now have.
The exiles will go in to this match feeling fitter and better prepared than any other season. Dr Evil has stamped his sign on the squad and all are looking leaner and meaner than last time around (apart from Spud, who is looking more like the old Spud, not the French fry of last season).
The pack must compete in all areas of the game to beat Leeds, who were the only side that denied us our best chance for ball, namely lineout. The selection of hooker must be made on the basis of throwing, but also the scrummaging. Skuse and Collins have given good accounts of themselves in the warm up matches, and the Irish now have strength in depth for the front row.
The same can be said throughout the forwards, especially with new signings El Negro and Magne.
The girls have also had significant additions made which has resulted in real competition for starting berths. Shane Geraghty and Ross Laidlaw have come through from the academy, with the latter being the stand out at 10 in the previous 3 games. These signings as well as Dom Fe'aunati (brother of Barth's Zac), Willis and Storey will provide power and pace as well as excellent cover in the backs.
Finally, a good sign for the season is that Jonah has bought a new shirt and has 2 wins under his belt. He has also trained harder this summer to ensure he can achieve the one yank debagging that eluded him on previous seasons and may post on the site. Admin guy has a tan the likes of which you will never see again on a Jock, so can infiltrate those gorgeous Pests supporters for tips on being the best fans in the premiership. Itchys groin is now requiring the biggest scratching since the great crab outbreak in 1973 at Bay City Rollers at Wolverhampton Civic Hall, which will only be soothed by a great LI performance at Twickers.
Now all we need to do is get to HQ in 1 piece and semi sober to start all over again. Gentlemen, start those engines and let the heart condition worsen.
-- Master Scribe