Walder Walnut be Moved
A crowd of nearly 10,000 souls braved the weather and turned their backs on the events at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and by feck they had wished they hadn’t.To be fair, this was an awful game of rugby, played in crap conditions and was won by the squeak-meister’s game plan, superbly executed by his mini squeakers. Defences proved themselves beyond the call of duty, on both sides, resulting in a scrappy, dogged affair, won by three penalties to two.
Referee Martin Fox, he of the penalty try and no penalty try against Wuss, ensured that any welcome offered him in any future games at the Madstad would be a hostile one. Two games, two defeats and 160 minutes of an interpretation of the fecking laws not seen since OJ Simpson’s trial. A disgrace at this level of rugby, but this was not the reason for the overall defeat.
Dave Walder, who always seems to have a great game against us, was the puller of all strings. His tactical kicking was exceptional, which turned the Irish defensive alignment and forced the home side to play from deep. He also landed the three penalties to take the victory and ensure the Falcons re-instated the 10 points difference over the bottom club Leeds.
By 70 minutes, most of the home crowd were wishing for Jonny to come off the bench and take this fecker out of play!
Ably assisted by Grindal at 9, the Newcastle pack proved they have been working well under new direction and was a real handful all game. This allowed a solid base and provided Walder with mountains of time to choose where to ping the pill, which was pinged very well, to all corners of the Madstad.
Irish seemed bereft of ideas to counter this ploy, a game plan that suited the constant drizzle, choosing to run from deep and attempt to gain width on the phases. Once this was snuffed out or the ball was dropped, the big boot was used with little effect. Burke at full back for the Falcons, was steady under the high ball and was always looking to find gaps having been given time.
For Irish, Leguizamon was a real star turn, who seemed to be fecking everywhere and loving it. With ball in hand, or attempts to chip and go, it was not a standard number 8 performance and showed the crowd that he is a real find. The big fella loves the contact though!
Hodgson was his usual tenacious self, even lifting a frickin’ prop off his feet in contact, and wasn’t lacking in efforts to lift the fat boys.
The forwards should have retained a lot more ball, with an ‘up your jumper’ mentality needed considering the shite weather conditions. They did find the going tough in the lineout, with the visitors, namely Perry and Parling, putting huge pressure on the set piece and gaining good reward for it. This was evident when Irish had good attacking position in the Falcon’s 22 on three or four occasions, only for the attempted catch and drive to misfire.
At the opposition line out, the method utilised effectively at Glaws of picking and choosing when to attack was employed once more. This, however, resulted in letting Long off the hook as far as hitting his man, and allowed his confidence to grow, something that was not afforded him last time out.
Flutey started well and was looking to add creative edge from 10, but his afternoon was cut short having sustained a knock in the first quarter. He struggled on for nearly 10 minutes, allowing Catt to take on the kicking duties, but finally limped off after half an hour to be replaced by Laidlaw.
Overall, the girls didn’t perform as they have been doing so all season, Ojo in the last 5 minutes aside. Little creativity and handling errors dictated by the weather was theirs, and fecking frustrated all fans there, which included the appearance of the new drums. Bad day at the coalface has to be the summary, with work to be done.
A delighted Squeaky was beside himself and was alleged to have commented that ‘he was fecking thrilled to beat the Irish, a team he believes not worthy of the premiership. They add nothing and give nothing to the English game, Springbok feckers.’
Well, he may not have said this, but we all knew he thought it, but fair play to him and his chargers; a deserved win on the day, and one that will go a long way in their survival.
Okay so, the supposed chase for 4th now seems a huge ask for the lads, but lets not get carried away here. The magic 42 plus points is still the aim before elevated ideas can be dreamt about.
Survival has to be the number one priority and the next two games will be crucial in gaining this. Barf and Saints are two sides chasing, so we need to get back to winning ways and playing as we have been doing. Let this game go, so as not to screw with your head, and move on. Glaws away was only two weeks back, and a Barf scalp will be the most pleasing way for Brian to rally the lads.
-- Master Scribe