Veni, Vidi, sed non Vici
Overmach Parma came, and were seen and conquered by London Irish, on a day which had threatened a deluge of rain but gave us a deluge of tries instead, ten of them in all. Conditions were a mite damp underfoot, evidenced by the number of times (mainly Parma) players slipped onto their derrieres, but really it was a perfect day for rugby.This report starts by focusing more on Parma, because, although vanquished, they were not dishonoured; indeed, they kept going until what must have been a very bitter end. It was rather nice to see the occupants of the Lower West Stand above the tunnel standing to applaud the Italian team, and the French officials, off the park. (For all I know the East Stand did likewise, but I wasn’t watching them!)
Given fewer self-induced mistakes and a better line out, Parma, especially in the second half, might well have run in a few tries of their own. They certainly sacrificed 12 easy points by taking ‘short ones’ when in range of the posts.
So, were we up against some rubbish lot from the sticks? In my view no we were not. They boasted five internationals in their line-up. However they were certainly a team of two halves, in the sense that half of them seemed to be pretty decent players, and the other half simply weren’t! For me their stand-out performers were Barbieri (6) and Mazzucato (11), with Vosawai (8) and Mazzariol (10) not far behind. As predicted, the big Fijian Vosawai proved very hard to bring down.
When Parma review the match tape they will rue the quantity of ball they gave back to the grateful Exiles, much of it in the line out, but quite a lot of it in the loose. That being said, London Irish can hardly be pleased at being turned over quite so often in the tackle, in a game they had by the throat from the outset. The number of penalties conceded by London Irish in the second half is also a concern. There was also our usual third quarter malaise of allowing the opposition back into the game. This time it didn’t hurt much, but on another day………………….?
In short, Parma looked dangerous a number of times, but were let down each time by Lady Luck, wrong options, poor hands and by doughty Irish defence. In contrast the Parma defence wasn’t up to much - or maybe was not allowed to look up to much.
So, how good was this London Irish performance? In my view, it was very encouraging indeed. The team can only ever play the guys in front of them, and in all fairness to Parma, who did keep trying, we had to work for most of our scores.
Nearly every time that London Irish had the ball we looked dangerous, with Flutey and Catt slinging out long flat miss passes to the constant triumvirate of outer centre, full back and wing coming on at pace, or chipping through for the quick men to run onto. When Everitt and Mordt replaced Flutey and Catt in the second half, you could scarce tell the difference from our play in attack. It seems that Mr Smith’s approach is catching on!
One of the immediately noticeable features of the Irish performance was our backing up of the ball carrier. Whether it was a forward in the jungle of the fringes or a pacy back making or using space, there always seemed to be men with him, to take the pass, or to continue the movement by chasing a chip through. Phil Murphy didn’t die with the ball once! Anyone who last saw us play a year or two ago would hardly recognise us!
In the loose, we chased and harried the Parma possession like men possessed, and this tactic coughed up a fair amount of useful ball. While Dawson and Leguizamon’s pace carried them all over the place, and they both tackled well, Leguizamon had one of those days you dream about. He was everywhere, and hitting hard. But so was Staniforth, who was seemingly involved in so much that was good about our play. Hopefully, the rumours of his end-of-contract departure are wrong.
The scrum was solid, the pack feisty and full of running, and the Exiles line out was a wonder to behold. I lost count of the number of Parma throws we stole. However, we didn’t start auspiciously. We got pinged at the first line out of the game for having too many men on parade. How bloody careless!
Parma took a short one, however. We turned them over and Staniforth broke, to score under the posts.
7-0 after 3 minutes. Wow!
Following a knock on by Ghidini (14) we have our first scrum. I note that our flankers are not binding on their locks but on their props, ready for a quick getaway. Clearly, we are not too worried about the Parma shove. (The LI scrum held steady throughout.)
Following an Irish kick ahead from our own half, the Parma 7 and 15 mess up collection in the 22, and we follow up fast and secure possession. Armitage just fails to make it to the line. Three minutes later, Staniforth chips ahead on the other side of the park and only just fails to collect it short of the line. However, Parma lose their heads and instead of clearing, they try to run the ball behind the line from the ensuing scrum, and knock on. Clots! Scrum to Irish. Murph picks up, drives, dummies and cruises in for a beauty. Flutey misses the conversion. It is starting to look as though his favourite place-kicking boots are in the wash.
However, it’s 12-0 after 17 minutes of play. We apparently know where the whitewash is these days!
Despite over-kicking once in attack, Franze is starting to show in the centre, and Catty is the Catt-meister of old, probing, jinking, breaking and chipping at will. What a man to have inside you! Then, in short order, Horak and Leguizamon link well up the middle and into the Italian 22, lose possession, and moments later the Italian Rob Hardwick look-alike, Mazzucato (11) shoots away up the Parma left wing. Can’t see who finally nails him into touch around our 22.
Leguizamon breaks midfield and ships out to Franze who makes ground in traffic and in turn slips the ball to Armitage on his left. Not a swallow dive in sight. A secure touch down on 26 minutes remains unconverted by Flutey who seems to be limping.
17-0.
Some of the LI handling is sublime, with even Casey and Murphy passing like centres. We are only denied our fourth try by Dawson spilling the ball after superb linking by Catt, Franze, Horak and Armitage. Dawson soon recovers his reputation however, for with Neil Back-like sleight of hand, he prevents a Parma player from releasing inside the Exiles half, and we get a penalty.
Willis breaks right and passes to Leguizamon. Game over and bonus point in the bag. Juan Manuel runs it in and Flutey converts.
24-0 on 35 minutes.
Two minutes later Dawson breaks from the Irish half with most of the Parma team after him and at least three green-clad players on either side of him, just waiting for the scoring pass. It never comes, for Kieron goes all the way, weaving left and right. Had he not scored, his colleagues would not be happy bunnies.
31-0.
Both Collins and Horak have a go at breaks of their own before M. Poite whistles for the half time oranges.
Brian Smith rang the changes at half time. Everitt replaced Flutey, and Mordt came on for Catt. Staniforth replaced Franze at 13 and Hodgson appeared on the right wing, where he did not disgrace himself one bit – apart from shouting at the scrum as though he were playing 9! Russell and Rautenbach replaced Flavin and Skuse at hooker and tight head respectively. (Both had played well.)
Barry Everitt started well by breaking and putting Horak away through some weak tackling and into the left corner. Naturally, Barry converted from wide out.
38-0.
Within five minutes Armitage tries to get through in the same place but is bundled into touch. Gustard now comes on for Leguizamon, and Flavin returns for eight minutes in place of Russell who is off with a blood injury.
Strudders now comes on for Murphy on 60 minutes. Parma are actually giving nearly as good as they get in this period, and on 62 minutes Horak is yellow-carded for killing the ball well inside the LI half. He is already half way to the dug-out before the ref has emptied his pocket. Parma are only interested in tries at this point and find touch by the corner flag. The London Irish line out saves the day and Parma compound their ignominy by getting caught for handling in the ensuing ruck.
My notes tell of many silly LI mistakes and lucky let-offs in this third quarter, but isn’t that always so with us? Play is mainly in the Irish half, too. Gussie and the Parma 6, Barbieri, are now equally prominent in the exchanges, which are fierce and have more than a hint of ham and cheese about them. Most of us deem it lucky when the Parma 9 Pellicena, now seemingly playing on the wing, is recalled after a long break and an apparent try.
Gussie is pinged for entering a vital ruck from the side on our 22 and Parma again find touch in the North-East corner. Horak returns, but slices his relieving touch kick. Yes of course we won their line out!
Two minutes later, Strudders has presumably passed on the views of the bench, and a great run, chip and chase is finished by Armitage. My notes fail to identify who ran, chipped and chased, but my retrospective midnight money is on Everitt, who is playing well and converts.
45-0.
Staniforth and Mordt are really getting into everything, including tackling. Necessary, because Parma are intent on getting at least one try to salvage their pride. Their large Fijian 8 is hauled down by Hodgson, our own Scott Gibbs.
However, Barry is also having a good game with both boot and hands, and now breaks well and puts Mordt in from the 22 and it’s
52-0 in the 75th minute.
Not to be outdone, young Nils Mordt creates our last two tries. He firstly initiates possibly the best attack of the game, passing to Horak who puts Staniforth in. Our Aussie belts across the face of goal, and slides in half way out. Barry, amazingly misses the kick.
57-0.
Next, Mordt leaps high to intercept a Parma pass, and in mid air passes to Staniforth who completes his hat trick. Barry converts.
64-0 and time for tea. Job done and heads are high.
Whatever the quality of our opposition on the day it is difficult to know what the boys could have done more in the attacking department.
One could churlishly point to three potential tries which went begging and to that third quarter where we conceded more than we won. But that would be to ignore the quality of the rest of our play, and most importantly, the fact that we played as a team. It may explain the Parma scoreline too.
-- OxonRob