‘Happiness is a journey, not a destination...’
By M40Exile
November 17 2014
This is a wonderful quote by Alfred D Souza. To people of a certain age, it will hold great meaning and if you are not old enough but follow London Irish it may just be worth bearing in mind at present... This is the story of my day on that journey last Saturday.
The day thanks to the early kick off time began at “stupid o’clock”. Breakfast finished we started our trip to Manchester. (Mrs M40Exile and myself live in Birmingham so have a natural advantage on many travelling to the game). A quick diversion along the M54 into deepest Shropshire to pick up my sister and brother in law, our guests for the day, and shortly we were back on the M6 and making good time to our destination. We arrived at the AJ Bell Stadium at the same time as the London Irish Team bus. Nothing remarkable other than I did think they were cutting it bit fine time wise, but then again how soon does a team arrive? This was our first visit to the AJ Bell and as google earth still shows it as waste ground we were unsure what we would find. On arrival at the car park the steward did have my name on his list and we were able to park right outside the main stand. (well done Sale for looking after a blue badge holder as promised, top stuff)
The weather was strange - not cold, but really low cloud and damp but not raining and definitely no sun which was fortunate as you couldn’t tell if it was “over the yardarm” so a late morning drink didn’t seem so unreasonable so the AG was sampled...
After spending an hour or so outside the stadium it was time to take our seats. I always love going into a ground and seeing and smelling to grass and this was no different. The ground surprised me by being much better than it looks on TV. I always think it looks clinical, but the facilities seemed OK and we had great view from our seats on the 22 in the main grandstand. The downside was the small crowd size of 4500 or so.
Then the teams took to the pitch. The game got underway and Irish dominated the first couple of minutes culminating in Chris Noakes slotting a mid range kick from in front after Sale infringed at the breakdown. Then things started to go wrong. Despite Irish winning some good ball at the lineout, they just did not seem able to get their driving maul going. Then on 8 minutes Sale turned down an eminently kickable penalty, with Cipriani kicking to the corner. Big statement from Sale. They were going to show us how to do it and did. The ball was taken at the front of the lineout and driven to within 2 metres, quickly moved back inside, before being passed outside the Irish defence for Dave Seymour to dot down in the corner untouched. Cipriani added the extras and Sale lead 7-3. Both sides then missed kickable chances with Noakes hitting the post, the ball ricocheting back into the 22 but no Irish attacker got close enough to take advantage and the chance was gone.
Cipriani managed to extend the lead by 3 on 32 minutes so now it was10-3 to the Sharks. Little did we know the game would be over as a contest before half-time. 5 minutes before the break David Paice was caught once too often and received a yellow card for playing the ball off his feet. The resulting penalty was predictably kicked to the corner. Irish now a man down had no answer to the Sharks driving maul from the lineout, with Dan Braid eventually being driven over for the try. Cipriani hit the post with the conversion attempt, so now it was 15-3 to Sale and starting to look grim. And events just kept getting worse. A Sharks lineout from just outside the Irish 22 was drive at pace to within 2 metres of the Irish line. Luke Narraway then took a chance and pulled it down illegally. This had referee Matthew Carley spinning away to under the post to award a penalty try. He then spun back holding 7 fingers aloft. Narraway knew his fate and sir confirmed this, raising the yellow card aloft with one hand and pointing at the bench with the other. Double Whammy!! And now we were going to start the second period with 13. Conversion kicked half-time arrived with Irish trailing by 22 points to 3.
The second half began. Cipriani missed again with a penalty not helping his England chances. Irish actually managed the double sin-bin period with some aplomb, playing some decent rugby. Paice returned but sadly did not last long. He was left lying on the ground appearing to come second best in a tackle. Leaving the pitch a little groggily Jimmy Stevens came on as a replacement for good this time. Irish then had to face a 5 metre scrum a man down. Despite Topsy joining they could not withstand the pressure, the front row sheared off and Mr Carley went running under the posts again. Sale well clear now at 29-3, and only 48 minutes gone.
Mass substitutions now were taking place and the game became more disjointed as a result. Alex Lewington thought he had scored in the corner. Sir asked the TMO to check. The first reply clearly showed a foot in touch but for some bizarre reason we were still treated to 3 more replays all of which showing he still had a foot in touch! And sir was standing right by the big screen. GET ON WITH IT!!
Finally with 10 minutes to go Irish managed a try. Kieran Low climbed unopposed at the front of a 5 metre lineout to secure possession. Sale got a nudge on but Irish cleverly let the Sharks forwards slip by, went wider towards to touch line before getting a good rumble on to deliver George Skivington for an easy grounding. Noakes missed the conversion. Sale now lead 29-8.
The “come back” was short lived. With 5 minutes remaining Nick McLeod showed some neat footwork before passing to Andy Forsyth to go in unopposed beneath the posts. Conversion kicked the final whistle sounded and Irish had lost badly. Final score Sale 36 Irish 8
It’s difficult to find many positives. Sean Cox had a pretty decent first run out for 50 minutes or so, and Eoin Griffin showed the odd glimpse of “dancing feet” and “slick hands” and Scott Steele seemed to up the tempo somewhat but not much else.
The negatives? Too many to mention. Yes they had a bad day at the office. But they lacked any game plan. They played way too much rugby in the wrong places. Game management was nowhere near good enough. Yes we had the worse end of the international call ups but this provided opportunity for others to step up. They failed to do this Sean Cox excepted. However Sale were very good. They had a plan and executed it perfectly. Well done Sale
The journey continues next week versus Bath. Will I drop everything at work next Friday to find out who’s playng? Of course. Will I be in my seat at five to three next Saturday cheering the boys onto the pitch? You bet. Will I have forgotten all about Manchester? Yes. But the players must not. They owe the fans a performance. The next 2 games will probably be season defining. Lose and we will be battling for 10th or 11th. (Welsh are a basket case) Win and we might be able to start thinking about the Champions Cup....
So lets forgive the boys this one and get behind them next week and remember just one thing. HAPPINESS IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION and so is supporting Irish.
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MWM
LONDON IRISH - and loving it......
LET'S GO IRISH....LET'S GO IRISH
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