London Irish 38 - London Welsh 21
By Dragons' Den
August 14 2009
Over the years this fixture has been billed as the ‘Chapel v Vatican punch-up’ but on a warm summers evening at Sunbury supporters from both sides saw their teams play a hard but friendly game with expansive rugby that tested defences to the absolute limit.
For
London Welsh supporters it had been 5 years since they had last seen their team
play at Sunbury. Dragons’ Den took one look at the queue for the bar and
decided to forgo the obligatory pint of ‘black stuff’ so as not risk missing
most of the game. This dedication was rewarded by seeing fly half Aled Thomas
slot over an early penalty to give Welsh a three point lead.
The
home side soon took the lead with a try in the corner and with the conversion
going narrowly wide but they didn’t stay
ahead for long with Ed Lewis-Pratt capitalising on Neil Starling’s break
through the centre by gathering the pass to score. The conversion was missed
and London Welsh were ahead by 8 points to 5.
Irish
then showed their Premiership class with the wings running in a try each. The
first saw their left wing finish a well worked move to break the final tackle
and score, shortly afterwards they intercepted a loose pass by Welsh to run the
ball three-quarters of the length of the pitch with a well timed pass beating
the defence of the last Welsh player. Both were converted and London Irish had
a comfortable 14 point lead.
The
London Welsh players put Irish under sustained pressure but without success and
Irish’s fourth try soon came. Another missed tackle and a two man overlap
allowed the centre to score under the posts. Half time 26 – 8.
Aled
Thomas opened the second half scoring with another penalty. A missed kick to
touch by Runciman was followed by a London Irish penalty with the resulting
line-out giving Irish two quick phases of play and the inevitable try.
The
London Welsh pack was subject to a flurry of changes including the replacement
of the entire front row. A penalty kick to the corner gave Welsh a line-out and
the replacements took the chance driving over for the try. The score soon moved
on to 38-16 when Welsh spilt the ball and the Irish winger ran around the
opposing full back to touch down under the posts and the conversion was duly
added.
The
Dragons showed great determination and rallied after the restart taking play to
the London Irish line. The defence held out and Welsh failed to add to their
tally. Eventually Claassens squeezed in at the corner after Aled Thomas
gathered a knock-on and the forwards and centres had taken the ball across
field via a couple of phases of controlled play. There were no further scores and
the match finished with London Irish winning 38-21.
An
encouraging result for London Welsh. Despite the 17 point difference in the
scores they matched London Irish in many areas and showed great fitness to play a game of such intensity. Next up is Saracens on Sunday 23rd August
at Old Albanians.
London Welsh
15: Ed Lewis-Pratt; 14: Dominic Shabbo; 13: Neil Starling; 12: Simon Whatling; 11: Errie Claassens; 10: Aled Thomas; 9: Nick Runciman; 1: Dorian Williams; 2: Ben Gotting; 3: Lorne Ward; 4: Matt Corker; 5: Mike Powell (C); 6: Lee Beach; 7: Michael Hills; 8: Tom Brown
Subs: Michael Holford; Gavin O'Meara; Joe Horn-Smith; Ben Thomas; Jonathan Mills; Robert Bell; Rob Lewis; Paul Mackey; Greg Evans
London
Irish
Subs: 16. Clarke Dermody; 17. Danie Coetzee; 18. Max Lahiff; 19. Gary Johnson; 20. Richard Thorpe; 21. Peter Richards; 22. Sam Edgerley, 23. Ben Stevenson; 24. Jamie Gibson; 25. Chris Hala’Ufia
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London Irish 38 London Welsh 21 - Large crowd enjoy meeting of Exiles at Sunbury
One of the largest crowds to be seen at Sunbury for many seasons – experienced observers put it at over 2,500, turned up to see London Irish welcome fellow exiles’ London Welsh back to The Avenue for the first time in the professional era for the first of this season’s friendly matches.
Player commitments with the England EPS squads and today’s Middlesex Sevens tournament meant that a number of experienced players were missing from the Exiles’ match squad. Six of the club’s new signings – Paulica Ion, Ryan Lamb, Jamie Lennard, Andy Perry, Ben Stevenson and George Stowers, made their debuts alongside Academy and established players to face a physically strong and talented London Welsh team.
In an entertaining opening half the visitors opened the scoring with a penalty by fly half Aled Thomas. Irish responded with a try by Tom Homer. Adam Thompstone, Marcus Watson and Jonathan Joseph (both Academy players) added further tries for Irish before the break. All three were converted by Ryan Lamb who showed touches of real class on his debut. Ed Lewis-Pratt touched down for Welsh for a half-time score of 26-8.
Thomas scored his second penalty for the visitors just after the re-start. With the Irish pack led by Clarke Dermody beginning to exert its superior strength, the backs prompted by Alfredo Lalanne at scrum-half and Lamb and Jamie Lennard interchanging roles at fly half and inside centre, it was only a matter of time before the home team scored again. Joseph added his second try in 47 minutes. The Welsh pack worked hard for a touch down in the 54th minute.
The try of the evening came in the 67th minute when Lennard broke through a crowded midfield to pass to Watson on his left. The 18-year-old took off down the left wing before cutting inside and with a side-step that Sailosi Tagicakibau or Topsy Ojo would be proud of, left the Welsh full back on his bottom as he raced to touchdown under the posts. Fittingly, Lennard added the extras. The final score of the match was an unconverted try for the visitors by Errie Claassens which left the final score at 38-21 to Irish.
An interesting footnote to the evening was the replacement of Ryan Lamb by 17-year-old Guy Armitage in the 67th minute. Guy became the third of the famous brothers to play at senior level for the club in the same era.
Scorers: London Irish: Tries – Homer (6), Thmpstone (16), Watson (19, 67), Joseph (34, 47); Conversions – Lamb 3, Lennard. London Welsh: Tries: Lewis-Patt (11), forwards (54), Claassens (75). Penalty goals: Thomas 2 (4, 42).
Scoring sequence (London Irish first): 0-3, 5-3, 5-8, 12-8, 19-8, 26-8 (half-time) 26-11, 31-11, 31-16, 38-16, 38-11.
London Irish squad: (Backs) G Armitage, S Edgerley, T Homer, J Joseph, A Lalanne, R Lamb, J Lennard, P Richards, B Stevenson, A Thompstone, M Watson. (Forwards) J Buckland, D Coetzee, D Danaher, C Dermody, J Fisher, J Gibson, R Herring, P Ion, G Johnson, M Lahiff, D Murphy, A Perry, K Roche, R Thorpe, G Stowers.
London Welsh squad: (Backs) R Bell, E Claassens, G Evans, J Giles, R Lewis, E Lewis-Pratt, N Runciman, D Shabbo, N Starling, A Thomas, S Whatling. (Forwards) L Beach, T Brown, M Corker, D George, B Gotting, M Hills, M Holford, J Horn-Smith, G O’Meara, M Powell, B Thomas, J Mills, L Ward, D Williams.
Referee: Mr A Small (RFU)