London Irish vs Saracens Preview


The Fez Boys Arrive
By Billy Hamilton
September 10 2002

In our first four league fixtures this season we get to play the bottom four in last season’s table. We have already been beaten by 11 and 12 so what hope is there for victories over 10 and 9?

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CRISIS – WHAT CRISIS?

London Irish vs Saracens
Sun 15 Sep at Madejski Stadium - KO 15:00

Last season I quoted Conor O’Shea, in a totally different context, as saying, "It may be a drama but it is not yet a crisis". I wonder if that reflects his feelings this week. "But we have only lost two games why worry?" you might think but the problem goes back further than that. We have not won a Premiership game since 10th April 2002. In our last six games in the league we have drawn one and lost five. We have now lost the last six competitive games. Our last competitive win was on 20th April 2002. Surely we have rested on our laurels long enough.

Saracens, like Bath and Leeds, is a club with a mountain to climb this season. The team lost 15 league games last season so had to get back on the winning trail to justify it to the fans and the owner. They have had a dream start to the season with two victories. Will we be victim number three?

We all know of our two successes against Saracens last season. That night at Vicarage Road was one of the highlights of the season. One of our members was to text the score back to his son. The scores came so fast, we were 14-0 up within minutes, that his fingers could not work so fast and he had to resort to telephoning through. I hope that he has the same problem this year but hope that it is not Saracens scores as they have now amassed almost 80 points in two games.

I have tried not to be too pessimistic in this article but we certainly need a win this week to lift us out of the Doldrums. It is a time for all the supporters to get behind the lads.


  Summary Of Meetings Between The Teams In The Premiership

 Played                              14
 London Irish Won                    5                       35.7%
 Saracens Won                        9                       64.3%
 Drawn                               0                       0%
 Biggest Win for London Irish        55 - 13                 22 Nov 2001
 Biggest Win for Saracens            45 - 0                  30 Apr 1997
 
 London Irish top try scorer vs  Saracens                  Paul Sackey             3 tries
 London Irish top points scorer vs  Saracens              Jarrod Cunningham    63 points
 Saracens top try scorer vs London  Irish                   Richard Wallace         4 tries
 Saracens top points scorer vs London  Irish             Gavin Johnson           52 points

  Previous Meetings


 Date                   Teams            Result  Venue           
 23 Dec 2001  London Irish vs Saracens   30 - 23 Madejski Stadium
 22 Nov 2001  London Irish vs Saracens   55 - 13 Vicarage Road   
 11 Mar 2001  London Irish vs Saracens   22 - 35 Vicarage Road   
 02 Sep 2000  London Irish vs Saracens   27 - 22 Madejski Stadium
 29 Apr 2000  London Irish vs Saracens   27 - 41 The Stoop       
 12 Sep 1999  London Irish vs Saracens   28 - 23 Vicarage Road   
 01 May 1999  London Irish vs Saracens   21 - 26 The Avenue      
 13 Dec 1998  London Irish vs Saracens   26 - 40 Vicarage Road   
 03 May 1998  London Irish vs Saracens   21 - 29 Vicarage Road   
 30 Dec 1997  London Irish vs Saracens   10 - 25 The Avenue