London Irish vs London Wasps
Will they sting us?
By Billy Hamilton
September 26 2002
Last Saturday was my first visit to a London Irish competitive game this season. All I can say is that I was most disappointed and glad that the game was not the sole reason for my journey.
London Irish vs London Wasps
Sun 29 Sep at Madejski Stadium - KO 15:00
The game has been analysed by others so I will not bore you with another dissection of our failings. I will, however put in my two-halfpenny worth in the “Is Pieter Rossouw a load of crap or will he come good later in the season and be the saviour of the club?” debate. I am afraid I will have to side with the majority of you and say that I cannot see that we have gained anything by his presence. The try he scored last week was gifted to him and it was perhaps his height rather than his ability that secured the points.
At least this week we have the return of Bishop and Sackey, two recognised wingers whose ability is known to us.
As well as the failings of the backs this week I was not 100% happy with our back row which did not have the bite that it had last season. This week Paul Gustard returns to the starting line-up at number 8 so we will hope for a better performance.
We lie 8th in the ZP table 4 places and 7 points behind Wasps and have the unenviable record of having won only one of our last league outings.
Wasps have lost only one of their four games this season so must be feeling confident of victory. Lets hope that they suffer at our hands as Saracens did. Perhaps this will be the season in which we lose all the “easy” games and win all the hard ones. After all we do still have an Irish approach to the game.
London Irish Team:
15. Michael Horak*; 14. Paul Sackey; 13. Nick Burrows; 12. Geoff Appleford*; 11. Justin Bishop*; 10. Barry Everitt; 9. Darren Edwards; 1. Neal Hatley; 2. Naka Drotske*; 3. Rob Hardwick*; 4.Ryan Strudwick (Captain); 5. Bob Casey*; 6. Declan Danaher; 7. Kieron Dawson*; 8. Paul Gustard.
Replacements:
16. Kevin Barrett; 17. Mark Mapletoft*; 18. James Cockle; 19. Adrian Flavin; 20. Kevin Burke; 21. Mike Worsley; 22 Pierre Durant.
*Denotes International;
Summary Of Meetings Between The Teams In The Premiership
Played 16
London Irish Won 8 50.0%
London Wasps Won 8 50.0%
Drawn 0 0%
Biggest Win for London Irish 45 - 24 17 May 2000
Biggest Win for London Wasps 43 - 20 10 Oct 1999
London Irish top try scorer vs
London Wasps Justin Bishop 4 tries
London Irish top points scorer vs
London Wasps Niall Woods 53 points
London Wasps top try scorer vs
London Irish Paul Sampson 4 tries
London Wasps top points scorer vs
London Irish Kenny Logan 104 points
Previous Meetings
Date Teams Result Venue
24 Feb 2002 London Irish vs London Wasps 31 - 17 Madejski Stadium
14 Oct 2001 London Irish vs London Wasps 20 - 15 Loftus Road
27 Dec 2000 London Irish vs London Wasps 16 - 29 Loftus Road
16 Dec 2000 London Irish vs London Wasps 14 - 13 Madejski Stadium
17 May 2000 London Irish vs London Wasps 45 - 24 The Stoop
10 Oct 1999 London Irish vs London Wasps 20 - 43 Loftus Road
14 Mar 1999 London Irish vs London Wasps 27 - 38 Loftus Road
19 Sep 1998 London Irish vs London Wasps 24 - 36 The Avenue
15 Mar 1998 London Irish vs London Wasps 38 - 19 Loftus Road
26 Oct 1997 London Irish vs London Wasps 22 - 17 The Avenue