Bristol Shoguns vs London Irish - Match Preview


Bristol Cathedral
By Billy Hamilton
November 13 2002

Who would have thought, given the fine season we had last year, that we would be going into this game trying to avoid the bottom spot in the league. That is what this fixture is - a "winner takes all game" to draw away from the relegation zone.

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Bristol Shoguns vs London Irish
Sun 17 Nov at Memorial Stadium - KO 15:00

Bristol is only one point below us so a defeat will therefore see us exchanging places. As Bristol has game in hand even a draw will not necessarily take us away from danger. Like us Bristol have won two games this season. They defeated Leicester 25-20 in September and last weekend they demolished Newcastle by 38 points to 10.

We have recorded some satisfying performances this season but yet the wins, and the tries, are still hard to come by. We have only scored 4 tries in the last 6 league games. We are even more reliant on Barry’s kicking this season but even it has not been as consistent as in the past. We can take some consolation in the fact that Felipe Contemponi does not seem to be on the best of form this season either.

As it says in the adverts for financial products past performance is no indication of future prospects but Bristol has beaten us only once in our last ten league and cup meetings. That was by only two points in their 28-26 victory at the Memorial Stadium on 10 May 2000.


  Summary of meetings between the teams in the Premiership
 

Played                              14
 Bristol Shoguns Won                 4                       28.6%
 London Irish Won                    8                       57.1%
 Drawn                               2                       14.3%
 Biggest Win for Bristol Shoguns     16 - 0                  18 Sep 1993
 Biggest Win for London Irish        38 - 23                 20 Feb 1998
 
 Bristol Shoguns top try scorer vs  London Irish         David Rees              3 tries
 
 Bristol Shoguns top points scorer vs London Irish     Paul Burke              32 points
 
 London Irish top try scorer vs  Bristol Shoguns          Niall Woods             4 tries
 
 London Irish top points scorer vs  Bristol Shoguns     Jarrod Cunningham       58 points

  Previous Meetings
 Date                    Teams                                    Result Venue           
16 Mar 2002   Bristol Shoguns vs London  Irish 13 - 24 Madejski Stadium
16 Sep 2001   Bristol Shoguns vs London Irish  19 - 19 Memorial Stadium
24 Feb 2001   Bristol Shoguns vs London  Irish  26 - 26 Madejski Stadium
10 Sep 2000   Bristol Shoguns vs London  Irish  26 - 30 Memorial Stadium
10 May 2000   Bristol Shoguns vs London  Irish  28 - 26 Memorial Stadium
29 Dec 1999   Bristol Shoguns vs London Irish  21 - 35 The Stoop       
19 Apr 1998   Bristol Shoguns vs London Irish 5 - 17  Memorial Stadium
20 Feb 1998   Bristol Shoguns vs London Irish   23 - 38 The Avenue      
19 Apr 1997   Bristol Shoguns vs London Irish   26 - 38 Memorial Stadium
 31 Aug 1996   Bristol Shoguns vs London  Irish 28 - 27 The Avenue      

Not a Lot of People Know That

Will researching the statistics for this report I came across the fact that Richmond beat Bedford 106-12 in the Premiership on 16 May 1999. This game holds the game records for most tries (16), penalties (10), conversions (13) and obviously the highest score and margin of victory.