Benetton Treviso 11 London Irish 24 - Heineken Cup quarter-final place secured

Paddy Lennon reports from Treviso.

It was fitting that the final stage for London Irish’s push for a quarter-final place in this season’s Heineken Cup was in Italy, a country of history, culture and romance for all three played a role in making the Exiles’ dream come true.

The city of Treviso welcomed the hundreds of travelling fans.  The Benetton Treviso club were welcoming and hospitable hosts and if its team showed much of the character associated with the Roman legions and Napoleon’s army which once walked its streets, then that is to its credit.

For London Irish qualification for the final stages of Europe’s premier rugby club tournament is not just the realisation of an objective set by the players at the start of the season, it is a significant milestone on a longer cultural journey, one that the club set our on six years ago when it won the Powergen Cup, the first major national trophy in the club’s history.

On that memorable April day, London Irish glimpsed, for the first time in the professional era, what could be achieved.  Seeds were sown that have been nourished - not always as tenderly as was desirable, but they have grown. 

Many outstanding players and coaches have played their part in that process and one hopes that wherever they are, there is a sense of satisfaction of seeing their labour produce fruit.  Among the many players are key personalities like Justin Bishop, Neal Hatley, Ryan Strudwick, Mike Catt and Conor O’Shea who in his role as both player and manager provides a link to the coaches that include Brendan Venter, Gary Gold and Paul Hull – they all put the foundations in place that have been taken to another level by Brian Smith,Toby Boothand today’s playing squad.

Among the more recent milestones that have fortified the growing confidence of the club have been the top four finish in the Guinness Premiership in 2005-06, finalists in the European Challenge Cup the same season, a top six finish in 2006-07 and with it entry to the Heineken Cup for the second successive season, all have combined to create the momentum, the self-belief that made yesterday’s achievement possible.

Along the way there has been romance, the dreams – we would not be London Irish if that was not the case.  The Exiles’ cause has been embraced by an extended family of supporters that are truly exceptional.  Yesterday, they brought colour, noise and humour to Treviso. And if the local population and the host club’s supporters were a little surprised at the green monks, the leprachauns and the ‘tinkerbelles on tour’ they responded with typical Italian welcome and hospitality.  Treviso joins a growing list ofEurope’s great rugby shrines – that includes Toulouse, Rome, Parma, Pau and Limerick, where the green invaders fromLondon and the Thames Valley have been welcomed and made their mark in a most acceptable fashion.

As for what happened on the pitch well the London Irish players made hard work of achieving their objective on what was an ideal afternoon for rugby.

Inevitably, the home team that has brought some of England and France’s great teams to their knees in the Stadio Municipale Di Monigo started with determination and skill.  Whether it was the significance of the occasion and a feeling of anxiety about what had to be achieved, the London Irish response was not as fluid as it could have been.  There was a feeling of players forcing the game when a little patience would have been a better option.

As it was Treviso’s Italian international, Andrea Marcato, playing in front of Nick Mallet, the recently appointed Italy coach, kept his team on the front foot with a series of kicks that secured attacking field positions and forced Irish to defend.

Having resisted the initial onslaught the Exiles gradually played their way into the game securing possession and territory.  Treviso’s full back Brendan Williams was called upon to make a try-saving touchdown in-goal as Sailosi Tagicakibau followed up a Shane Geraghty grubber kick.

A competitive lineout contest was unfolding between Bob Casey and Nick Kennedy and Rod Labuschagne and Corniel Van Zyl with the Exiles pair have the better of the early exchanges.  The return of Faan Rautenbach reinforced a good Irish front row which intimidated its formidable opponents.  Casey sacrificed kickable penalties in favour of scrums and kicks to the corner as he sought try-scoring opportunities

Both defences had to be at their best in turn and if anything Irish were having to work the harder to control the threat of the home side’s backs.  A searing, 40 metre break by Peter Richards in the 17th minute provided a timely confidence boost for Irish. 

Crucially in the 22nd minute, Treviso’s loosehead prop Nicholas De Gregori was sin-binned for blatantly diving offside at the breakdown.  From the resulting scrum, Juan Leguizamon flipped the ball through his legs to Richards ran in unopposed to touch down behind the posts.  Shane Geraghty added the extras to give Irish the lead and settle nerves.

Just after the half-hour came two further Irish touchdowns in the space of three minutes.  Geraghty was the architect of the first when a precise cross-field penalty kick caught the home defence off-guard and gave Tomas De Vedia an unopposed catch and race for the line.  Then in the 36th minute Delon Armitage broke through midfield, evading several attempted tackles in the process, before passing to a speeding Peter Hewat who touched down for try number three.  The full back’s conversion attempt bounced back off the upright.

With the score at 19-0 Irish were in control of the scoreboard but still facing pressure from the home side.  The half finished withTreviso forcing the Exiles to defend their tryline.

It was more of the same from the hme team following the restart.  Inspired by the kicking of fly half Marcato, the ball carrying of No 8 Dion Kingi and the increasing intervention of Brendan Williams, a clone of Jason Robinson, in terms of threat and thought, Treviso seized the initiative.  Irish were unease with themselves and the normally reliable lineout came under pressure.

In a change of tactic it became apparent the Treviso were committing more players to the breakdown than they had in the opening quarter.  The end result was that Irish had a tougher fight for the ball and were under pressure.  Quick ball on which the Exiles thrive dried up as Paul Hodgson, who had replaced Richards at half-time, struggled.   

Penalties were conceded and Marius Goosen reduced the lead with two goals in the 42nd and 46th minutes.

Bob Casey rallied his men and the defence held although the intensity of the contest resulted in frequent altercations and injury breaks.  TheTreviso tight head prop, Salvatore Costanzo was sent to the sin-bin in the 57th minute, resulting in uncontested scrums for the period of his absence.  Irish were unable to capitalise on their man advantage as the home team raised their game.  Their enterprise was rewarded in the 77th minute when wing De Jager finished off a well-worked move by touching down in the left corner.  Goosen failed with the conversion.

With the score at 11-19 and knowing that a lengthy injury time was in prospect Irish struggled to respond.  A series of scrums were unproductive as the anxiety of the travelling fans increased.  They knew about events inNewport were Perpignan were also pressing for a bonus-point winning score.

Deep in injury time Irish finally managed to create a try-scoring chance.  A knock-on by a Trevisoback gave the Exiles a scrum in midfield, ten metres from the home team’s tryline.  Irish secured the ball, a sequence of two pick and go moves sucked in the defence giving Hodgson the chance to pass to Hewat on his right.  The full back had the strength to power over and touchdown despite the efforts of two defenders to hold him up.  The sight of the referee’s arm raised to signal the score brought relief to all the Exiles’ fans and started the celebrations!  Although Hewat’s conversion attempt was blocked by Williams the fourth try had been scored and with it came the vital bonus point and the home quarter-final.

Unfortunately, success came at a price for the Exiles as it was confirmed after the final whistle that “Man of the Match”, Peter Richards had suffered a serious injury to a muscle in his arm.  The club will make an announcement tomorrow when its medical staff has had a chance to assess the injury with the advice of specialists.

And so the quarter-final line-up has an unusual look to it.  There is no Leicester Tigers or London Wasps, both former champions have failed to qualify.  Only the mighty Toulouse and Munster represent the ‘old guard’.  London Irish faces a re-match with Perpignan who finished second in Pool 1.  An exciting contest awaits at Madejski Stadium on the weekend of April 5th/6th.

Scorers: Benetton Treviso: Try:  De Jager (76). Penalty goals: Goosen 2 (42, 46). London Irish: Tries:  Richards (23), De Vedia (34), Hewat 2 (36, 80+9); Conversions: Geraghty, Hewat.

Scoring sequence (Trevisofirst):  0-7, 0-14, 0-19 (half-time) 3-19, 6-19, 11-19, 11-24.

Benetton Treviso: B Williams, L Borges, D Heidtman (rep: A Scarbi, 35), M Goosen (captain), B De Jager (sin-bin: 22-32)(rep: M Barbieri, 23-32), A Marcato, F Semenzato, N De Gregori (rep: M Barbieri, 51), F Sbaraglini, S Contanzo (sin-bin: 57-67), R Labuschagne, C Van Zyl, R Barbieri (rep: S Orlando, 51), F Louw (rep: S Palmer, 68), D Kingi

London Irish: P Hewat, T De Vedia, D Armitage, G Tiesi, S Tagicakibau, S Geraghty, P Richards (rep: P Hodgson, 40),  T Lea’aetoa, D Paice (rep: D Coetzee, 60), F Rautenbach (rep: D Murphy, 35), N Kennedy (rep: J Hudson, 78), B Casey (captain), R Thorpe (rep: S Armitage, 60), D Danaher, J Leguizamon (rep: P Murphy, 77).

Referee: M. Pascale Gauzere (FFR)

Attendance: 3,500

Match Statistics

	11-24
T C P DG Player         Kingi         Louw         R Barbieri         Van Zyl         Labuschagne         Costanzo         Sbaraglini         De Gregori         Semenzato         Mercato 1       De Jager     2   Goosen (Capt)         Heidtmann         Borges         Williams         Vidal         M Barbieri         Johnson         Orlando         Palmer         Mulieri         Sgarbi	Position 1. L/Prop 2. Hooker 3. T/Prop 4. Lock 5. Lock 6. B/Flanker 7. O/Flanker 8. No 8 9. Scrum-half 10. Fly-half 11. Wing 12. Centre 13. Centre 14. Wing 15. Fullback 16. Sub 17. Sub 18. Sub 19. Sub 20. Sub 21. Sub 22. Sub	Player T C P DG Lea'aetoa         Paice         Rautenbach         Kennedy         Casey (Capt)         Thorpe         Danaher         Leguizamon         Richards 1       Geraghty         Tagicakibau         Tiesi         Armitage         De Vedia 1       Hewat 2 2     D Murphy         Coetzee         Hudson         Murphy         S Armitage         Hodgson         Hickey