London Irish 41 Newport Gwent Dragons 24 - Thorpe Hat Trick Proves Vital as London Irish Inch Towards Quarter-Finals

Paddy Lennon reports from Madejski Stadium

A Heineken Cup quarter-final place for London Irish took a significant step closer to reality yesterday afternoon as the Exiles secured a priceless bonus point victory over Newport Gwent Dragons.

For once the weather gods co-operated and Madejski Stadium experienced a cold but dry afternoon, brightened by glimpses of winter sunshine that contrasted with the wind and gales of preceding days.  Perfect weather for playing rugby with ball in hand on a playing surface described by Paul Turner, the Dragons head coach as “outstanding”.

Turner brought an in-form, albeit wounded Dragons team to Reading.  Three Magners League victories over Christmas and the New Year had boosted the confidence of the Men from Gwent but had come at a price with injuries to key players.  However, as has often been said before, there is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal – a den of dragons in this case, and so it proved as Turner’s team came out of their half from kick-off hurling fire and brimstone at Irish.

The home team had to endure a torrid opening five minutes before Peter Hewat calmed nerves with a penalty awarded after Nick Kennedy was pulled down in the lineout.  The score had the desired effect and although the Dragons continued to roar for a few more minutes it was muted as the Irish pack began to impose themselves in the set pieces and at the breakdown.

Peter Richards began to get quality ball to work with and the game changed.  TheEngland scrum half celebrated his call-up to the national senior squad with a display that proved why he is one of the top two in his position in the country.  He tested the mettle of the Gwent backs with a series of kicks and then combined with Eoghan Hickey and Shane Geraghty to telling effect.

The visitors’ defence started to open up.  Peter Hewat tested them with two dashing runs from deep but it was No 8 Richard Thorpe that opened Irish’s bonus point search with a try in the right corner in the 12th minute.  The 23-year-old burst through four tackles to score.  Hewat added the extras with an outstanding conversion from the touchline.

Five minutes later Richards was the creator of his team’s second try.  A cheeky break through midfield was brought to a stop by an illegal block, just before he was felled the scrum half chipped the ball over the oncoming defence, Eoghan Hickey was able to follow-up and touch down just left of the posts.  Hewat converted to make the score 17-0.

As the game moved into its second quarter Irish were dominating territory and possession.  Bob Casey stole a lineout and there followed a passage of play by the Irish back row that saw the ball offloaded in the tackle with pace and skill that was a delight to watch. 

The result was that the Dragons were stretched and centre Paul Emerick found himself despatched to the sin-bin for killing the ball.  It took only two minutes before Irish extracted the maximum price for his absence.  A patient build-up was rewarded when Shane Geraghty waltzed through the defence for his first score of the season and Irish’s third try of the game.  Hewat added the extras.

The one way traffic was brought to an abrupt halt in the 32nd minute when Topsy Ojo attempted a clearance kick under pressure.  His slow kick was blocked and rebounded over the Irish try line to leave Richard Fussell with an easy touch down.  Ceri Sweeney added the conversion.

It took Irish just five minutes to respond with their fourth, bonus point-winning try.  This time it was the backs that combined in a magical piece of handling and running.  Richards was the orchestrator once again.  His pass to the right found Delon Armitage, the outside centre drew the defence before passing inside to Peter Hewat whose choice of running line split the defence and he touched down unopposed.

Under relentless pressure from the Exiles, the Dragons lost a second player to the sin-bin when Peter Sidoli was penalised for pulling down in the lineout in the 39th minute. 

The half ended with Irish attacking the visitors’ try line on the right.

Irish continued from where they had left off after the re-start.  Early pressure forced the Dragons to defend deep before a multi-phase move culminated in Richard Thorpe scoring his second try in the left corner.  Hewat missed the conversion just before he was replaced by Gonzalo Tiesi.  Paul Hodgson took over from Peter Richards at this time.

Sensing a relaxation in the Irish offence the Dragons re-grouped and mounted a series of attacks one of which culminated in a Michael Owen cross-field kick that landed in the hands of hooker Ben Daly who had the easiest of touchdowns in the right corner.

The initiative passed to the visitors as Irish failed to regain control of the ball.  A knock-on by Hickey just left of his posts in the 57th minute was the prelude to the Dragons third try by Gareth Wyatt, the Welsh international winger had replaced Mustoe just two minutes earlier.

Having been impregnable in the opening period Irish now looked vulnerable as the Dragons counter-attacked at every opportunity.  Ceri Sweeney was having more influence and it was no surprise to see him picking his way through the defence to score under the posts in the 67th minute.  He kicked the easy conversion. 

“A potential banana skin” was how Brian Smith described this fixture in his programme notes and after 27 minutes of the half with the score now at 34-24, a possible slip-up was coming too close for comfort.

Newport resorted to kicking to find attacking field position but the tactic proved costly as Irish with Casey and James Hudson dominating the lineout gradually regained sufficient control of possession to stem the visitors’ attack.

In the 76th minute Hudson won a lineout, and the pack used it as a platform for a pick and go sequence that earned precious metres before Richard Thorpe was released for his third try of the game.  Hickey adding the extras. The score settled Irish nerves and the remaining minutes were played out deep in the visitors’ 22.

After five rounds London Irish remains in control of its destiny at the top of the Pool 1 table.  Victory over Treviso next Saturday will mean that a quarter-final place is virtually assured, a bonus point win and a home quarter-final is guaranteed.  There remains much work to be done this week – yesterday’s second half provided a reality check of just how important it is to concentrate for 80 minutes if success is to be assured on the European stage.

Scorers: London Irish: Tries:  Thorpe 3 (12, 47, 72), Hickey (16), Geraghty (23), Hewat (33); Conversions: Hewat 3, Hickey. Penalty goal: Hewat (4). Newport Gwent Dragons: Tries: Fussell (25), Daly (51), Wyatt (58), Sweeney (65); Conversions: Sweeney 2.

Scoring sequence(LondonIrish first):  3-0, 10-0, 17-0, 24-0, 24-7, 29-7 (half-time) 34-7, 34-12, 34-17, 34-24, 41-24.

London Irish: P Hewat (rep: G Tiesi, 48), T Ojo (rep: T De Vedia, 40), D Armitage, S Geraghty, S Tagicakibau, E Hickey, P Richards (rep: P Hodgson, 48),  C Dermody (rep: D Murphy, 21), D Paice (rep: D Coetzee, 55), T Lea’aetoa, N Kennedy (rep: J Hudson, 59), B Casey (captain), D Danaher, S Armitage (rep: P Murphy, 70), R Thorpe.

Newport Gwent Dragons: A Thomas,  R Mustoe (rep: G Wyatt, 55), P Emerick (sin-bin: 21-31), A Smith (rep: P Dollman, 61), R Fussell, C Sweeney, W Evans (rep: A Walker, 70), A Black, B Daly (rep: K Crawford, 72), G Robinson (rep: H Gustafson, 52)(rep: G Robinson, 66), A Hall, P Sidoli (sin-bin: 38-48), J Bearman, J Harris, M Owen (captain)(rep: L Evans, 51).

Referee: Mr Peter Allan (SRU)

Attendance: 8,277

Match Statistics

T C P DG Player         Dermody         Paice         Lea'aetoa         Kennedy         Casey         Danaher         S Armitage 3       Thorpe         Richards 1 1     Hickey         Tagicakibau 1       Geraghty         D Armitage         Ojo 1 3 1   Hewat         Murphy         Coetzee         Hudson         Murphy         De Vedia         Hodgson         Tiesi	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 Black         Daly 1       Robinson         Hall         Sidoli         Bearman         Harris         Owen         W Evans         Sweeney 1 2     Fussell 1       Smith         Merick         Mustoe         Thomas         Crawford         Gustafson         A Jones         L Evans         Walker         Dollman         Wyatt 1