Questions of Responsibility

Questions of Responsibility

Don't be taken in the final score, London Wasps would not have been flattered if their winning margin was double the 14 points that the result card shows. At first glance anyone that had the good fortune not to be in Adams Park on a perfect, autumn afternoon for rugby, would be forgiven for thinking that London Irish had at least made a fight for a share of the points. Please believe one who had the unfortunate task not only to have to write about it but also to have to help commentate to Exiles' fans on live radio via the internet, this was the worst performance by a London Irish team in five years. It was a performance of such poor quality that it raises serious questions of responsibility from all concerned.

Hopes were expressed at the start of the season by the squad and management that they wanted to be a Premiership play-off team and a quarter-finalist in the Heineken Cup. Well after one win out of five in the league and with the opening rounds of Europe's leading club rugby tournament less than a month away, judging by today's performance there is no chance of either objective being achieved unless there is a dramatic change in attitude both on and off the pitch.

London Irish did not play an exceptionally gifted London Wasps team this afternoon. The opposition started the day at the bottom of the Premiership with no wins out of their previous four games. Yes, the High Wycombe team benefited from the return of World Cup participants Eoin Reddan and Dan Leo, and yes it included players on the fringes of the England squad like the outstanding James Haskell and Danny Cipriani, and of course, there was Riki Flutey at out half with the experienced Tom Voyce and Mark Van Gisbergen supporting him. But that was it. On paper the Exiles appeared to have the match of this below strength Wasps team, it shows just how deceptive first
appearances can be!

The match analysis provided by the sophisticated analysis software that the club has recently heavily invested in will tell a tale that should ask questions of responsibility off players and coaches. The individual skills, or more accurately the lack of them, on display by certain players would not be accepted at senior schoolboy level and need to be addressed. The decision-making on the pitch raised doubts as to what game plan the team was playing to. An example from the 53rd minute of the second half: with two accomplished fly halves standing beside him, one who knows the Adams Park pitch intimately, why was Delon Armitage entrusted with a penalty kick to touch that he proceeded to kick too long - beyond the dead ball zone, resulting in a scrum where the kick was taken?! There are more.

As to the story of the game, the home team went three points ahead when Mark Van Gisbergen kicked his first penalty of the game, this one for offside. For an under pressure team this was the perfect start, a real confidence boost. Irish on the other hand looked anxious. It was only Nick Kennedy's early dominance of the lineout that held out any hope. Eoghan Hickey had a chance to level the scores in eight minutes but his penalty went wide from only 30 metres. An easier chance came his way just three minutes later and he sent it between the posts.

During a period when neither side was playing with a level of skill that could be described as professional, it was Wasps that were showing more initiative. Irish were fortunate that a pass by Van Gisbergen to David Doherty did not go to hand as the flying, young winger would have made Irish pay. Five minutes later Wasps did make Irish pay when a turnover in midfield was picked-up by George Skivington and the big lock forward showed good pace as he raced for the line to score his team's opening try, Van Gisbergen adding the extras.

Turnover ball was becoming a recurring feature of the Exiles play so it was inevitable that Wasps would exact a price. Van Gisbergen missed with a penalty attempt in the 27th minute, but that was only to delay the inevitable. The impressive Danny Cipriani, capitalised on another turnover, before touching down in the left corner for his team's second try in the 30th minute.

Things were to get worse for Irish in the 34th minute, in one of their rare moments of real class, a break by Seilala Mapusua set Dominic Shabbo through on the left, a despairing tackle by a Wasps defender did enough to stop the England Sevens player, but it also cost him his right hamstring. He was replaced by Jeremy Staunton. The home team lost prop Pat Barnard a minute later with a similar looking injury.

As the half drew to a close Irish finally mounted their first period of sustained pressure of the half inside the Wasps 22. They came away with six points through two Hickey penalties, enough to narrow the half-time score to 15-9 and hold out the promise of a second half turnaround.

That promise was to last all of 90 seconds, that was how long it took for Irish to turnover the ball in a scrum 30 metres from their line. With Tom Voyce in your team that distance counts for nothing and the England winger touched down in the left corner. Van Gisbergen struck his second successful conversion of the game. The full back extended his team's lead just three minutes later when Irish were penalised once again for offside. 25-9 with 35 minutes to go, Irish were facing an uphill task.

The initiative was with the home team and a limited kick-and-chase game plan orchestrated primarily by Flutey, ensured that play stayed in the Exiles' half. The pressure continued to tell. Topsy Ojo was sin-binned in the 57th minute for deliberate obstruction of Van Gisbergen.

The introduction of replacements by both teams further disrupted an already fragile display. Delon Armitage scored a fine individual try in the 64th minute by using his ability to step off either foot and acceleration to beat Wasps' blitz defence. Staunton missed the conversion.

With ten minutes to go the home side were rampant with Cipriani in particular showing what a rare talent he is; Irish were just holding on. A rare excursion into the Wasps half in the 74th minute ended another mistake, a knock on.

The final minutes were memorable only for the sin-binning of the rival captains. Bob Casey, who was first to go, will be disappointed that his 100th Premiership appearance finished with a yellow card. Eoin Reddan followed him two minutes later. With both teams down to 14 men each, the home team was content to play down the clock as hopes of a four try bonus point disappeared.

Speaking to the media after the game, London Irish Director of Rugby, Brian Smith said, 'It was very frustrating, their three ties came from our turnovers ' two from set pieces and one from a dropped ball. They played a kick-chase pressure game and did quite well out of it. We made a lot of unforced errors. It was the worst performance that I've seen since I've been at London Irish.

'We're not happy with the start of the season; we can't escape the fact that it hasn't been what we wanted. We knew it was going to be tough, we'll play our way out of this. We're a much better team than you saw today.'

Scorers: London Wasps: Tries: Skivington (21), Cipriani (30), Voyce (42); Conversions: Van Gisbergen 2. Penalty goals: Van Guisbergen 3 (2, 45, 69). London Irish: Try: Armitage, D (64). Penalty goals: Hickey, 3 (11, 38, 39).

Scoring sequence (London Wasps first): 3-0, 3-3, 10-3, 15-3, 15-6, 15-9 (half-time) 22-9, 25-9, 25-14, 28-18.

London Wasps: M Van Guisbergen, D Doherty, F Waters, R Flutey, T Voyce, D Cipriani, E Reddan (captain)(sin-bin: 78-80), M Holford (rep: C Beech, 66), J Ward, P Barnard (rep: N Adams, 36), R Birkett (rep: J Hart, 46-56 ' blood), G Skivington, D Leo (rep: J Hart, 56), R Webber (rep: H Ellis, 75), J Haskell.

London Irish: D Armitage, T Ojo, D Shabbo (rep: J Staunton, 34), S Mapusua, S Tagicakibau, E Hickey (rep: W Fury, 59), P Hodgson, D Murphy (rep: T Warren, 65), D Paice (rep: S Mackie, 65), T Lea'aetoa, N Kennedy, B Casey (captain)(sin-bin: 76-80), D Danaher, S Armitage (rep: P Murphy, 22-28 ' blood)(P Murphy, 59), R Thorpe (rep: K Roche, 60).

Referee: Mr Roy Maybank (RFU)

Match Statistics

14		28
T C P DG Player         Dan Murphy         David Paice         Tonga Lea'aetoa         Nick Kennedy         Bob Casey         Declan Danaher         Steffon Armitage         Richard Thorpe         Paul Hodgson,     3   Eoghan Hickey         Sailosi Tagicakibau         Seilala Mapusua         Dominic Shabbo         Topsy Ojo 1       Delon Armitage         Casey Dunning         Stuart Mackie         Tom Warren         Kieran Roche         Phil Murphy         Warren Fury         Jeremy Staunton	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 Michael Holford         Joe Ward         Pat Barnard         Richard Birkett         George Skivington 1       Daniel Leo         Rob Webber         James Haskell         Eoin Reddan         Danny Cipriani 1       Tom Voyce 1       Riki Flutey         Fraser Waters         David Doherty         Mark Van Gisbergen   2 3   Charlie Beech         Nick Adams         Hugo Ellis         John Hart         Simon Amor         Dave Walder         Rob Hoadley