Sale Sharks 7 London Irish 17 - “One of the best performances of the year”

Paddy Lennon reports from Edgeley Park, Stockport.

The quotation is from Brian Smith but is one that will be endorsed by Toby Booth, Mike Catt or any member of the London Irish support staff or those Exiles’ supporters privileged to be at Edgeley Park yesterday afternoon. If the reverse fixture earlier in the season between the teams was of high quality then this surpassed it!

A warm, still, dry early May afternoon and a firm pitch provided perfect conditions for a fast, open game. In addition, both teams had everything to play for with Sale going for a place in the play-offs and London Irish with a chance of finishing sixth in the Premiership and a possible Heineken Cup place next season, the scene was set for a great contest. And the contest did not disappoint.

The pattern of the game was set from Charlie Hodgson’s kick-off.  The Sale forwards raced after the ball, the Irish pack stood firm, captured the ball and cleared it.  There was no respite as the home team countered through full back Ben Foden whose elusive running made him a constant threat.

Bob Casey and his men stood their ground, re-buffed the initial attacks and then set about showing what they could do with ball in hand.  With Paul Hodgson producing quick ball from the efforts of his forwards the Irish backs attacked.  The speed and skill with which the ball was moved to and fro across the back line had to be seen to be believed.  And it was not just the backs that were showing their skills, the forwards helped to keep the pace at high level with skilful offloading in the tackle.

The Sharks matched their visitors in terms of pace as the contest developed at exceptional speed.  James Hudson sailed high to complete the first lineout steal of the afternoon.  The former All Black, Luke McAlister prompted and probed for Sale, Sailosi Tagicakibau did likewise for Irish.  Charlie Hodgson was called upon to clear at one end, Peter Hewat and Eoghan Hickey at the other.

But it was the set pieces and the breakdown that the contest was a it’s most enthralling.  Tonga Lea’aetoa, David Paice and Faan Rautenbach stood toe-to-toe with Lionel Faure, Neil Briggs and Stuart Turner.  Who would waver first was going to be key? To Irish’s credit it was the Sale Hooker.  Briggs was uncomfortable with the relentless pressure and his throwing at the lineout suffered.

Such was the intensity of the pressure and the pace it was inevitable that there would be mistakes.  Charlie Hodgson missed with a drop goal attempt in the 16th minute. Sebastien Chabal set off on a run with ball in hand only to be confronted by the irrepressible Steffon Armitage.  A superbly timed low tackle by the Irish flanker felled the mighty Frenchman and his attempted offload went to ground.

In the 20th minute the Sale scrum half Richard Wigglesworth was linkman in a move by his backs just outside the Irish 22.  His attempted pass was slow and was seized by Topsy Ojo who changed gear twice as he sped off down the right wing to score in the corner.  Hickey added the extras with a well struck kick from five metres inside the touchline.

Four minutes later Irish put together another minute of sheer magic.   Paul Hodgson recovered the ball just outside his 22 in midfield.  He shimmed left, then right and passed to Hewat.  The Australian set off on another of his classic interventions into the back line.  As he was tackled he passed to Tagicakibau speeding down the left wing.  He made light of by-passing two defenders before passing to the outstanding Seilala Mapusua who raced over the final 20 metres to score in the left corner.  Hickey’s conversion went wide but Irish were ahead 12-0 and with two tries in the bank were on course for their target for the game.

The response from the home team was relentless and their attacking intent was clear.  Charlie Hodgson sent a kickable penalty to touch.  Sale won the lineout and ran at the Irish defence.  Only a flying tackle by the immense Casey on Wigglesworth saved a certain try.  That was followed quickly by an outstanding defensive scrum by Irish from which Armitage raced clear with the ball.

In the 37th minute Hickey attempted a long range penalty from three metres inside his half but the ball drifted wide.  A minute later McAlister had a chance to register his team’s first points but his penalty attempt also drifted wide.  Referee White’s whistle brought an extraordinary 40 minutes of action to an end to the relief of not just the players but the 10,000 strong crowd!

Any question that the pace of the game would diminish after the restart was quickly dispelled as both teams showed that their commitment to attack remained constant. The early set piece action was hard fought and spoils were even until relentless Irish defence drove the home team into retreat.  That was the signal for reinforcements to appear and they did in the shape of the mighty Andrew Sheridan and Sebastien Bruno.

But Irish refused to be cowed by the presence of theEngland and France internationals.  Instead it was Irish’s England and Canada internationals, Paul Hodgson and Phil Murphy that caught the eye with courageous tackles.  Murphy was clearly relishing the physical challenge of his final game for Irish.

The home team continued to press but their game management let them down time and again in the face of the aggressive Irish defence in which Declan Danaher was outstanding.  Casey, showing speed and athletic skill that were verging on the incredible given his efforts in the game, made yet another try-saving tackle, this time on Brent Cockbain as the big second row drove for the try line.

Casey retired injured shortly afterwards and was replaced by Gary Johnson in the 52nd minute.  Phil Murphy was also replaced by Richard Thorpe.  Shortly afterwards a flowing move by the Irish backs orchestrated by Shane Geraghty, who looked more comfortable in the inside centre role, was pulled up by the referee’s whistle for a marginal forward pass.

As the game entered its final quarter, it was unsurprising that the pace eased a little as the heat and the exertions of the players took their toll.  Armitage and Danaher stopped another try-scoring opportunity with a mighty double tackle on Andy Vilk.

Peter Hewat missed with a long range penalty effort in the 63rd minute.  That was followed by a yellow card for Thorpe, allegedly for killing the ball.  Charlie Hodgson sent the resulting penalty to touch.  The lineout on the Irish 22 was stolen by Gary Johnson and Irish cleared.

Irish were reduced to 13 men in the 72nd minute when to the incomprehension of most people present Hudson was sin-binned after the referee’s attention was drawn to an “incident” by the touch judge.

The home team continued to attack but were met by nothing but heroes in the Exiles’ defence.  Irish counter-attacked at every opportunity and Hickey was unlucky when he broke clear and his attempted pass went to ground.  Equally, Tomas De Vedia, on as a 74th minute replacement for Hewat, went close when he was forced into touch two metres from the try line in the right corner.     .  

With the final whistle only minutes away there was no lessening of Irish’s commitment.  That was rewarded in the 78th minute by a second try for the tireless Mapusua.  Paul Hodgson’s quickly taken conversion attempt missed.

Sale attacked from the re-start and Irish lost control of the ball on the left giving Chris Bell the opportunity to power over in the left corner. McAlister added the extras just before the referee’s whistle sounded for full time.

Given the heroic efforts of both teams in producing entertainment of such high quality for 80 minutes, it seemed unsatisfactory that neither team benefited from the outcome.

The final words of this final match report of season 2007-08 belong appropriately to Brian Smith, “We asked the boys to leave nothing on the pitch and they responded.  It was the most comprehensive performance against the Sale forwards.  You saw heroes out there.”

Footnote: Good reader, if this final match report of the season has a degree of bias then I apologise and hope you understand.  Yesterday’s heroics rank among the finest displays your correspondent has ever seen from 22 London Irish players.  My objectivity will return for the start of next season!

Match Statistics

	7-17
T C P DG Player         Lea'aetoa         Paice         Rautenbach         Hudson         Casey         Danaher         S Armitage         P Murphy         Hodgson   1     Hickey         Tagicakibau         Geraghty 2       Mapusua 1       Ojo         Hewat         Dermody         Mackie         D Murphy         Johnson         Thorpe         Fury         De Vedia	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 Chabal         Fernandez-Lobbe         White         Cockbain         Jones         Turner         Briggs         Faure         Wigglesworth         Hodgson   1     Vilk         McAlister         Bell 1       Kuadey         Foden         Bruno         Sheridan         Roberts         Schofield         Hills         Cliff         Cueto