USAP Perpignan 23 London Irish 6 - Conditions and circumstances combine in setback for Exiles

Paddy Lennon reports from Stade Aimé Giral, Perpignan.

The outcome of this fourth round fixture in pool 1 of the Heineken Cup was influenced crucially by two matters outside the direct control of London Irish.

The first was the weather.  At 2.45pm local time what had been a bright, sunlit crisp winter’s day changed in the space of 15 minutes to cold, overcast and then leaden grey clouds that initially produced heavy rain that quickly became snow that persisted throughout the game.

The second matte was the sickening elbow tackle thrown by Perry Freshwater, the Perpignan captain in the 33rd minute that hit Kieran Roche just above the left eye and resulted in the Exiles’ player collapsing, before having to leave the field and eventually going to hospital with a seriously damaged eye.

Not only did Freshwater’s cowardly tackle deprive London Irish of one of its key lineout options, it also removed one of the best blindside flankers in the sport whose contribution to every game he plays is immense.

To compound the injury Referee Carlo Damasco and his touch judge claimed that they couldn’t identify the culprit – why then did he go and speak to Freshwater?  They took no action other than award a penalty to Irish.

The incident occurred at a key point in the game.  Irish had struggled through the opening quarter under the expected onslaught from the home team whose disappointment at losing in Madejski Stadium last weekend had been well documented in local media and on the club’s website. Having absorbed the pressure the Exiles were beginning to get into the game. 

A ninth minute penalty for Perpignan by Cedric Rosalen had just been equalled by one by Peter Hewat on the half-hour. With ten minutes to go to half-time the Exiles were beginning to benefit from a passage of sustained possession.  Then came Freshwater’s variation on a cheap wrestling shot which understandably disturbed the London Irish players and resulted in the loss of the momentum they had worked so hard to create.

Among the highlights of a tense opening period were the kicking exchanges between two players that had last confronted each other in the Rugby World Cup final, Mike Catt and Percy Montgomery.  Among the final action of the half was a dramatic race by Catt to save a try-scoring opportunity created when his attempted clearance kick was by blocked by Christophe Manas.  The fly half won the race but injured himself in the process.  The half ended two minutes later when another try-scoring opportunity for the home team was fluffed by Mongomery knocking-on a pass from Gerri Britz who had broken through the Irish defence.

The snow and rain continued to fall as the second half got underway.  Shane Geraghty replaced Mike Catt.  Irish lost control of the restart resulting in a penalty to Perpignanin front of the posts which Rosalen kicked easily.

That was the catalyst for a reprise of the opening ten minutes of the first half.  Although both teams were guilty of errors, the Catalans made fewer and had the benefit of an indulgent referee when they did.

Delon Armitage was unlucky to be sin-binned for an allegedly high tackle on Adrien Plante in the 49th minute.  Most observers were of the opinion that the winger slipped on the greasy surface as Armitage made the tackle.  Rosalen missed with the resulting penalty kick.

Hewat levelled the score for Irish with his second penalty in the 52nd minute when Perpignan were penalised for not releasing.  It was to prove to be temporary relief for the visitors.

In what was a rare bad day for the Exiles’ lineout – much of it due to poor refereeing, Irish were penalised for a lineout offence in the 55th minute.  Rosalen’s kick cannoned off the right post to the surprise of both teams.  Perpignan reacted quickest and recycled the ball to Manas who burst through the defence to touch down under the posts.  Rosalen added the extras.

The score heralded a sequence of replacements by both teams.  Perpignan continued to test Irish with high, hanging up-and-unders as they relied on their forwards to chase and probe the Exiles’ defence. A limited strategy but one that was effective in the conditions as Irish’s 14 men worked tirelessly to cope with the Catalans’ driving maul in particular.

Irish were penalised for pulling down one such maul in the 72nd minute and Rosalen scored with the resulting penalty to take the score out of bonus point range.

Little quality possession came Irish’s way in the final ten minutes of normal time. Perpignan continued to use the driving maul to retain possession and to attack.  The tactic paid off in the 77th minute when the forwards drove over for the Catalans’ second try.  The touchdown was awarded to Nathan Hines and the conversion was kicked by Jerome Porical who had replaced Mongomery in the 61st minute.

To their credit Irish attacked deep into injury time but a resilient defence ensured there were no more scores and the final score was 23-6.

Irish remain top of pool 1 on 14 points, one ahead of Perpignan.  Both teams have everything to play for in the final two rounds in January.

London Irish issued the following statement about the injury to Kieran Roche on Sunday morning:

“Kieran Roche took a blow direct to his left eye in the 33rd minute of yesterday’s game.  Following treatment by the London Irish medical staff he was taken to hospital in Perpignan where he was seen by an eye specialist. A CT scan revealed a fracture to Kieran’s eye socket and damage to his eye.  He will see a specialist on his return to London.”

Scorers: Perpignan:Tries: Manas (56), Hines (77); Conversions: Rosalen, Porical. Penalty goals: Rosalen 3 (9, 42, 72). London Irish:Penalty goals: Hewat 2 (30, 52).

Scoring sequence(Perpignan): 3-0, 3-3 (half-time) 6-3, 6-6, 13-6, 16-6, 23-6.

USAP Perpignan: P Montgomery (rep: J Porical, 61), C Manas, F M Aramburu (rep: S Meyer, 75), J-P Grandclaude (rep: F M Aramburu, 82), A Plante, C Rosalen, C Cusiter (rep: N Durand, 69), P Freshwater (captain)(rep: M Ladhuie, 56), G Girado, K Pilu, O Olibeau, N Hines, G Britz (rep: C Geli, 78), D Chouly, R Alvarez Kairelis. 

London Irish: P Hewat, T De Vedia, D Armitage, S Mapusua, S Tagicakibau, M Catt (rep: S Geraghty, 40), P Richards (rep: P Hodgson, 69),  C Dermody (rep: D Murphy, 71), D Paice, R Skuse (rep: T Lea’aetoa, 59), N Kennedy, B Casey (captain), K Roche (rep: R Thorpe, 33), D Danaher, P Murphy.

Referee: Mr Carlo Damasco (FIR)

Attendance: 11,230

Match Statistics

T C P DG Player     2   Hewat         De Vedia         D Armitage         Mapusua         Tagicakibau         Catt         Richards         Dermody         Paice         Skuse         Kennedy         Casey (Capt)         Roche         Danaher         P Murphy         D Murphy         Mackie         Lea'aetoa         Thorpe         S Armitage         Hodgson         Geraghty	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 Montgomery         Manas 1       Aramburu         Grandclaude         Plante         Rosalen     3   Cusiter         Freshwater (Capt)         Guirado         Pulu         Olibeau         Hines 1       Britz         Chouly         Chirelis         Ladhuie         Mas         Vilaceca         Geli         Durand         Meyer         Porical