Leicester 26 London Irish 18 - Your Thoughts Please!

Gate · Post by **Gate** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:38 pm

Well, from where I was on the terrace with my one eye and green, red and white monocle, I thought the reffing was diabolical.

When I was getting Cockers' autograph for my son afterwards, he apologised for it not being much of a match, but it was a classic "we'll have the four points" as far as I'm concerned. Better handling in some crucial positions, and fewer baffling decisions by the man with the whistle, and that would have been pretty comfortable.

Big plus points - Varndell's second try - how we laughed. And ver boy Humphreys did 'imself prahd. That lad has a boot on him - worth the nod over Burkey for the distance to touch from his own 22. How many times do you see Burkey landing them on the roof of the Next stand past halfway?

Final plus point - the LI fans I shared my hipflask of Laphroaig with afterwards - great laugh.

g · Post by g » Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:07 pm

I'm pleased that Humphs had a good game.

Isn't it the norm that if a player has a good game one week he gets dropped the next?

I will be very surprised if Humphreys starts next week. I hope he does but when you have Pat Howard as coach then anything can happen.

Iain · Post by **Iain** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:59 pm

Thought Humphreys was excellent going forward and with the ball in hand. Yes, one or two question marks defensively but nonetheless, very promising, took his chance well.
Tom's first try was textbook rugby from the three-quarters, aided and abetted by one of the more substantial gaps Gibson will ever have to run into. The second try was downright hilarious... made even funnier by the fact I'm not convinced he properly grounded the ball!
Other than the two tries there wasn't a lot to shout about, a fairly ordinary game all told. But a win is a win during this period of the season, and Irish are a side you'd always want to avoid during internationals given their lack of any representatives. As such, job done.

kornboy130 · Post by **kornboy130** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 10:04 pm

^^^the ending to the (3) above comment was irrelevant, untrue and pretty much basic lies^^^

you say that all we can hope for is a top 4 place - we're in the top 4 now with only 5 points between us and first - we have to play wasps away next week not sale or gloucester away with internationals missing - but i seriosuly doubt the depth of their team - all beit they have the home advantage. i think either one of us would be lucky to come out with a win - as we have the weakend but still slightly stronger team - whereas wasps have the home advantage. jordan crane is not brilliant - tom varndell was the saving grace of that match - and id rate him over sackey any day - which is why if PH reads this - THIS WEEK TRAIN GETTING THE BALL WIDE ------ WIDE DAMMIT - VARNDELL WOULD SKIN SACKEY!!!!! i strenght will lie in our backs next week and we need to show it.[/u]

k1 · Post by k1 » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:35 am

Mixed bag of a game.

Humphries was excellent - deserved man of the match and should get more starts now. I'll admit Goode is also looking better this season and equipped himself fairly well for England but I don't think there's much between them.

Frank Murphy was also pretty good - got the backs moving and looked to attack. Ellis looked dismal by comparison when he came on. Lacking in pace and vision and far too slow to release the ball.

Forwards were pretty solid - another good performance from B Deacon I thought.

Vesty was not so great and made a few errors - his lack of pace meant he got caught alone a couple of times.

Varndell looked good but Tigers still have this problem of throwing the ball down the line mindlessly expecting him to run it in from anywhere. They need to work the opportunities for him to exploit space.

Cullen played reasonably but showed limitations as captain. With 5 minutes to go it should have been up your jumper and play in their 22. Instead, Tigers tried to run it and went nowhere. May not be an exciting vision for the game, but with a few minutes to go and not much between the scores, I'd rather see Tigers chew up the clock.

Good win though with so many "1st choice" players out.

Stuart Kirk · Post by **Stuart Kirk** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 9:59 am

A point that doesn't appear to have been covered:

I'm pleasantly surprised how well the scrum held up given the weak front row especially. It was not strong and Jordan Crane had to bail a few times to save us, but it was better than it could have been and has been in the past. Think next week will be a different story tho.

wing commander · Post by **wing commander** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:04 pm

Humphreys was impressive with the boot and looked good running,but his tackling is not up to the mark and caused a few probs, with people having to cover for him. Murphy looked ok, but a better side might have caught him a bit more around the base of the line out.

Anyway, a couple of wins during international time-I expect PH would have settled for that-can't see us beating Wasps tho.

Clive Norling (The First) · Wed Nov 22, 2006 4:47 pm

Gate .....

What a load of uneducated and ill informed tosh about the referee .... :D :D

You are on another planet and you know NOTHING .... :D :D

Caerlyr Osprey · Post by **Caerlyr Osprey** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 5:14 pm

Never mind the game. I bought a pint of beer off the girl with the barrel on her back on the crumbie terrace and gave her a fiver for a £2.70 pint and she gave me £4.00 change. Now thats what I call a result.

Gate · Post by **Gate** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:00 pm

Clive Norling (The First) wrote:Gate .....

What a load of uneducated and ill informed tosh about the referee .... :D :D

You are on another planet and you know NOTHING .... :D :D

Can't argue with that, Sir.

Mind you, when viewed from Planet Terrace, the reffing is always diabolical It's a tradition, or an ancient charter or something. Or maybe the Laphroaig. You always realise, once the green-red-and-white mist has cleared, that the ref was better placed to see and knows more than you anyway. Until the next time.

POSTIGER · Post by **POSTIGER** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:02 pm

Not sure what all the fuss is about regarding Humph's lack of defence - Goodey is not exactly renowned for his ferocious tackling now is he?

I'm sure there will be plenty of people who disagree with me but I think if the FH is keeping us on the front foot and kicking his goals then he is doing more than enough.

I'm sure his defence will improve the more he plays anyway, though as others have pointed out, he will prob be dropped after such a good performance!

P.s I thought Jordan Crane was outstanding - future captain in the making IMHO.