Post by Jamie Crawford on Mar 19, 2019 13:58:03 GMT
London Irish preview sponsored by Porsche Centre Sheffield (www.porschesheffield.co.uk)
Round 18, Sat 23rd Mar, 2019 – 3 pm Madjeski Stadium, Reading
I can’t beleeeve it (Victor Meldrew) but Statbunker is still not up to date even with a weekend with no Championship games. Well they updated a few on Tuesday morning but not London Irish or the Knights amongst others. Therefore the stats are after game 16 not 17 when the Irish exiles had their second defeat of the season Carnegie; Carnegie 26 – 12 London Irish.
This is arguably our most difficult match of the season, playing the overwhelming league-leaders on their own turf. Griff might argue this fact because of other factors such as the form an opposing team is in, if we have many injuries or a few injuries in key positions. We all know that the Irish are the unquestionable favourites after coming down from the Premiership, the money they have spent on their squad and the undisputable stats of their season so far but this also serves to put the pressure on them to win. The Knights aren’t traveling down to Reading expecting to lose; they know it will be a difficult encounter but they are buoyed by their win over Bedford. They have said that the win was significant because they know they made mistakes. Griff even said on our website, “Clive believed the victory was one of the best of his tenure so far at Castle Park;
“I said the boys after and I don’t say it lightly, it is one of the best wins of my time here.””
Tom Hicks also said on our website about the Bedford win; the team owed the fans a performance but the win wasn’t perfect and there are things they need to work on this week. London Irish are top of the league and flying but the team want to take their winning momentum going forward to Reading to face the Irish exiles.
Joe Sprotston declared the win against Bedford was a massive team effort. He said that the team were down after losing to Jersey Reds but they trained hard all week and beat Bedford Blues. They now have a weekend off and then travel to Reading to play London Irish in a buoyant mood and can aim to have fun.
Both Tom and Joe said there were many positives but a few negatives to take from the game and work on before playing the Irish exiles. We beat Bedford not playing our best, so we aim to beat London Irish by playing our best.
Stat time; London Irish:
• Top of the Championship league table.
• The leading try-scorers in the Championship and they’ve scored 21 more tries than second-placed Ealing Trailfinders. (37 more than the Knights)
• Have the strongest defence after conceding the fewest tries (23 fewer than the Knights).
• Have only given away one bonus point all season, last week to Carnegie and note that I don’t think they give away any penalty points.
Stats are historical performance; the Knights aim to out-score and better-defend against the Irish on Saturday and they travel down with a positive frame-of-mind.
Individually the Irish haven’t got a player that is remarkable but collectively they most definitely are.
That said; Stephen Myler (Fly Half) is the seventh highest points-scorer and Dave Poreki (Hooker) is the ninth highest try-scorer in the Championship after scoring nine tries. Oli Hoskins (Prop) and Ben Meehan (Scrum Half) have both scored six, with Tom Parton (Academy Fly Half), Saia Faignaa (Hooker), Brendan Macken (Centre), Mathew Rogerson (Back Row), Topsy Oj (Wing), and Joshua McNally (2nd Row) each scoring five tries.
Other fixtures who’s result could have an impact on our eighth position:
Coventry (7th, + 1 BP) welcome second-placed Ealing Trailfinders. Surely the Trailfinders won’t underestimate a team below them again! (5 places).
London Scottish (=9th) welcome Carnegie (10th, -1 point)
Both teams below us would leapfrog us if they won or drew and we lost. A tough ask to win when we are playing an ex-Premiership team that has only lost twice and won fifteen games. It is difficult but not impossible
Coventry could be leapfrogged by either winning team stated above if they lose to Ealing Trailnders but would remain above them in the event of a draw. Carnegie will be anticipating an advantageous win over Scottish on Saturday because if they win AND both Coventry and the Knights lose to the top two teams, Carnegie will rise from tenth to seventh. Carnegie’s self-confidence will be atmospheric after beating table-topping London Irish..
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
Round 18, Sat 23rd Mar, 2019 – 3 pm Madjeski Stadium, Reading
I can’t beleeeve it (Victor Meldrew) but Statbunker is still not up to date even with a weekend with no Championship games. Well they updated a few on Tuesday morning but not London Irish or the Knights amongst others. Therefore the stats are after game 16 not 17 when the Irish exiles had their second defeat of the season Carnegie; Carnegie 26 – 12 London Irish.
This is arguably our most difficult match of the season, playing the overwhelming league-leaders on their own turf. Griff might argue this fact because of other factors such as the form an opposing team is in, if we have many injuries or a few injuries in key positions. We all know that the Irish are the unquestionable favourites after coming down from the Premiership, the money they have spent on their squad and the undisputable stats of their season so far but this also serves to put the pressure on them to win. The Knights aren’t traveling down to Reading expecting to lose; they know it will be a difficult encounter but they are buoyed by their win over Bedford. They have said that the win was significant because they know they made mistakes. Griff even said on our website, “Clive believed the victory was one of the best of his tenure so far at Castle Park;
“I said the boys after and I don’t say it lightly, it is one of the best wins of my time here.””
Tom Hicks also said on our website about the Bedford win; the team owed the fans a performance but the win wasn’t perfect and there are things they need to work on this week. London Irish are top of the league and flying but the team want to take their winning momentum going forward to Reading to face the Irish exiles.
Joe Sprotston declared the win against Bedford was a massive team effort. He said that the team were down after losing to Jersey Reds but they trained hard all week and beat Bedford Blues. They now have a weekend off and then travel to Reading to play London Irish in a buoyant mood and can aim to have fun.
Both Tom and Joe said there were many positives but a few negatives to take from the game and work on before playing the Irish exiles. We beat Bedford not playing our best, so we aim to beat London Irish by playing our best.
Stat time; London Irish:
• Top of the Championship league table.
• The leading try-scorers in the Championship and they’ve scored 21 more tries than second-placed Ealing Trailfinders. (37 more than the Knights)
• Have the strongest defence after conceding the fewest tries (23 fewer than the Knights).
• Have only given away one bonus point all season, last week to Carnegie and note that I don’t think they give away any penalty points.
Stats are historical performance; the Knights aim to out-score and better-defend against the Irish on Saturday and they travel down with a positive frame-of-mind.
Individually the Irish haven’t got a player that is remarkable but collectively they most definitely are.
That said; Stephen Myler (Fly Half) is the seventh highest points-scorer and Dave Poreki (Hooker) is the ninth highest try-scorer in the Championship after scoring nine tries. Oli Hoskins (Prop) and Ben Meehan (Scrum Half) have both scored six, with Tom Parton (Academy Fly Half), Saia Faignaa (Hooker), Brendan Macken (Centre), Mathew Rogerson (Back Row), Topsy Oj (Wing), and Joshua McNally (2nd Row) each scoring five tries.
Other fixtures who’s result could have an impact on our eighth position:
Coventry (7th, + 1 BP) welcome second-placed Ealing Trailfinders. Surely the Trailfinders won’t underestimate a team below them again! (5 places).
London Scottish (=9th) welcome Carnegie (10th, -1 point)
Both teams below us would leapfrog us if they won or drew and we lost. A tough ask to win when we are playing an ex-Premiership team that has only lost twice and won fifteen games. It is difficult but not impossible
Coventry could be leapfrogged by either winning team stated above if they lose to Ealing Trailnders but would remain above them in the event of a draw. Carnegie will be anticipating an advantageous win over Scottish on Saturday because if they win AND both Coventry and the Knights lose to the top two teams, Carnegie will rise from tenth to seventh. Carnegie’s self-confidence will be atmospheric after beating table-topping London Irish..
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
