9 - 17

Attendance: 6500
Friday 19/08/05
Ravenhill
KO 19.30

London Irish assess the Ulster knights, and show some fallabilities

Well, the new season got under way last night with more of a whimper than a bang. It started in the beer tent as usual. Arriving at Ravers on a pleasant summer’s evening the first job was to grab a beer and try to track down old friends and acquaintances to discuss the prospects for the evening ahead. The URSC chairman was almost in his familiar spot at the terrace end of the beer tent, but for some strange reason had set up inside rather than outside in the balmy summer air. There was a familiar knot of people hanging around. The Original Kimble and some of the second barrier crew, Ball Park, Freddie-B, Rooster showing off his new camera that can zoom in to pick out individuals on the terrace from his lofty perch in the Stand (why does he want to do that?), Jamesie and toots were also in attendance but yet again I failed to track down that Scarlet Pimpernel of Ravenhill the artist now known as HolywoodMike2youMate. Some of the crew reckoned that this was not something I should be complaining about - I’ll have to take their word for it.

Anyway, with the fat well and truly chewed, it was soon time to head for the Prom for the main event. As the team ran out they carried al our hopes and dreams with them. There was Justin Harrison looking ready to turn his promise of passion into action, Neil McMillan was back looking ready to rejoin the fray after his enforced absence, Henry Head looked truly scary. There were a few other welcome new faces and a host of old favourites and the crowd was definitely hungry for action.

London Irish turned out a team liberally peppered with international stars including Mike Catt and Kieron Dawson and the stage was set for another thrilling Friday night encounter.

The first half started well and before long Ulster was in front thanks to a well take penalty in the 4th minute from Steinmetz. There were more than few niggles starting to show for all that this match was billed as a friendly and Irish player Paul Gustard was sent to the bin after tangling with big Justin. There were a few hairy moments but the defence held up well and despite rarely looking likely to score tries themselves the Ulster defence did well to contain London Irish through most of the half. Steinmetz added another penalty to extend the lead to six and then missed a third to close out the half 6-0 to Ulster.

The second half started with a lapse by the Ulster defence and a burst from London Irish which saw Topsy Ojo go over in the corner for Irish’s first points of the match. The conversion was missed but London Irish were definitely back in it. For the average punter in the crowd the changes in the second half were numerous and hard to keep track of and in many ways they spoiled the continuity of the game which really seemed to be much more broken in than the first. Irish scored a second try through Scott Staniforth, converted by Laidlaw, to take the lead. Ulster came back with a third Steinmetz penalty but a second try for Topsy Ojo killed the match off at 17-9 to London Irish. A burst from Trimble was the closest Ulster came to scoring a five-pointer but the professionalism of the London Irish defence kept him out and repulsed the attack without conceding a score.

Overall verdict: Must do better. This was a match we could have won, but while solid in defence Ulster rarely looked like scoring a try. The line-out was much improved thanks to big Justin, though there was little evidence of challenging on the opposition throw, and there was at least once when Harrison took the ball cleanly in the line-out only to squander possession by hurling it down at the feet of Spee who didn’t appear to be expecting it. There was a definite hardness in the pack which was missing last season and the scrummaging and mauling benefited from it.

During the second half Reece Spee, Jonny Bell, Tommy Bowe, Rowan Frost, Declan Fitzpatrick and Nigel Brady all made their first appearances of the season.

Looking forward to next Friday already and a match that the boys had better win.