Edinburgh vs London Irish - match report

Edinburgh vs London Irish
By Big Imperial Dave

They’re red, they’re black, they’re pretty good in attack.

They say good things come to those who wait. Is a home quarter final just reward for eight years of waiting? Ask any Edinburgh fan, and the answer will be a resounding “yes”. The crowd at Murrayfield had to wait in more ways than one today, watching a game that while never bored, took 50 minutes to really spark into life.

With forced changes for Edinburgh, Mcinally coming into the blindside in place of Dozer Dave Denton and Jim Thompson returning to his favoured position of fullback over Chris Paterson, you would be forgiven for thinking that the odds had swung towards London Irish. Indeed, seeing both teams warming up pre-match, Irish certainly looked a far more imposing team physically. The second row of Casey and Sandford looked significantly bigger than Cox and Gilchrist.

However, it was Edinburgh who got off to the brighter start. Putting the ball through the hands for numerous phases, probing the Irish defence, without making any significant headway. Netani Talei carried very well, and Greig Laidlaw controlled the tempo from the stand off berth with a cool head, but there was little penetration. Visiting fly-half Adrian Jarvis knocked over the three pointer after an infringement at the ruck, before Edinburgh attacked again. The Murrayfield crowd was growing quite frustrated with what the perceived to be repeated offside offences by London Irish before Laidlaw put a perfectly weighted grubber through for the Flying Dutchman Tim Visser to score his fourth in the Heineken cup this season, and converting from out right. 7-3. For the next 20 minutes, little of note occurred, both sides putting the ball through the backs, but neither side making any significant headway. Irish’s pack made good yards when hitting up close to the rucks, but were guilty of not putting their backs into any space. A few scrums passed by, where Edinburgh tighthead Geoff Cross perhaps struggled to keep his side of the scrum up against the power of Corbisiero, and the game generally slowed down a bit, With Laidlaw knocking over two penalties.

It brightened up however after the half an hour mark. After some penetrating carries deep into the Irish 22 by Cross, Talei and Ford, the ball was moved quickly out to Laidlaw who chose not to chance a rather large gap in the defence, and instead throw a long pass out to late addition to the squad Jim Thompson, who sprinted over before the covering defence could reach him. Laidlaw again converted before Jarvis kicked another penalty to take the scores to 20-6 at the break.

You felt that Irish would have to be much more aggressive in defence in the second half if they were to come back into the game, and not let Edinburgh stroll about the park as much as they had been doing. And this they did. London Irish secured the ball and patiently worked their way into Edinburgh’s 22, where they pounded at the try line. From the stands, it certainly looked like London Irish would come away with seven points, but time and again they were stopped just short. A penalty was conceded, giving the fans and players alike a brief respite before battle was resumed. Irish had spent too long now hammering away to settle for three points, but this was to prove costly, as a crucial turnover relieved pressure for the Scots.

Irish head coach Toby Booth then made an inspired substitution with Jonathan Joseph coming into the centre in place of Spratt. Joseph’s powerful running and quick feet immediately began to find more space for London Irish out wide, and when he collected his own grubber on the 10 meter line and outpaced the defence, the game began to swing in Irish’s favour. Jarvis missed the conversion, but the Londoners were right back in the game.

The tide turned again though, when Roddy Grant made a half break, supported by Matt Scott, playing in the unusual position of 13, who then unleashed Visser on the wing to race over the line, however, referee Peter Fitzgibbon ruled Grant’s offload to Scott marginally forward and denied the try. Edinburgh continued to press forward though, and after working their way into Irish’s 22, Netani Talei collected a pass off his shoulder from Mike Blair and weaved through the defence to touch down. Laidlaw converted to take the score to 27-11.

From the restart, Edinburgh looked to press home the advantage, but crucial errors in the lineout were costing them possession and territory. John Houston created a great try scoring opportunity with a break in the midfield, but then gubbled the pass under pressure from the Irish backs that would’ve sent Lee Jones over the line. Jones was not to be denied however, as the game drew to a close, he collected a pass on the blindside of play to dart over for the bonus point try.

Final Score 34-11

Irish can take heart from the displays of Jonathan Joseph and their front row, which definitely held the upper hand in the scrums. However, Edinburgh can look forward to the knockout stages of Europe. Crucially, Jones’s last gasp try gave the Scots the bonus point required to top their pool, giving them a home quarter final against French giants Toulouse after the Six Nations. Could this prove to be a turning point for Edinburgh? We’ll have to wait and see, though after eight years, I’m sure we can wait another month or two.