Vili succeed? Yes...twice!

Scarlets 27 v 19 London Irish

Parc Y Scarlets - att. 8117

28/1/12

Referee: Nigel Owens

It wasn't quite the parable of the prodigal son at Parc Y Scarlets for this LV= Cup encounter. Two sons of the Scarlets came home (albeit on either side of the battle) in the form of Steven Shingler and Liam Davies. However there was no fairytale for either as Vili Iongi, the Tongan international winger stole the show. 

A freezing Parc Y Scarlets saw a crowd of 8117 spectators welcomed by the No. 3 Welsh Wing Air Training Corps band. The persistent beat of their percussion provided an atmospheric backdrop to the warm ups. They also occupied the West Stand and occasionally struck up during the match. There was some irony though in a Royal Air Force band belting out 'Yma O Hyd', the Welsh answer to a rebel song.

London Irish are a very neat team. They play to a simple pattern, seeking to build momentum through the phases. Early on they were much the more dangerous side. Within 3 minutes they had advanced into the Scarlets 22 and a clever low kick from their outside half David Bowden was almost dabbed down by the excellent Irish full back Tom Homer. He had turned cat like in the air seeking the bobbling ball but to no avail according to the TMO. Shortly thereafter though he commenced a faultless kicking display from the tee and bagged his first of 4 successful penalties. 

Irish continued to press, launching a number of well drilled, flowing plays which earned them the lion's share of ball and field position in the first half. 

At the mid-point of the half the TMO was called upon again. Marland Yarde, the Irish winger, had crossed the line and it seemed a clear try. The replay however showed that he had bizarrely touched down onto his supporting hand and had knocked on. 

It was a failure to score the Scarlets would not leave unpunished. On the half hour the Scarlets outside half Aled Thomas kicked a penalty to touch on the 22. From the resulting possession, the impressive Adam Warner took the crash ball and offloaded to his outside half on the loop. He floated a pass just over the despairing hand of winger Topsy Ojo. The ball found its way to Iongi who singed into the corner. Newton added the extras. 

Shortly thereafter, Shingler's match for Irish was over. The inside centre had looked tentative and uncomfortable, despite not getting the Parc Y Scarlets 'treatment'. He was replaced by returning England International Shontayne Hape. However it was Bowden, Homer and centre Jonathan Joseph that looked class players in the Irish back line. Indeed within minutes of his appearance Hape was back in his track suit after tripping Newton.  

Both teams finished the half by launching flowing attacking moves only for the ball to be knocked on or turned over at the crucial point. It was 10-3 at half time.

The second half started much as the first with Irish dominating with their gradual advances from ruck to ruck. This time though the Scarlets pushed to the limit to get their hands on the ball. As a result, within 10 minutes Homer had slotted two penalties and it was a one point game. 

Liam Davies was introduced by the Scarlets. This was his first game for the Region since he had left for the South of France a few seasons ago. Within minutes a strong tackle on his opposite number Darren Allinson saw tempers flaring. Tumble boy Allinson was very lucky not to walk having thrown a punch under referee Owen's nose. The Scarlets seemed to respond to this. Iongi booted a ball fumbled by Ojo and forced Homer to concede the five yard scrum. After a period of intense pressure, replacement Scarlet prop Deacon Manu flopped over from a ruck on the line. The TMO called it good even though it could be argued that he was part of the ruck when he gathered the ball. 

Just as the Scarlets seem to have woken, their defence went to sleep. After a patient accumulation of territory Topsy Ojo took advantage of some wishful Scarlets tackling to stroll under the posts. The inevitable Homer conversion saw Irish take the lead at 17-19. 

This high tempo game was not over yet. The Scarlets worked into the 22 and Irish were penalised for hands in a ruck. Newton had missed two of his kicks, but slotted this one to take his team into a narrow lead with a few minutes on the clock. 

As was their wont, Irish sought to build from the kick off. However with Owens playing injury time and the kick seemingly ruled out as an option, they suddenly looked predictable and conservative. Irish prop Ion fumbled the ball on the half way and the Scarlets launched a counter attack; two quick passes to Iongi in very little space and with a man to beat. Tonga's answer to Shane Williams wriggled through the tiniest of gaps and was clear, running in from 50 yards. Newton's conversion was the final act in this pulsating LV= Cup cross border match.

The Scarlets are in a strong position in their pool having three wins out of three and two bonus points. Coach Nigel Davies was satisfied with his team's performance: "We faced a stern challenge from an organised London Irish team. In my view this was the best squad performance of the season so far."

Scarlets
15 Dan Newton
14 Vili Iongi
13 Gareth Maule (c)
12 Adam Warren
11 Andy Fenby
10 Aled Thomas
9 Rhodri Williams

1 Iestyn Thomas
2 Emyr Phillips
3 Peter Edwards
4 Adam Powell
5 Dom Day
6 Matt Gilbert
8 Kieran Murphy
7 Jonathan Edwards

Subs
Kirby Myhill, Phil John, Deacon Manu, Craig Price, Daniel Thomas, Liam Davies, Dan Evans, Nic Reynolds

London Irish
15 Tom Homer
14 Topsy Ojo
13 Jonathan Joseph
12 Steven Shingler
11 Marland Yarde
10 Daniel Bowden
9 Darren Allison

1 Clarke Dermody (c)
2 Brian Blaney
3 Paulica Ion
4 Nick Kennedy
5 Bryn Evans
6 Keiran Low
8 Richard Thorpe
7 David Sisi

Subs
Pete Austin, Max Lahiff, Faan Rautenbach, Alex Gray, Kieran Roche, Guy Armitage, Shontayne Hape, Ross Samson.

I enjoyed the match both sides wanted to play rugby.

Gutted that I didn't get to see the game, so cheers for the report Glas. I really hope that Irish can find some consistency second half of the season. We need to put a little winning run together to ensure that we stay in the top half of the table, as there is little to choose from 3rd to 10th in the AP right now.

It was a game you could easily have won Ozzy. In common with many regimented teams however, it doesn't take much to disrupt the pattern. No individual player seemed to decide when you were 1 point up, right we are going to win and I'm going to make it happen.

I watched the game on the welsh channel. And the commentators seemed to think that Scarlets try that went to the TMO should not have been awarded. What is everyone's view of this. (I didn't hear what question the ref asked the TMO), but i didn't see any grounding. But i had my green glasses on.

Yarde, should have scored, if i'm being super critical. We just seem to have this amazing inability to perform to our best against the Scarlets.

Positives - Bowden's return from injury, Yarde playing decently. Further game time for Sisi and Low.
Negatives - Not winning, being predictable, and allisons probable citing for throwing/attempting to throw a punch in the handbags (How Owens missed in i don't know).

Fair Play to scarelts though, they played well, especially with a number of key players away with Wales.

Not sure that Bowden playing can be seen as that much of a positive. Did he go off injured, because having spent most of the past 2 months wearing a protective moonboot and then rejoicing when he was out of it, he tweeted last night 'hello again moonboot' leading me to believe that he may be out for a while longer.

londonirishollie,

Looked to me that Manu grounded the ball momentarily, before having his arm lifted up. the ball was then held up for the duration. It was difficult to see the position of the ball in relation to the line on the tv replays, but with my red-tinted glasses on, it became clearer.

Oh no! It was a toss up between him and Homer for MOTM in my view. Mind you Iongi has got some pace on him. It was as of he has suddenly settled in.

You are a good team but it seems like going the motions is enough for you. You concentrate on the pattern, not the cardigan.

I didn't see Bowden go off injured, but i proabaly missed it. We've definetly missed him. JJ played well.

Our backline is so poor with Jarvis @ 10, we become too limited.

Glas a du wrote: Two sons of the Scarlets came home (albeit on either side of the battle) in the form of Steven Shingler and Liam Davies.

Three, Darren Allinson was a Scarlet Academy Player too...!

Good Article mate, great read.

Smarty pants

He looked a decent enough player actually. Irish are a good team.

Glas a du wrote:Smarty pants

He looked a decent enough player actually. Irish are a good team.

They are a decent side, but its like Booth said a few years ago they struggle to get themselves motivated to play against the more middle of the road sides like the Scarlets.


Being serious though it was a good match, and with a very good crowd (8,100). The only thing that bugs me is that our pool has us in first (3 wins, 14pts), Glaws second (2 wins, 10pts) and Quins third (2 wins, 9pts), yet there are other groups that would have seen teams with go through with those points.

That's the price you pay for having the welsh derbies in there. For all it's failings, its developing into a good competition. The rugby is entertaining at least.