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Five steps to save London Irish from the drop

By Alex Shaw
London Irish line up new coaching duo

It has been a frustrating festive period for London Irish.

Heading into Christmas, they lost the potential 10-point swing result at the bottom of the table with Worcester Warriors, 23-8, before narrowly missing out on a much-needed win at home to Newcastle Falcons, falling to a 15-20 defeat at the Madejski Stadium.

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It has left Irish 10 points adrift at the bottom of the table with 10 regular season games left in their Premiership campaign.

Another worrying factor is the improved form of Worcester, who currently sit in 11th, but a win or two for Irish over the next two months and Northampton Saints, who look to be in freefall currently, could be sucked into the relegation battle, too.

Director of rugby Nick Kennedy and his coaching team have an unenviable task on their hands over the next five months, but with a three-game swing all that separates them from the teams they are chasing, Premiership survival is not a lost hope yet.

We look at five steps Irish could take to help move themselves out of the drop zone and into the welcoming realm of midtable.

 

Call in help from former club stars

Kennedy and his staff have done an excellent job of rebuilding Irish after the club’s relegation in 2016 and it is a young group with a bright future in the game, but could former Irish stalwarts Paul Gustard and Mike Catt offer a helping hand?

Irish have scored less points and less tries than any other club in the Premiership, whilst they have conceded more in both categories than, again, any other Premiership club this season. It is unfair to put this all on coaches and like any club that gets promoted to the Premiership, the squad is undermanned in certain areas and lacks the quality that other sides further up the table can call upon.

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That said, could Gustard and Catt help bring a spark?

Gustard recently spent a few days with Northampton, attempting to try and cure their defensive ails, and would surely be keen to help his former side. He and Catt will both have duties with England and Italy respectively soon, but if they could be lured to Hazelwood in the build-up to Irish’s European games, they might be able to try something new and provide a spark.

 

Tap up old connections

Another connection that could, perhaps, be utilised, is former Irish coach Richard Whiffin, who is currently the academy manager at Gloucester.

Gloucester are sitting on an enviable senior academy, stacked with talented players, some of whom are ready for more senior action and who – as of yet – haven’t been able to crack Johan Ackermann’s regular match-day squad.

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If Whiffin could persuade Ackermann and David Humphreys that Charlie Beckett and Tom Hudson would benefit from a loan stint in south-west London, they would be valuable additions to the Irish squad.

Beckett, a former England U20 second row, would provide Irish with work rate in their engine room, a strong carrying presence and a player capable of running a more aggressive defensive system, the latter two of which have seemed to be missing for Irish in their tight five this season.

Hudson has been featuring for Gloucester, but with both Jason Woodward and Tom Marshall now fit, it seems as if his playing opportunities will, understandably, diminish. His incisive counter-attacking was key for Gloucester earlier in the season and he would offer a different dimension to the more controlled full-backs – Tommy Bell and Greig Tonks – currently playing for Irish.

 

Mid-season southern hemisphere recruits

RugbyPass understands that Irish are hoping to seal moves for two players in the next week or two, one of whom we believe to be Bulls scrum-half Piet van Zyl.

There are other players potentially available, too, some of whom could provide the dynamism that Irish are currently lacking.

Two casualties of Western Force’s demise who are yet to find a new home are energetic openside Kane Koteka and powerful N8 Ben McCalman. McCalman still has a year to go on his Australian contract, so would be a more complicated addition, but Koteka is an underrated player who was kept under the radar in Perth by the ever-impressive Matt Hodgson.

Elsewhere in Australia, Rebels hooker Siliva Siliva and Reds wing Chris Kuridrani have both missed out on their sides’ initial squads for the 2018 Super Rugby season, potentially making both available, at least on short-term deals.

In New Zealand, there are similar situations for Billy Guyton, Matt Vaega, Chase Tiatia, Sean Wainui and Geoffrey Cridge, whilst van Zyl’s Bulls teammate Arno Botha is reportedly also available in South Africa.

 

Give youth its chance to turn around the club’s fortunes

After Irish travel to Leicester this weekend, they are confronted by four-straight weeks of games where they will be able, if they want, to experiment with their line-up.

They face Krasny Yar home and away in the Challenge Cup, before Anglo-Welsh Cup fixtures with Wasps and Cardiff Blues. On the other side of that four-week period is a Premiership match with Sale Sharks at the Madejski, before Northampton away and then a home match with Worcester.

That three-week Premiership block is season-defining for Irish.

Before then, roll the dice on Josh Basham, Isaac Curtis-Harris and Jack Cooke in the pack, try the half-back pairing of Rory Brand and Theo Brophy-Clews and keep exposing Ben Loader to senior rugby. If they impress over that four-week period in Europe and the Anglo-Welsh, then Premiership spots are up for grabs.

There’s no denying this is a risky approach with those players lacking experience, but there’s a lot to be said about the fearlessness of youth. They are all good players and if they can make a statement in Europe and the Anglo-Welsh, why not give them a go against Sale, Northampton and Worcester?

 

Rejig defensively to be more aggressive

It is easy to sit and write that a team should be more aggressive in defence. That they should win more collisions, turnover more ball and not sit off and passively defend, but it’s a lot more difficult in practice to prepare a team to be able to do that consistently.

Irish’s defence was much improved against Newcastle this past week, but it has been an issue this season and it came to a head in their crunch match with Worcester at Sixways before Christmas, where the Warriors had all the time in the world to play.

This is bold and many will say crazy, but could Joe Cokanasiga defend in the midfield on first phase ball?

It has been an area where Irish’s defence has come unstuck regularly this season.

The ability to blitz up and tackle first and second receivers upon receiving the ball, or at least getting close enough to cause the fly-half to hesitate or make a mistake, can wreck attacking game plans. There is a lot of decision-making that goes into blitzing as a defender and it’s a steep learning curve to ask Cokanasiga to take on, especially halfway through a season.

It would also potentially allow a player like Luke McLean to take up Cokanasiga’s place on the wing in those defensive sets and he is well-skilled in dropping back and dealing with the kicking game an opposition fly-half might look to utilise. His own kicking game would be another option in the back three if the attacking side should look to play territory.

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Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

11 Go to comments
T
Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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