Blues fall short at London Irish Wild Geese

London Irish WG 33 – 14 Newbury Blues

Blues fall short at London Irish Wild Geese

Saturday 13th Jan 2024

Blues slip to another defeat and now have 3 tough games in a row

Blues have to make 5 changes from last weeks squad due to injury and unavailability

Blues KO London Irish gather and soon send a kick into touch in Blues half, lineout won Blues try running before putting up a high kick, a good chase unluckily results in a knock-on giving London Irish a scrum in their own 22, scrum won London Irish run the ball and get a penalty which is kicked to touch just in Blues half, London Irish win their lineout and run across the pitch a knock on gives Blues a scrum just in their own half. Blues win the reset scrum but cough up possession allowing London Irish to attack getting into Blues 22, London Irish get a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won their forwards maul then pick and drive through several phase’s getting over to score close to the posts and add the conversion 7-0 10 mins

Blues restart, London Irish gather and clear to touch just in Blues half, lineout won Blues take play across the pitch and get a scrum when London Irish knock on in the tackle, scrum won Blues attack putting in a crossfield kick, play is brought back for a Blues penalty at the scrum. Injury time out

15mins Tom Hunt off Euan Lindsay on

Blues penalty doesn’t find touch allowing London Irish to kick clear, Blues run the ball and get a penalty on half way which is kicked to touch, Blues win their lineout an attack but concede a penalty at the tackle, London Irish’s kick stays infield allowing Blues to run before putting up a high kick and chase London Irish gather and return the kick, Blues do the same, London Irish gather and get a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won London Irish put pressure on Blues defence before sending a grubber kick into the try area, Blues manage to touch the ball down, Blues take the try line drop out, London Irish gather and attack getting a penalty which is kicked to touch in Blues 22, lineout won London Irish forwards maul marching over to score plus the conversion 14-0 23 mins

Blues restart and manage to get hold of the ball, London Irish manage to steal it back at the tackle and kick clear, Blues gather and run at London Irish, a loose pass drifts into touch, lineout won London Irish and run a forward pass gives Blues a scrum in their own half, London Irish get a penalty at the scrum and kick to touch, London Irish win their lineout and run making good ground through poor Blues tackling before putting in a cross field kick, play is brought back for a London Irish penalty scrum, from the reset scrum London Irish put pressure on Blues defence before getting tackled into touch in Blues 22, lineout won Blues try running before clearing to touch, from the lineout London Irish pile the pressure on the Blues defence taking play across the pitch and back before they break through the Blues defence to score and add the conversion, 34 mins 21-0

Blues restart, London Irish gather and run through some poor Blues tackles taking play into Blues half before a knock on halts their progress, Blues win their scrum and try running before putting up a high kick which bounces into touch in London Irish territory, lineout won London Irish again run at Blues making ground before a knock on gives Blues a scrum just in their own half, Blues hold their scrum and soon have a penalty, Blues tap and go getting up to London Irish’s 22 before conceding a penalty at the tackle, London Irish clear to touch on their own 40m line.
Lineout won London Irish attack running across the pitch before a grubber kick hits a Blues player and bounces into Blues hands some good running rugby takes play into London Irish’s 22, Dan Thorne breaks through several tackles before getting stopped just short, Blues keep possession allowing Alex Du Sautoy to get over to score on halftime, Dan Thorne kicks the conversion 21-7 Half Time
Dan Thorne gives a rousing honest half time chat

London Irish kick off the second half and get hold of the ball sending a grubber kick deep into Blues 22
Blues gather and kick clear, both teams try the kicking game before a high kick from Blues and a good chase gets Blues a penalty which is kicked to touch, Blues attack from the lineout getting a penalty which they tap and go, Blues lose the ball allowing London Irish to run out of defence a loose pass rolls into touch, Blues win their lineout and attack taking play up to the 22, Dan Thorne breaks several tackles to get over under the posts and converts 21-14 44 mins

London Irish restart Blues run then kick into London Irish’s 22 the ball rolls into touch, London Irish win their lineout and soon have a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won London Irish run the ball, Blues manage to steal possession and run, play is back for a Blues scrum, Blues get a penalty at the scrum, the long kick just drifts wide.
London Irish take the 22 drop out, Blues run back at London Irish and get a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won Blues attack but cough up possession allowing London Irish to relieve the pressure, play is halted for a Blues injury.
London Irish restart with a scrum in their own half and run, Blues knock on in the tackle, from the scrum London Irish attack taking play up to Blues 22, Blues manage to hold them out and get a scrum, Blues run out of defence and get a penalty which doesn’t find touch, London Irish run the ball back but Blues manage to steal and attack, a long pass is knocked on giving London Irish a scrum, scrum won London Irish run across the pitch, again Blues defence hold firm and win a penalty, London Irish manage to keep the ball in and run it back. Blues are playing the better rugby and again manage to steal the ball and set of on another attack getting into London Irish’s 22 before being tackled into touch.
London Irish win their lineout and send a long kick into touch to get out of defence, lineout stolen they attack and manage to cut through Blues defence to score a breakaway try and convert 28-14 72 mins

Blues restart London Irish return the kick Blues gather and run and get a penalty which is kicked to touch, Blues attack from their lineout and some good running rugby takes them up to the 22 before they lose possession, London Irish’s kick is part charged down, Blues get hold of the loose ball and set of on another attack a crossfield kick is gathered and Blues get into London Irish’s 22 before again getting tackled into touch, London Irish win their lineout and kick clear to touch, Blues win their lineout but soon concede a penalty allowing London Irish to kick to touch just outside Blues 22, lineout won their forwards maul getting into Blues 22and getting a penalty which is kicked to touch, again London Irish forwards maul from the lineout getting over to score the conversion is wide and the final whistle is blown

Blues had the better of 30 mins of the second half but mistakes cost them and London Irish punished those mistskes

MOM Dan Thorne

Blues now have a week off before the Charity Pink home game against Winchester

Newbury Blues Squad

Ben Hicks, Robbie Drysdale, George Robinson-Slater, Ben Davies, Ashley Doel,
Alex Du Sautoy, Dylan Stewart, Harry Waye-Branch, (VC)
Tom Hunt, Dan Thorne (C), Jamie Futcher, Will Osborne, Ali Magee, Michael Klichowicz,
Toby Thorne (VC), Graham Stewart, Charlie Lewis, Euan Lindsay.

Next Fixtures are

Sat 10th Feb
Blues have a free weekend
Stags Home v Henley II KO 2pm

Sat 17th Feb
Blues Home v Winchester KO 3pm Pink Charity Day
Stags Away v Slough KO 2pm?? TBC

Big thanks to the faithful Blues supporters your support is invaluable

Big thanks to our match day photographer Peter Branch whose photos can be found on Facebook Newbury RFC Seniors Supporters Photography Page. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063526195463

And Ian Jack whose photos are on the pitchero website

Big thanks to all our Player Sponsors and our Club Sponsors, your support is much appreciated

Big thanks to Kennet Radio for their support, https://kennetradio.com