Goosey Goosey Gander, whether shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs, and in my lady’s chamber.
There I met an old man, who wouldn’t say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg, and threw him down the stair

[right]Traditional English Nursery Rhyme - The Nursery Parnassus published in London in 1784
[/right]

Match report by Andy Grant

If there’s one place you never mind going on a wild goose chase its Hazelwood, the home of London Irish, Sunbury-on-Thames. Lasered to be level, with manicured lawn and 4G options it really is a venue that if Carlsberg did rugby, it would be at the home of the London Irish Wild Geese.

We arrived with confidence. Still smiling from our previous win against top of the table Hammersmith and Fulham. We also had an extra-desire to avenge our last kick, and some say controversial loss to the Wild Geese at Home in September. Matters though would not be straightforward. A home side at Hazelwood is always well supported and I’m sure they were keen too to make it a double win for the season.

So with a decent number of away supporters and blazer representatives (Huw, Chris and Peter) A&C were well set to impress and ensure Irish eyes were not to smile as much as last time.

So with a bit of dynamite to start it was A&C who demonstrated their intent to recycle fast ball and unleash their backs early on. On only 5 minutes it was a welcome return to Mackenzie South on the wing for a fine finish in the corner. Even with a valiant Oscar attempt to convert from out wide, it was our wise man Noah who then jinked and skipped to score an early second try and ensure a 10-point unanswered lead on 10mins.

Irish then managed to steady the ship with some strong forward rucks and set play at scrum and lineout. With some well-earned pressure some more normal service was resumed with a strong converted try (7-10).

Chiltern though did seem to be in the mood, and again with slick passing amongst their backs it wasn’t long until Noah again found space before diving again into the corner. Not making the conversions easy Oscar again looked great in preparation before stringing it wide. (7-15). With attack seeming to be the theme Mackenzie joined in again this time finishing off another excellent backs’ move in style. Oscar’s first conversion of the day duly slotted (7-22). On 44 minutes Oscar showed he’s not just a kicker and with balance and poise calmly accelerated through a struggling Irish defence (7-27). A restless Irish home crowd then had something to cheer with a good try after some pre-half-time pressure. Duly converted.

Half Time (14–27)

Minutes into the 2nd half Oscar made up for his missed conversions with a lengthy and straight penalty (14-30). This seemed to trigger even more energy from the Chiltern back line and McKenzie took the opportunity to nail his 3rd try of the match. This followed a lovely kick ahead from scrum-half Conor after he broke free into some well-earned space. Verging on Brazilian/Scottish style. It’s quite a blend. (14-37).

Chiltern kept their foot on the throat of a hard-working Irish side. Number 8, Jordan Scott , wore the defence down with consistent hard-hitting gains. It was therefore no surprise when he finished a solo effort under the posts to the applause of everyone watching (14-44). Oscar again then took control swooping in on a loose ball and gathering wonderfully before tip-toing at speed through a shell-shocked defence (14–51).

All credit though to the Wild Geese who were pushing and hoping for a bonus point. They neared their target on 76 mins with a well worked converted try to make things a bit more interesting. (21 – 51). However, that was only until Roadrunner, Dan Kingsley, waved himself through in confident style for the finale try (21-58) prior to resilient defence to deprive Irish of any additional point.

Great game, great spectacle and great hosts. A well-deserved win.

Quote of the day: “To do your talking by the way you play is so much more efficient, than the hot air wasted in needless dialogue with others. Rugby is an action sport after all”;

a wee wise man that happened to be passing.

Highlights:

• Mackenzie SOUTH – hat-trick and some glorious tries.
• Rampaging and relentless attack from our rejuvenated back line
• ‘Trust in the system’ and ‘chasing of feet’ without reminders
• The 4 Musketeers (you know who you are) eventually arriving after finding all the traffic in
South West London.
• Après-food to die for with Chicken breast burgers, all the fillings and lashings of sauce and
crispy seasoned chunky fries.
• Copious amounts of extra-cold Guinness with a DJ play-list that ‘played the Wild Rover for
many a year’
• A welcome back to wee Will Drewett as a big boy second row. This made a difference.

Next Week: We travel down Windsor way to say ‘Hi’ to the Royal swans and run around the King’s estate. Although 2nd versus the league’s bottom club it’s a local derby and as we all know how they can be a leveller when there’s a rugby ball in play.
Supporters more than welcome for a festive themed head to head.

Team:

1. Douglas McGregor-Smith
2. Joe Batt
3. Callum Newton
4. Will Drewett
5. Kieran Booth
6. Andrew Toole
7. Josh Finch ©
8. Jordan Scott
9. Conor Segre
10. Dan Kingsley
11. Mackenzie South
12. Noah Jarvis
13. Oscar Heath
14. Bojan Cecaric
15. Tom Fawssett
16. Michael Everett
17. Jack Kenyon
18. Aaron Lewis