By Billy Hamilton
October 2 2002

Well the easy part of the season is over and the games get more difficult over the next few weeks. (Pause while I extract my tongue from my cheek)

Sat 05 Oct at Heywood Road - KO 14:00

Not even the most pessimistic among us could have imagined that we could have opened the season with only one victory in five games. And these five games were all played against teams that finished in the bottom half of the table last season. We have the unenviable record of having won only one of our last ten Zurich Premiership games and now travel to play a team unbeaten at home since November 2001. Their conquerors that day were the mighty Leicester.

There is no rest period for the team this season. No luxury of travelling to play minor European teams. Our next four opponents are Sale, Toulouse, Edinburgh and Northampton, teams that we are capable of beating. But can we beat them with the standard of performance that has been demonstrated this year? Last week’s performance brought a lot of praise from both fans and the LI management but seemed to have been missed by the national press who enthused about a rejuvenated Wasps side. We need to have a repeat of the individual and team efforts that were seen against Saracens and Wasps if the team is going to gain the confidence they need to tackle their first foray into the Heineken Cup.

This week’s game marks Justin Bishop’s 100th appearance in the Zurich Premiership.

 

  Summary of meetings between the teams in the Premiership
 Played                              12
 Sharks Won                       8                       66.7%
 London Irish Won             3                       25.0%
 Drawn                               1                       8.3%
 Biggest Win for Sharks                 41 - 16                 01 Feb 1998
 Biggest Win for London Irish        26 - 3                  04 Dec 1999
 
 Sharks top try scorer vs London Irish                  Kevin Ellis             3 tries
  Sharks top points scorer vs London Irish             Shane Howarth           52 points
  London Irish top try scorer vs  Sharks                  Justin Bishop           5 tries
  London Irish top points scorer vs  Sharks             Jarrod Cunningham       64 points

  Previous Meetings
 Date                   Teams                          Result  Venue            
 05 May 2002   Sharks vs London Irish   36 - 32 Madejski Stadium 
 08 Dec 2001   Sharks vs London Irish   19 - 19 Heywood Road     
 10 Apr 2001   Sharks vs London Irish   43 - 18 Heywood Road     
 24 Sep 2000   Sharks vs London Irish   13 - 28 Madejski Stadium 
 23 Jan 2000   Sharks vs London Irish   24 - 31 Heywood Road     
 04 Dec 1999   Sharks vs London Irish   3 - 26  The Stoop        
 03 Apr 1999   Sharks vs London Irish   30 - 27 Heywood Road     
 07 Nov 1998   Sharks vs London Irish   31 - 25 The Avenue       
 01 Feb 1998   Sharks vs London Irish   41 - 16 Heywood Road     
 30 Aug 1997   Sharks vs London Irish   26 - 20 The Avenue