Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'We thought Quins were arrogant, thought they were above themselves'

Paul Sackey on his England days (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

It was just four weeks ago when rugby fans feasted on the latest dramatic installment in the London Irish versus Harlequins rivalry. Quins came from behind in added time to secure a dramatic 26-24 Gallagher Premiership win in a match at The Stoop that should have ended with a penalty on halfway for the Exiles after Bernard Janse van Rensburg was taken out in the air, foul play ignored by the referee which paved the way for the result-stealing try.

ADVERTISEMENT

The raucous October 28 atmosphere that was generated was a reminder that the clubs don’t really like each other all that much. Their rivalry had its genesis in clashes around the turn of the millennium when the Irish used to rent The Stoop off Harlequins, an edginess that culminated in a memorable March 2002 Powergen Cup semi-final between the clubs.

Irish weren’t supposed to win 32-27 and go on six weeks later to win the final 38-7 versus Northampton in front of 75,000 at Twickenham, but they impressively got the business done against Harlequins and the memories haven’t faded if the vibrant recollections on the latest episode of Rugby Stories is a gauge.

Video Spacer
Video Spacer

The BT Sport Pods series has been recalling famous moments in the histories of the Gallagher Premiership clubs and their episode on London Irish has revisited the 2001/22 season when their cup-winning run included knocking out local rivals Harlequins on a terrible weather day.

Presented by Craig Doyle, the Irish episode colourfully heard from Paul Sackey, Chris Sheasby and Barry Everitt – and it was would-be England winger Sackey who best described his club’s issue with Harlequins.

“We hated them in all fairness, we really did,” he said. “We didn’t like them, the fans didn’t like each other. As players, we thought Quins were a little bit arrogant and we thought they were a bit above themselves, so that is where the rivalry between the clubs started.”

Sheasby added: “You always talk about Harlequins and Wasps but this was a local derby. London Irish and Quins had shared the ground, you had all the different elements, the fact that Dick Best had been at Harlequins, Dick Best had been at London Irish, the games that had happened before – this was now semi-final time.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Out-half Everitt has never forgotten waking up and opening the curtains on that March Saturday morning 20 years ago. “One of the things you least want to see when you look out the window when you first wake up is you hate to see windy weather because as a goalkicker and as a fly-half you know that you are going to have to alter your game and how you play.

“Even when it comes down to passing distances and whatnot, so looking out that morning I was going right we are going to have to change tactics a little bit… I went out to do some practice kicks and I missed every single one.

“It was incredibly difficult, I don’t think I experienced wind or a breeze like that on a field and I always remember my father on the day, it happened to be my birthday as well, he turned around to me and said, ‘I’d love to get to Twickenham, I’d love to get the final and I’d love to come and support’. I said, ‘No pressure then, thank you very much on my birthday in these conditions, let’s see can we get you to the final’.”

Sackey, who won 22 England caps between 2006 and 2009, was just 22 at the time of the cup win and he recalled how he loved the atmosphere at London Irish, even though he had a habit of overindulging in the squad’s off-field craic in the slightly less professional early days. “I was new to rugby in itself,” he explained.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I had started playing rugby late, so (at) 15 I started to get little bits of Irish’s history and stuff like that but when I was there, because I was so young I just enjoyed myself and because I really didn’t know too much about rugby, I enjoyed myself even more, if you know what I mean, because I wanted to enjoy it and I wanted to embrace rugby.

“So I just took to rugby and the fans and Irish because Irish was a place where they embraced you – you had fun,” he said, craic he is still in touch with today as Topsy Ojo, in a RugbyPass interview, referenced a visit by Sackey to a recent London Irish match.

“I actually loved it, I loved being part of it. I really enjoyed playing so we liked to party, we liked to have fun, we went out a lot but did it together as a team. We were a very close-knit team but I think we enjoyed ourselves a little too much, I was a bit of a nightmare, to be fair I was a big nightmare. I sort of did my own thing a lot of the time, I was quite laidback.”

Laidback is a Sackey Irish description backed up by Sheasby. “His seat in his Mercedes used to be reclined so far back with that casual attitude, but I was always worried about his driving because he could barely see over the steering wheel.”

The former seven-cap England back-rower added about Irish: “This wonderful club that everyone loved, probably everyone’s second favourite club, a club that was always fighting to stay up. It was always a close-run thing, always sort of near the relegation zone.

“On any one weekend, it could pull out the most amazing victories by playing the most amazing rugby but just not consistent enough and therefore always in that battle at the bottom. So not competing consistently at the top but a great place to be, a great place to be a part of and to play. It was all about the craic and the Guinness and the fun and that wonderful Irish atmosphere.”

  • For the in-depth London Irish story, check out BT Sport’s podcast series, Rugby Stories, part of the BT Sport Pods lineup of podcasts. Every Monday, Rugby Stories, presented by Craig Doyle, will spotlight and celebrate English club rugby history. Btsport.com/pods
ADVERTISEMENT

Boks Office | Episode 36 | Six Nations Round 3 Review

England A vs Ireland A | Full Match Replay

HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Men's Day Three Highlights

HSBC SVNS Vancouver | Women's Day Three Highlights

"I would love to play with Siya Kolisi" | HSBC Life on Tour | Vancouver

Kubota Spears vs Shizuoka BlueRevs | JRLO 2024/2025 | Full Match Replay

Behind the Scenes with the Stars of the Kenya Rugby Sevens Team | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 7

O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 3 | France Week

Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

1 Comment
P
Poorfour 822 days ago

"Foul play ignored by the referee which paved the way for the result-stealing try" is simply not correct.

The referee reviewed the incident with the TMO (having also been in a better place than the tv cameras to judge it in real time) and concluded that it was a fair contest for the ball. That is a reasonable call: the two players jumped at the same time, and collided on the path the ball was following. Van Rensburg got to it fractionally earlier, but there wasn't much in it.

The communication of the decision could perhaps have been clearer, but on the basis of the facts they considered it was not foul play.

In the current climate, with referees experiencing mental health issues or receiving death threats as a result of criticism by coaches, commentary like this isn't just inaccurate, it is potentially dangerous.

If there were a framework for evaluating bad reporting, this would be at least a yellow card with very limited mitigation.

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

k
kumar supriya 1 hour ago
2025 Autumn Nations Series fixtures announced

MY NAME IS SUPRIYA KUMAR FROM INDIA PLEASE FIND TIME TO READ THIS CAREFULLY.              AS WE ALL KNOW INDIA IS NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF MAGIC SO DO NOT IGNORE THIS. BE CAREFUL HERE, NOBODY CAN HELP YOU FROM AFRICA OR EVEN SUGGEST HOW YOU CAN GET YOUR EX OR LOVE BACK, ANY TESTIMONIES OF MOST SPELL CASTER FROM AFRICA HERE MUST BE IGNORED, BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE SCAM I MEAN REAL SCAM AND FROM AFRICA WHICH I WAS A VICTIM AND I GOT RIPPED OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE I WAS SO ANXIOUS TO GET MY HUSBAND JOHN BACK AFTER HE LEFT ME FOR OVER 2YEARS WITH MY 3YEARS OLD SON JERRY,I HAVE APPLIED TO 7 DIFFERENT SPELL CASTER HERE I MET ON THIS BLOG AND ALL TO NO AVAIL THEY ALL ASK FOR SAME THING SEND YOUR NAME YOUR EX NAME ADDRESS AND PICTURE PHONE NUMBER ETC WHICH I DID OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND MOST OF THEM WERE FROM AFRICA, I WAS SO CONFUSED AND I WAS ALWAYS SICK BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM AND I WAS SO DESPERATE TO HAVE JOHN BACK TO ME I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND COULD DIE FOR HIM. UNTIL A FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS THE GREATEST SPELL TEMPLE, (templeofdreams1@gmail.com) TEMPLE OF BLACK AND WHITE (GOOD AND EVIL) IN INDIA, AND I DECIDED TO SEND A MAIL TO THE TEMPLE. THE SECRETARY TOLD ME THAT ALL MY PROBLEM ARE OVER SINCE I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT INDIA FOR HELP, HE TOLD ME TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN ME AND MY EX HUSBAND JOHN AND I DID, I TOLD HIM ALL THAT HAPPENED FROM THE BEGINNING. AND HE SAID TO ME MY CHILD WHAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED TO ME NOW IS A LITTLE PROBLEM TO HANDLE COMPARE TO SERIOUS PROBLEMS THE TEMPLE HAS HANDLED, I WAS SO SHOCKED AND I SAID TO MY SELF WHAT PROBLEM COULD BE MORE SERIOUS THAN THIS. HE TOLD ME WHAT I NEEDED TO DO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT WHAT HE SAID LOOK SIMILAR TO WHAT I HAVE HEARD IN THE PAST(THAT I WAS TO PAY FOR THE ITEMS NEEDED), I WAS HAVING DOUBT ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF PAST EXPERIENCE, BUT I DECIDED TO TRY SINCE THE TEMPLE IS LOCATED IN INDIA (ASIA) AND NOT AFRICA (NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA) THEY COULD BE REAL AND DIFFERENT. SO I GAVE THEM 50% OF MY TRUST. THIS WAS LIKE A MAGIC AND DREAM COME TRUE TO ME, AFTER TWO DAYS WHEN THE SPELL HAS BEEN CASTEED, JOHN BEEPED MY PHONE AT ABOUT 9:PM I COULD NOT SLEEP THAT NIGHT BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE JOHN AND WANT HIM BACK. BY 7:AM THE NEXT MORNING HE GAVE ME ANOTHER  MISSED CALL I DECIDED NOT TO CALL BACK AS I WAS STILL ON SHOCK,   AT ABOUT 10:AM THAT MORNING HE CALLED AND I PICKED HE SAID CAN WE SEE AFTER WORK TODAY I SAID YES SO HE ENDED THE CALL IMMEDIATELY I GOT OFF WORK HE CALLED ME AND TOLD ME WERE TO MEET HIM, I WAS STILL ON SHOCK, BEHOLD WHEN I GOT THERE I SAW JOHN CRYING WITH TEARS ALL OVER HIS EYES, AND HE SAID TO ME MY WIFE, I AM SO SORRY IMMEDIATELY I HUGGED HIM AND KISSED HIM WHICH I HAVE MISSED ALL THIS YEARS. ALL THANK TO TEMPLE OF DREAMS. IF YOU ARE A MAN OR A WOMAN READING THIS AND YOU ARE PASSING THROUGH SIMILAR PROBLEMS LIKE MINE, DO NOT FAIL TO CONTACT THIS GREAT TEMPLE. HE IS REALLY INDEED A REAL SPELL CASTER.           THE WORST OF ALL IS THAT I DON’T KNOW THE PARTICULAR DOCTOR THAT HELPED ME AS I WAS TOLD THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 300 SPELL CASTERS WORKING IN THE TEMPLE, UNLIKE THE SINGLE SCAM DOCTORS IN AFRICA. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID OF THE SPELL CASTERS IN AFRICA BECAUSE THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS ASSURED AND GAVE ME HUNDRED PERCENT PROTECTION AND ALSO HELPED ME RECOVER 50% OF MY MONEY THAT I PAYED TO SCAMS FROM AFRICA SOME SERVICES RENDERED IN THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS (1) If you want your ex back. (2) To cure HIV/AID or related illness (3) You want to be promoted in your office. (4) You want women/men to run after you. (5) If you want a child. (6) Are you a contractor and you want to win contract (7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever. (8) If you need help spiritually. (9) How you been scammed and you want to recover you lost money.     (10)Stop Divorce (11)Invoking of Money Ritual (12)To verify if your online lover is real (13)To verify if your online loan is real (14)To be very brilliant (15)If you are looking for a good job (16)If you are old and want to look young (17) If you want to be free from threats of spell caster in AFRICA And many more.. Email... templeofdreams1@gmail.com  

13 Go to comments
J
John F. Sonnet 1 hour ago
Six Nations isn't over for Garry Ringrose despite his red card ban

I encourage anyone who needs the service of recovering their lost Bitcoin to use Santoshi Hackers Intelligence. I chose to invest in cryptocurrencies and unfortunately, I lost all of my crypto to another investor. The person who was meant to manage my account turned out to be an impostor the entire time. It was a disheartening experience, to say the least. I invested a significant sum of 504,000 USDC, and initially, everything appeared promising with good reading and profit margins. However, when I attempted to withdraw, I couldn’t and that’s when I discovered that I could no longer contact my supposed account manager. It was then that I became very concerned. That’s when I found out about SANTOSHI HACKERS INTELLIGENCE. I had read some evaluations of their service and how useful they had been for many individuals who had lost their money. I contacted them right away to ask for help and intervention. SANTOSHI HACKERS INTELLIGENCE worked tirelessly to locate and recover my lost funds. The stolen Bitcoin was successfully returned to me, something I thought would never happen. I can’t express my gratitude towards SHI enough. I advise their services to anyone who has gone through a similar experience. They are knowledgeable, professional, and most importantly, trustworthy. Thank you for reading my story and please do not hesitate to get in touch with them if you find yourself in the same situation. ‘’ casefile@shi-us.com ’’ Your Safety Is Guaranteed.

7 Go to comments
k
kumar supriya 1 hour ago
Waratahs plotting unprecedented 29-season Super Rugby first in 2025

MY NAME IS SUPRIYA KUMAR FROM INDIA PLEASE FIND TIME TO READ THIS CAREFULLY.              AS WE ALL KNOW INDIA IS NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF MAGIC SO DO NOT IGNORE THIS. BE CAREFUL HERE, NOBODY CAN HELP YOU FROM AFRICA OR EVEN SUGGEST HOW YOU CAN GET YOUR EX OR LOVE BACK, ANY TESTIMONIES OF MOST SPELL CASTER FROM AFRICA HERE MUST BE IGNORED, BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE SCAM I MEAN REAL SCAM AND FROM AFRICA WHICH I WAS A VICTIM AND I GOT RIPPED OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE I WAS SO ANXIOUS TO GET MY HUSBAND JOHN BACK AFTER HE LEFT ME FOR OVER 2YEARS WITH MY 3YEARS OLD SON JERRY,I HAVE APPLIED TO 7 DIFFERENT SPELL CASTER HERE I MET ON THIS BLOG AND ALL TO NO AVAIL THEY ALL ASK FOR SAME THING SEND YOUR NAME YOUR EX NAME ADDRESS AND PICTURE PHONE NUMBER ETC WHICH I DID OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND MOST OF THEM WERE FROM AFRICA, I WAS SO CONFUSED AND I WAS ALWAYS SICK BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM AND I WAS SO DESPERATE TO HAVE JOHN BACK TO ME I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND COULD DIE FOR HIM. UNTIL A FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS THE GREATEST SPELL TEMPLE, (templeofdreams1@gmail.com) TEMPLE OF BLACK AND WHITE (GOOD AND EVIL) IN INDIA, AND I DECIDED TO SEND A MAIL TO THE TEMPLE. THE SECRETARY TOLD ME THAT ALL MY PROBLEM ARE OVER SINCE I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT INDIA FOR HELP, HE TOLD ME TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN ME AND MY EX HUSBAND JOHN AND I DID, I TOLD HIM ALL THAT HAPPENED FROM THE BEGINNING. AND HE SAID TO ME MY CHILD WHAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED TO ME NOW IS A LITTLE PROBLEM TO HANDLE COMPARE TO SERIOUS PROBLEMS THE TEMPLE HAS HANDLED, I WAS SO SHOCKED AND I SAID TO MY SELF WHAT PROBLEM COULD BE MORE SERIOUS THAN THIS. HE TOLD ME WHAT I NEEDED TO DO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT WHAT HE SAID LOOK SIMILAR TO WHAT I HAVE HEARD IN THE PAST(THAT I WAS TO PAY FOR THE ITEMS NEEDED), I WAS HAVING DOUBT ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF PAST EXPERIENCE, BUT I DECIDED TO TRY SINCE THE TEMPLE IS LOCATED IN INDIA (ASIA) AND NOT AFRICA (NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA) THEY COULD BE REAL AND DIFFERENT. SO I GAVE THEM 50% OF MY TRUST. THIS WAS LIKE A MAGIC AND DREAM COME TRUE TO ME, AFTER TWO DAYS WHEN THE SPELL HAS BEEN CASTEED, JOHN BEEPED MY PHONE AT ABOUT 9:PM I COULD NOT SLEEP THAT NIGHT BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE JOHN AND WANT HIM BACK. BY 7:AM THE NEXT MORNING HE GAVE ME ANOTHER  MISSED CALL I DECIDED NOT TO CALL BACK AS I WAS STILL ON SHOCK,   AT ABOUT 10:AM THAT MORNING HE CALLED AND I PICKED HE SAID CAN WE SEE AFTER WORK TODAY I SAID YES SO HE ENDED THE CALL IMMEDIATELY I GOT OFF WORK HE CALLED ME AND TOLD ME WERE TO MEET HIM, I WAS STILL ON SHOCK, BEHOLD WHEN I GOT THERE I SAW JOHN CRYING WITH TEARS ALL OVER HIS EYES, AND HE SAID TO ME MY WIFE, I AM SO SORRY IMMEDIATELY I HUGGED HIM AND KISSED HIM WHICH I HAVE MISSED ALL THIS YEARS. ALL THANK TO TEMPLE OF DREAMS. IF YOU ARE A MAN OR A WOMAN READING THIS AND YOU ARE PASSING THROUGH SIMILAR PROBLEMS LIKE MINE, DO NOT FAIL TO CONTACT THIS GREAT TEMPLE. HE IS REALLY INDEED A REAL SPELL CASTER.           THE WORST OF ALL IS THAT I DON’T KNOW THE PARTICULAR DOCTOR THAT HELPED ME AS I WAS TOLD THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 300 SPELL CASTERS WORKING IN THE TEMPLE, UNLIKE THE SINGLE SCAM DOCTORS IN AFRICA. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID OF THE SPELL CASTERS IN AFRICA BECAUSE THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS ASSURED AND GAVE ME HUNDRED PERCENT PROTECTION AND ALSO HELPED ME RECOVER 50% OF MY MONEY THAT I PAYED TO SCAMS FROM AFRICA SOME SERVICES RENDERED IN THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS (1) If you want your ex back. (2) To cure HIV/AID or related illness (3) You want to be promoted in your office. (4) You want women/men to run after you. (5) If you want a child. (6) Are you a contractor and you want to win contract (7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever. (8) If you need help spiritually. (9) How you been scammed and you want to recover you lost money.     (10)Stop Divorce (11)Invoking of Money Ritual (12)To verify if your online lover is real (13)To verify if your online loan is real (14)To be very brilliant (15)If you are looking for a good job (16)If you are old and want to look young (17) If you want to be free from threats of spell caster in AFRICA And many more.. Email... templeofdreams1@gmail.com  

2 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Steve Borthwick hits back in Exeter row over Immanuel Feyi-Waboso Steve Borthwick hits back in Exeter row over Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
Search