ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Matt Garvey writes for the Observer

By Matt Garvey • Published 19 Sep 2012 10:44 0 Comments

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HELLO and welcome to my first column. For those of you who don't know me, this is my fourth year at London Irish.

I started in the Academy and worked my way up into the senior team where I have now made over 50 appearances scoring a total of one try!

Hopefully through this column I can give you some insight into what happens behind the scenes at London Irish and also cover other current sporting topics.

So this is usually my favourite time of year. The brutal pre-season has finished and we're back doing the thing we love, playing.

However, so far this hasn't been the ideal start to the season.

We have lost our first three matches and conceded far too many points.

As professionals we know ourselves that recent performances have been well below par, but I guarantee that it's not due to lack of effort.

The boys have been working extremely hard in the week to rectify these problems, and even though we lost against Gloucester there were spells of magic in attack.

Once again London Irish looked dangerous with the ball in hand, with the likes of Jonathan Joseph and Topsy Ojo in our squad, we can score from anywhere on the pitch.

The 2012/13 season has introduced a series of new and interesting laws. One in particular stands out from the crowd.

The new rules means the Television Match Official (TMO) can now also be asked to review foul play and infringements that lead up to a try being scored.

In theory this seems like a great idea, but those who attended the London Double Header may have formed a different opinion.

I like so many attended HQ and was surprised at the number of occasions the TMO was used. Typically rugby is a game based on tempo and momentum and it was apparent that this law could affect that.

Human error and the referee's interpretation are a huge part of the game.

It can make villains and heroes in one single blow of the whistle. I'm all in favour of making the game more just, but a balance needs to be found.

Well I hope you all enjoyed my first column.

** SEE Friday's Observer for all the latest rugby news and action **

** For a more comical insight into London Irish have a look on Twitter to see what the boys have been up to: @mattgarvey5 **

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