Chawatama: London Irish have the talent to overcome Stormers
PREVIEW…
TO coin an often-used sporting phrase, Lovejoy Chawatama can talk the talk and walk the walk.
The chatterbox London Irish prop has bounced back from a season ruined by injury in 2021/22 to start all but two of Irish's games in the Premiership and Europe.
Recently, Chawatama has come up against some of the best in the business, something he considers himself to be without any hint of arrogance, and more than held his own.
This is not trash talk from the 30-year-old, just strong self-belief, and in the heat of battle you won't find him uttering any choice words or talking himself into trouble. “I try and get the boys going but I tend to just get my head down and do my work.”
Engaging and eloquent in conversation away from the pitch, Lovejoy is just the type of character rugby needs to promote itself to a wider audience.
But more, importantly, whether it is against Steven Kitshoff one week or Ellis Genge the next, he is consistently delivering at tight-head for an Irish side that is still backing itself
Today. Kick-off 1pm, Brentford Community Stadium to make the Round of 16 in Europe even though they have lost both their opening games (27-32 v Montpellier and 34-14 v Stormers).
“Last week we played against England internationals (Genge and Kyle Sinckler), and this week we go again. It's good to keep testing myself and seeing where I am at.
“You are scrumming against Test match props and I enjoyed my first time scrumming against Kitshoff and (Frans) Malherbe. I thought we had a really good contest in that game,” he said ahead of today's rematch against the Stormers.
“That's what you dream of as a young player, a player coming through – playing against those types of players and testing yourself at that level, and I thought we did really well when we played them at their place.
“Because I am facing Kitshoff, nothing changes. I'll just stick to what I have been doing and I'll be fine. Not being arrogant or anything I believe I am the best in what I do and when I go on the pitch it doesn't matter if I am facing a 100-Test cap Wallaby or anyone else, I believe in my own ability.
“No one thought I would be playing at this level when I was 15 (when he arrived in England from Zimbabwe) because I wasn't in an academy or anything, but I knew I would get there. I would not be where I am now if I didn't confidence in my ability.”
Back-to-back home wins in the Premiership against Saracens and Bristol, last week, have reaffirmed Irish's belief as a squad that their formula works.
“It was a fantastic win for us over the weekend. These kind of results, we've seen them coming. We've been losing by one or two points but we never let our heads go down and we know that if we stick in games, the wheel is going to turn at some point.
“Whether we are winning or losing in games, we still stay calm and try to stick to the way we want to play.”
Chawatama has been with Irish since the 2016/17 season, the same year he beat Test cricketer Gary Balance to the London-based Zimbabwe Sports Personality of the Year.
Often such awards don't pay much attention to the personality side of the recipient and focus solely on talent, but with Chawatama you get both in abundance.
When he has time away from his profession and raising two boys under three, both of them toddler/baby catalogue models, Chawatama loves to cook and during his year out last season recovering from a double calf and hamstring injury, he even managed to squeeze in a degree in construction project management.
‘Tomahawk Steaks' are his speciality and are only cooked to celebrate a try from a forward that begins with a turnover no more than two phases back inside Irish's own 22.
Tries like that are as rare as the meat itself and also Irish involvement in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup.
Only once in six attempts has that been achieved, in 2007/08, the year that the club reached
TEAMS
LONDON IRISH: Loader, Cinti, Morisi, JV Rensburg, Hassell-Collins, Jennings, White; Goodrick-Clarke, Willemse, Chawatama, Ratuniyarawa, Simmons, Gonzalez, Pearson, Rogerson (c) Replacements: Ruiz, Fischetti, Parker, Munga, Basham, Cunningham-South, Powell, Dykes STORMERS: Willemse, Hartzenberg, Nel, du Plessis, Davids, Libbok, de Wet; Kitshoff (c), Dweba, Fouche, Evans, Orie, Fourie, Pokomela, Dayimani Replacements: Venter, Vermaak, Harris, Miller, Dixon, Engelbrecht, Ungerer, Feinberg-Mngomezulu
REFEREE: Ludovic Cayre the semi-finals. “This is a very, very big opportunity for the club – being back in the Champions Cup after a very long time,” the 30-year-old said.
“We are going to show our brand of rugby and how we play and impose ourselves on Europe and show to the world what we can do. I think we have the talent and the game plan to do that and we are going to give everything in these last two games.
“We want to qualify for the knockout stages of Europe, we are not thinking we can get two or three points and make the Challenge Cup, that's not the chat around here. No one comes and rolls us over at home.”
