With the number of important games we face over the next five weeks, there is precious little time for players to join in the seasonal fun

DELON ARMITAGE’S last-gasp try secured the four-try bonus point, which was news to me because I thought we had already scored four before his late, late intervention. It was only in the dressingroom afterwards that I was appraised of the situation.

It tallied with the way the boys celebrated with Delon at the time.

I thought it was because they were happy for him in his first match back after injury. It took a while to convince me that we hadn’t scored more than four tries. There was none of the niggle and dirt of last week.

We led 20-6 at half-time and were always comfortable in terms of securing the victory but in the second half we forced things a little, indulging in little chip-kicks and blind passes.

We should have gone through the phases more and it would have reaped the rewards. Typically, on the one night that I had to catch a flight back to Dublin to make the tail-end of my girlfriend Shauna’s birthday party, I was chosen to perform a random drug test. Trust me, anxiety doesn’t help to speed up the process.

I was fortunate that my flight was delayed so I made it with plenty of time to spare and thought a little about the last fortnight. I thought that Boothie (London Irish coach Toby Booth) got it just right ahead of the game in Brive. He gauged the mood of the squad, reminded us that we play our best rugby with a smile on our faces.

He ordered Molly (outhalf, Chris Malone) to tell a joke in the huddle just seconds before we were due to leave the dressingroom. Molly told one about Postman Pat. The front five never laugh; it’s bad for our image but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. The tone taking the pitch was just right, focused and prepared but not suffocated by pressure.

Speaking of the latter, Christmas is such a hugely important time in a rugby player’s season and festive cheer is in precious short supply. There are varied reasons, some of which are commercial – clubs tend to arrange local derbies in terms of Guinness Premiership fixtures for this time of the year. These are lucrative from a commercial perspective but also so important in shaping a season.

When you consider the number of games that we will play over the next five weeks and the importance of same, it’s probably understandable why the only day off the players will have is Christmas Day. I remember in my Leinster days coach Matt Williams used to preach under the acronym DNFUJ: The first two words are “do not”, the last two “up January”, while the one in between rhymes with cluck.

This short, intense period of action shapes a season and either lifts or deflates a group of players. Quite apart from our Heineken Cup matches in January, we will play Premiership leaders Saracens at the Madejski. It’s first versus second and a local derby to boot over the festive period. We’re hoping we will be saying ho, ho, ho afterwards.

Players can not let loose on either the food or drink front. I’m a bit like the Grinch at Christmas. London Irish train on Christmas Eve and I will fly back home that night. In my eight years in England I have never missed Christmas at home. I book my flights in September and they are not negotiable. I will stop gorging myself at about 6.30pm on Christmas Day because I fly back – my dad usually comes with me to watch a game – to London on St Stephen’s Day, where we have a captain’s run for our game a couple of days later.

At least I can go home. We have such a cosmopolitan club in terms of nationalities, Aussies, Kiwis, Islanders, South Africans and Argentinians, but they cannot go home because of the training and playing schedule. They usually get together along with their families into two big groups for the Christmas Day.

That sense of community definitely brings us closer together as a squad. The club is very inclusive in terms of its staff and that applies to playing, management and administrative. At our Christmas party – no alcohol – the office staff arranged a Blind Date-style spoof to make fun of the squad. The guy who was supposed to be me kept saying “to be sure”. I wasn’t the only one who came in for some treatment.

Alex Corbisiero is a brilliant rapper in an Eminem style and he performed on behalf of the forwards, while the backs took the mickey out of the scrum coach, who is a bit on the larger side. They used a flotation suit and mountains of food as props.

Our proper Christmas bash is on January 2nd when everyone involved in the club and their partners get to let their hair down for one night.

On a slightly different topic, I had mixed emotions when Conor O’Shea rang me to tell me that he was going to take the job at Harlequins. I was delighted on a personal level because he is a great friend, has been ever since he signed me for London Irish back in 2002. He had a big and positive influence on my career.

On the debit side for London Irish, his signing represents a great coup for Harlequins. His arrival is timely because they possess the raw materials to be a really big player in terms of the Premiership. He will give them that shape and structure. He is passionate about rugby and even just in the last five years has gained so much experience, working with elite athletes in a variety of sports.

He’ll see things that he can tweak and bring to rugby to do with training methods, diet and things like mental preparation. Conor is still regarded as a legend at London Irish – although that status will be suspended at least twice a year.

As a gesture of goodwill and to mark his new position in the appropriate manner I scoured London for some premium grade blood capsules. Inferior products just look so tacky.

On an equally light note, I would like to wish everyone an enjoyable Christmas and a happy New Year.