You may remember that a couple of months ago I
attended the Launch Party for Topsy Ojo’s Testimonial Year… well the
celebrations have continued in earnest and last night was the start of a set of back to back events. Before I dive into the details allow me to
provide you with a brief biography of the man of the moment, Mr Topsy Ojo. When Topsy joined the
London Irish academy in 2003 he was a fresh faced 18 year old bursting with
talent and keen to make his way in the world of professional rugby. Since that
day he has achieved a phenomenal amount… he is London Irish’s all-time leading
try scorer with 65 tries and counting, he has represented England on and number
of occasions and this weekend he will run out for his 200th appearance of the club. Topsy is without a doubt one of the biggest names at
London Irish and often with such fame and status comes a level of arrogance and
conceit however I can assure you all that Topsy is one of the most genuine,
friendly and down-to-earth men that you could meet. He is held in the highest regard
by all of his team-mates and it is no wonder that nearly every single member of the London
Irish Squad has attended almost all of his Testimonial Events this year.
 |
| TopTest Support |
So I mentioned that last night’s event was the
start of the back to back TopTest nights and I suppose now is a good time to
tell you the theme of them. The evenings are both entitled ‘A Piri-Piri Top-sy
Night’ and for two nights only Topsy and his team-mates are taking over and
running Nando's! Now, for someone who has only ever eaten at Nando's twice in
their life, yes I realise that this is a shocking statistic; I certainly think that
the TopTest way of doing it is the future!! I arrived to be greeted by a
full contingent of London Irish players who helpfully guided me step by step through the
process and delivered my Nando's with a difference! Topsy led from
the front taking full charge of the till
and the rest of the squad buddied up and rotated shifts. Some of players learned a
few tricks of the trade and cooked behind the grill, others refined their serving
skills (Pat Phibbs proved that scrum half hands are an asset when it comes to
this) and I even caught some table cleaning being done! Who ever said that men,
or indeed rugby players, aren’t domesticated!?! One final job that the players
undertook was raffle ticket selling and here ‘service with a smile’ was taken to a
new level when a certain player decided to encourage extra sales by removing
his shirt! The player in question will remain nameless as I would not want to
be responsible for any ‘internal club discipline action’!!!!! Questioning said
player the justification for it was pure and simple “It is all for Topsy & for charity”,
and that is exactly right. Topsy has three chosen charities for his Testimonial Year
Restart, The USO and The African Child Trust and last night’s event continues
to raise hundreds for them.
 |
| Leading proceedings from the front! |
If you missed out on last night's even don't worry because the TopTest team are off on the road... next Wednesday (4th) the team head to Reading, the home of the Madjeski and the home of
the biggest Nando's Rugby take over yet! If you are a London Irish fan or
indeed simply a rugby fan who happens to enjoy their Nando's (I do believe that
there are a lot of them) then I suggest that you cancel your plans for
Wednesday evening and head down for a Nando's with a difference. I will be enjoying my fourth ever Nando's and I can promise you that it will
be a great evening, full of laughter, fun and all in aid of a true London Irish Legend; Topsy Ojo and his chosen TopTest charities.
 |
| New role at the club!?! |
