Last night Topsy Ojo celebrated
the launch of his testimonial year at London Irish, it is hard to believe that
such a young guy is celebrating a testimonial but it is true, Topsy joined the
London Irish academy at the age of 18 in 2003 with a couple of other well-known
names - Nick Kennedy and Declan Danaher. With so much promiscuity of players
moving between clubs, 3 years is now considered to be long service, let alone 5
or even 10... therefore a full year of celebrations is definitely justified!!
In the 10 years that Topsy has been at London Irish he has experienced more than his fair share of highs and lows… from the dizzy heights of the 2009 Aviva Premiership Final to the fight for relegation last season it certainly hasn’t been a quiet 10 years. He has made 192 appearances and scored 305 points to date and I’ve no doubt that by the end of this season he will be tipping 350 points easily... with his try scoring ability and outrageous feet 9 or 10 tries in a season is more than achievable!!
As well as honouring the man himself Topsy’s Testimonial Year is in aid of 3 outstanding charities Restart (the Rugby Players’ Benevolent Fund), VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) and The African Child Trust. There is also a truly fantastic mix of supporters; Nandos, a stable in any rugby players diet (Nando’s Black Cards all around I hope), Dot Comms for everything digital and marketing wise, Whey Hey the delightful protein ice-cream, One Piece for epic onesies and finally New Era Caps, Topsy’s personal favourite and our hosts for the evening.
New Era's HQ is in Shoreditch... and many of you may know that I
don't normally venture too much further East than Liverpool Street and before you
all jump to conclusions this is not due to snobbery, it is actually due to the
fact I am totally and utterly not cool enough for Shoreditch. I am not creative
and cannot put amazingly clashing prints together and rock the ‘random’ look; I
just end up looking like I’ve raided the school lost property box so Shoreditch
is usually a “no” for me!! Therefore an adventure East for something that I do
know about and love, rugby, was a perfect excuse to try and fit in for once!!!
The format of the night was
simple… to celebrate all things Topsy! Having been to a few events like this
before it was great to see the huge amount support that Topsy received from his team-mates.
From the more established players to the newbies they were out in force - Declan
Danaher, Tomas O’Leary, Ian Humphreys, Marland Yarde and Sailosi Tagicakibau, to name but a few.
As with all good events there was
an auction which yours truly couldn’t help but get actively involved with, much
to the horror of my friends I’d taken with me. I’m sure you will all
understand that this was a part of the night that I wanted to excel
in… with prizes like a Corporate Box at the Madjeski and Autumn International
Tickets my competitive side did come out! I started bidding hard however sadly for me I lost out to men with
bigger wallets who didn't offer to share their prizes with me!!!
For those of you who haven't met
Topsy off the field before he is one of the nicest men in rugby... a quiet, down-to-earth
guy who is extremely personable and fiercely loyal to the club that gave him
his big break. Despite being London Irish's top try scorer there is no bravado or ego;
Topsy is just an extremely talented rugby player and genuinely nice guy. As Dec
Danaher rightly pointed out Topsy still smashes all the fitness tests, keeping
the young guns on their toes and setting the bar very high for them to try and reach. Having someone like Dec talk about the respect he has for Topsy on and off the field speaks volumes for the person and player that Topsy is and I
really couldn't think of two better senior players for a club to have than Dec and
Topsy. This season is one of the most important in London Irish's history and with players like Topsy and Dec leading the way for Irish I've no doubt that they will prove all of the doubters wrong and have a stormer.
Last night was just the start of the celebratory journey; with the Testimonial Gala Dinner and The Golf Day still to come (for all tickets contact Dominie Bradshaw) it is set to be a fabulous year of celebrations to honour a true London Irish legend.
Last night was just the start of the celebratory journey; with the Testimonial Gala Dinner and The Golf Day still to come (for all tickets contact Dominie Bradshaw) it is set to be a fabulous year of celebrations to honour a true London Irish legend.
