AND YOUR Christmas No 1? London Irish, once a dear old excuse for a drink in the southwest London suburbs, now a gleaming professional outfit in the Thames Valley. And, if they play anything remotely as well as this in the new year, about to challenge at the very top of the sport. This rampaging, yet also beautifully clinical, demolition of the second-placed team in the Premiership was one of the results of recent history in the competition.

The Irishness is a little low in the mix these days. Indeed, the team sheet read like someone had dropped all the letters at a Scrabble convention for the illiterate. But wherever these players come from, they play like hell for the jersey. They simply swarmed all over Gloucester, they were more intense and quicker and better.

They were based on a dynamic performance at the breakdown by Steffon Armitage and Chris Hala’ufia, a reject from Harlequins whose ball-carrying had relentless power. The Irish scrum gave Greg Somerville, the new Gloucester All Black, a thoroughly uncomfortable afternoon, Irish’s back three were magnificently devilish in attack and, underpinning the whole lot, was the footballing nous of Peter Hewat, who held everything together in midfield and contributed 22 points with an almost infallible boot. All in all, it was a wonderful performance, lapped up by nearly 13,000 in the Madejski, who gave their men a royal reception at the end.

And for Gloucester, it was a shocking day. It was the sort of performance and result that may push Dean Ryan, the director of rugby, towards different players and philosophies. They need a proper openside, because Alasdair Strokosch was totally outnumbered at the breakdown; they need Olly Barkley at fly-half, because Ryan Lamb, on this evidence, cannot control a game of this quality.

Furthermore, they are in urgent need of the allround footballing qualities of Willie Walker at full-back and also need to follow England in admitting that the gamble of bringing Lesley Vainikolo to union is a miserable failure. Furthermore, there must be serious question marks over two or three of the Gloucester pack. No doubt, the great club will revive again to renew their challenge at the top, but this was another big occasion that proved too much for them.

Their augmented pack was in trouble early on, because both Hewat’s first two penalties were awarded after Gloucester scrum disasters. So 6-0 to Irish and then came an outbreak of kicking tennis, yet another of the blights of the experimental law variations. Mark Foster put up a speculative kick which Delon Armitage picked up on the bounce before swivelling out of tacklers and going slicing away upfield. He left poor Lamb for dead on the outside and touched down in the corner. It was a shaft of attacking brilliance.

And there was something similar soon afterwards. Topsy Ojo launched an attack down the left wing and Steffon Armitage came bursting in on the angle and made an heroic run into the heart of the Gloucester defence. The ball was taken on by Hala’ufia and when it was recycled, Paul Hodgson, seeing that Gloucester had come up wide, simply changed his angle, darted in behind them and scored. And suddenly, even with three lone Gloucester penalties, it was 21-9 to Irish.

The final three Irish points before half-time were somehow typical of Gloucester’s lack of leadership and hard headedness. Lamb, for some reason, decided to throw a quick lineout to Mike Tindall, who was standing in heavy traffic. Tindall had played splendidly to marshal the Gloucester resistance but he was overwhelmed, Irish were given the scrum and they kicked a penalty to send them in at the break, gliding on the front foot.

Never mind the hairdryer at half-time, Ryan obviously gave Gloucester the bazooka. They did play with a little more direction and a little less headless meandering, with Walker bringing it back to 21-12 with a penalty. But Gloucester subsided dismally, conceding three rather ridiculous penalties that Hewat punished with remorseless efficiency: 30-12 and game over.

Except that the bonus point still had to be claimed, and it was claimed with passion. Tindall made a terrific save near his own line but the clearing kick by Jack Adams was terrible. Irish countered, and the electric Sailosi Tagicakibau set off outside two defenders, barrelled his way straight through three others, and scored an amazing try. And at the end, with Gloucester attacking, Hala’ufia turned the ball over, and Declan Danaher sprinted 50 metres for bonus-point glory.

Star man:Steffon Armitage (London Irish)

LONDON IRISH:D Armitage (S Geraghty 24min); T Ojo, E Seveali’i, S Mapusua, S Tagicakibau; P Hewat, P Hodgson (A Lalanne 78min); C Dermody (D Murphy 76min), D Paice, T Lea’aetoa (A Corbisiero 66min), J Hudson (K Roche 56min), B Casey (capt), R Thorpe (D Danaher 52min), C Hala’Ufia, S Armitage

GLOUCESTER:O Morgan (W Walker 40min); M Foster, M Tindall (capt), M Watkins, L Vainikolo; R Lamb (J Adams 56min), G Cooper; N Wood (A Dickinson 64min), S Lawson (O Azam 40min), G Somerville, M Bortolami (W James 55min), A Brown, P Buxton (A Satala 42min), L Narraway, A Strokosch

Scorers: London Irish: Tries:D Armitage 19, Hodgson 28, Tagicakibau 74, Danaher 80 Cons:Hewat (2)Pens:Hewat (6) Gloucester: Pens:Lamb (3), Walker

Referee:S Davey (RFU) Attendance:12,076