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London Irish boss Declan Kidney told his side to express themselves before the Exiles inflicted a heavy 36-11 defeat on Leicester Tigers.
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The points came from everywhere for the Exiles, with forwards Oli Hoskins and Ruan Botha and wing Ben Loader getting over in the first half and Stephen Myler adding seven points with the boot.
Tigers had two first-half penalties to show for their efforts and got a late score for Jonah Holmes, but Irish continued to run riot after the break as converted tries from backs Waisake Naholo and Tom Parton secured the bonus-point win.
“This is a tough competition and you can’t afford to drop the guard at all, so I think my players did themselves some justice in that regard,” Kidney said.
“Let’s face it, everyone’s going to look at us and say ‘that’s the team that we can beat, they’ve just come up’, so we’ve got to put a little bit more on ourselves.
“If you want to have a ‘way’ that represents you as a group, you have to back it some time, and I’ve challenged them to play to try and find the way they want to play and express it.
“They want to play the game with the type of guys we’ve got in the team.
“Just before half-time I thought we went into our shell a bit, but what was pleasing was the way we stood up to the challenge.”
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Strap in Tigers fans. It could be a long auld season. https://t.co/VcnAsBs9Pv
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 10, 2019
The victory is Irish’s second of the season and lifts them up to seventh, but is the third defeat in four for struggling Tigers, who lie bottom.
After the match, Leicester head coach Geordan Murphy commented: “London Irish were the best team on the field today, they wanted it more than us.
A strong start for the New Zealand winger #LIRvLEI pic.twitter.com/xO651qB1GJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 10, 2019
“They were more physical than us, I thought their defence was exceptional. We started really badly and then were just struggling to chase to get into the game.
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“They slowed the ball down brilliantly, had some really good turnovers at the ruck area and that’s on us – the things we could control we didn’t control.
“We gave away some silly penalties, the guys were just feeling the frustration a little bit but I can’t defend it.
A lot of work goes into @fafdeklerk 's golden locks…@Jono__Ross serves up his scrumhalf teammate and talks salary cap, crime in his native SA and living in 'small' Manchester
– as told to @heagneyl ???https://t.co/4NTCIzl4wX
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 10, 2019
“Look at the way the game panned out and everything was against us, we had the ball in their 22 very early in the game and we didn’t capitalise on that.
“We were not as bad as the scoreline reflects, but we didn’t deserve to win.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
37 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
10 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
37 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
37 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
37 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
37 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
37 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
37 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to comments