Video: Nick Kennedy's blunt assessment of London Irish's season
Things are not looking good for London Irish at the moment, they are stuck at the foot of the Aviva Premiership table, 12 points adrift of second-bottom side Worcester.
London Irish head coach Nick Kennedy has had a long association with the club, having joined the Academy at 19, going on to form a formidable second row partnership with another loyal servant – Bob Casey.
Kennedy played in the 2008 European Cup semi-final for Irish and the 2009 Premiership final, but it’s been a downward spiral for the club since.
He stepped into the role of head coach after they were relegated at the end of the 2015/16 season.
“A lot longer hours, a lot less fun definitely!” he joked when asked about the comparisons from being a player.
Their time in the Championship lasted only a season, with immediate promotion back to the Aviva Premiership.
“We really enjoyed our time there (in the Championship), the boys worked extremely hard, we looked to rebuild the culture and rebuild the team. We had an enjoyable season, we only lost one game and it was a unique season, it was all about the last game – finding out what league you were going to be in right at the end of May. It was an interesting season and we built throughout and we looked to try to take the momentum into the Premiership, but it is a very, very different league, a tough league.”
They got off to a perfect start with a 39-29 win over Harlequins at Twickenham on the opening day, but since then they’ve failed to register another victory, with 13 defeats following.
An honest Kennedy gave a frank assessment of their season:
“I think it took us all by surprise in that we did an awful lot of homework. I watched every Premiership game the year we were down. We had statisticians come through with all the stats, ball in play time, every stat on every scrum and lineout. We did an awful lot of prep, as much as we possibly could have done, however it just moves on year-on-year. The league gets better and better, people get bigger and stronger and it gets faster and faster. So whilst we thought we were prepared, ultimately if you look at the results we weren’t prepared.” he admitted.
He was asked by RugbyPass whether he feared the sack, with it being a results business.
“Yeah that’s professional sport at the top level, that’s life, it happens all the time. If you look at rugby in the last month or so, (Jim) Mallinder, Steve Tandy, that’s life, It is a results business and look I am completely responsible – if we are not getting the results it is my fault. So yeah that is up to the board to decide, but I will still keep working extremely hard and hopefully the results are going to come so it won’t come to that.”
February is a crucial month, London Irish began with a narrow 13-9 home defeat to Sale, securing a losing bonus point.
It means that Saturday’s match at Northampton and the home game against Worcester on February 25th look like must-wins, if they’re to a realistic chance of survival.
“We don’t really put points targets on (for February). We want to improve as a team, we want to get better. We need to get better than we have been and start winning games.” Kennedy said.
“Everyone believes. We were on the wrong end of some very close results, we got bonus points in very tough places against very good teams and one score games, it’s charge down kick or one missed tackle there, it is about making sure we concentrate for 80 minutes. We weren’t competitive at the beginning of the season, now we very much are.”
London Irish’s Italian international Luke McLean gave an honest appraisal of their predicament and their trio of Premiership matches in February.
“If we manage to win two of those games that could change our entire season, the vibe. Obviously everything is very positive still, but I think if you did lose all three maybe that positivity would sap the team. I think two (wins) you’d be flying high.”
Off the pitch London Irish have been speaking to potential new investors, as they seek to return to the glory days. Majority shareholder Mick Crossan has stated he wants Irish to be a “real contender” in the Aviva Premiership. Kennedy has welcomed the development, “I am a supporter of more money in, yeah definitely. I think every sports club would want more money!”
“We don’t work seven days a week, all the hours we work just to try and survive. We work because we want to succeed, All of us have a real chip on our shoulder where the club is and it has been over the years and we are doing everything we can, but we want to compete at the top level and these things don’t happen overnight.”
“You don’t just turn up from the Championship having done alright and suddenly competing at the top end of Europe and the top four in the Premiership. It is the very, very top end of rugby in Europe and it takes time to turn things around.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t enjoy drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments