Fantastic Franks turns the screw on Carnegie scrum

LONDON Irish showed uncharacteristic signs of nerves during Wednesday’s first leg at Headingley but a final quarter demonstration of force at the scrum gave them a firm grip on this Championship final.

After conceding first-half tries to Mike Mayhew and Jonah Holmes, and failing to put their season-long efficient game in place, the Exiles trailed 15-13 at half time.

But with double World Cup winner Ben Franks at the fore, Irish went back to basics in the second half and used their set piece to assert their authority.

A Fergus Mulchrone try edged them in front before Franks dominated the final 20 minutes.

Irish won three penalties from the scrum and Tommy Bell converted the nine points to give the promotion favourites an 11-point buffer going into Wednesday’s second leg.

“It’s a great feeling when the scrum goes well,” said Franks. “We put a lot of time into it because scrums can be a funny thing. It was nice to get some good rewards from it.

“Finals are always tight and Yorkshire were tough but we hung in there and managed to get a roll on in the last 20 minutes. It’s nice to take that win going into the second leg.”

Joe Ford and Tommy Bell exchanged early penalties with two from the latter giving Irish a 6-3 lead which became 13-3 on 14 minutes when prop Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi burst clear and sprinted from 30m metres for the opening try.

The hosts hit back with Mayhew crossing from close range and a second try on the half hour from Holmes, following a sensational run down the right wing, gave Carnegie a twopoint lead at the interval.

Aseli Tikoirotuma was lucky not to be yellow carded for a high shot on Holmes at the start of the second half which left the Carnegie wing needing medical attention.

But he remained on the field and proved decisive a few minutes later, with a last-ditch tackle on Topsy Ojo keeping Irish out.

Irish pressure eventually told however with Mulchrone barging over with the help of Ojo to put the Exiles in front just before the hour mark.

Ford closed the gap to two points with his second penalty but Irish turned to Franks, their scrum and the boot of Bell, who ended the game with a faultless seven from seven, to close the game out.

It is a big ask but captain Ryan Burrows remains defiant over Cargenie’s chances. He said: “We’re massively disappointed from where we were at halftime but we’ve only ourselves to blame – we didn’t keep the ball for long enough in the second half.

“We’re not scared of anything they threw at us. The pressure is on them to defend that lead now and we’ll go down to the Madjeski playing our attacking brand of rugby to put them under pressure.”