Kennedy set to bring in big league cavalry
NICK Kennedy was a relieved man on Wednesday night but he knows there are bigger challenges awaiting after leading his club back to “where they belong” in the Premiership.
The Exiles were relegated last season for the first time in their proud history but after one league defeat in 24 games, their impressive 84-66 aggregate win over Yorkshire Carnegie sees them back in the top tier next season.
However director of rugby Kennedy is under no illusions that it could be a short-lived stay should they fail to rectify certain parts of their game.
“We’re delighted to be back in the Premiership, which is where the club belongs,” Kennedy, below, told The Rugby Paper. “My overriding emotions are relief and happiness but we know we have a lot of work to do.
“We’re a year off the pace. We haven’t been in the Premiership for a season and we were the worst team in that league then. And now everything has shifted on a year.
“We need time in preseason to work on our game to make sure certain areas are up to Premiership standards.
“We’ve looked at our stats in key elements of the game like the set piece and restarts and where you need them to be in the Premiership. “We’re going to work hard to make sure we hit those targets. We’re extremely hungry to prove we’re not the worst team in the Premiership again.” Had the new promotion system been in place this season, Irish would have been certain of their return to the Premiership on March 18 after defeating Cornish Pirates 39-10 to seal the top spot.
But Kennedy, who is quite fond of the play-offs system anyway, revealed he didn’t wait until Wednesday evening to plan for next season and new signings will be announced in the coming days.
He added: “I’m torn about the play-off system because I like the romance of it and the fact that anyone can go up.
“Planning for next season has been on-going and we’ve done the majority of our signings. The good thing is that these players were coming to the club regardless of the league we were going to be in.
“We’ve signed people that want to come to London Irish and believe in what we’re doing. If we’d have lost by 12 points, and failed to win promotion, they’d have turned up anyway and we’d have kept fighting to put the club back on the map.
“We’re bringing in some very talented players and we’re excited about the challenge next year.”
Meanwhile, departing Yorkshire Carnegie boss Brian Redpath conceded the side who deserved it most earned promotion.
“Over the season, and over the two legs, the best team won – it’s as simple as that,” he said. “We didn’t execute under pressure.
“That’s what happens when there are little things that you take for granted from Monday to Friday – they bite you on the bum.
“Hopefully the boys will learn from the experience.”