London Irish continue winning start to the Championship
LONDON Irish coach Les Kiss was pleased with his side’s defensive unity as the Exiles staved off a late Doncaster fight-back to secure a bonus-point victory at Castle Park.
Making it seven wins out of seven and continuing their march towards the top of the Championship, Irish were made to work for the spoils against a Knights outfit worthy of a higher league position based on this display.
“We had to dig deep and fight through our defensive phases, but we got the win which is the most important thing,” said Kiss.
“The second half was disappointing as we had the ball in their end on a number of occasions but didn’t finish them off. Overall, it was pleasing to see our quality come through at the end.”
Irish won by virtue of tries from Blair Cowan, Ben Loader, Fergus Mulchrone and Motu Matu’u, with Tom James and Richard Hayes crossing for the Knights.
The Exiles got off to a flyer with Cowan dotting down from a driving lineout after just eight minutes after referee Neil Chivers awarded a penalty for interference at the breakdown. Ben Meehan’s touchline conversion made it 7-0.
Irish were good value for their lead with England U20 winger Loader a constant threat in the opening exchanges.
After Knights fly-half Kurt Morath cut the gap to 7-3 with a penalty, Loader touched down with a sublime solo effort.
The Berkshire-born speedster shrugged off a string of Knights defenders to slide over under the posts, but Meehan cannoned the upright with his conversion attempt.
Seemingly in control of proceedings at 12-3, Irish were hit with a sucker-punch on 25 minutes when Knights scrum-half James collected Joshua Tyrell’s offload to cross under the posts. Morath added the extras to cut the lead to 12-10.
Undeterred, Irish registered their third try of the afternoon through Mulchrone just passed the half hour mark. Meehan was the catalyst, feeding Mulchrone with an inside pass and the Mancunian centre powered his way to the line to extend his side’s supremacy to 19-10.
Irish sealed the try bonus- point on 33 minutes, Samoan international hooker Matu’u touching down from another dominant lineout move to bag his second score in as many games. Meehan’s conversion made it 26-10.
Doncaster finished the first half strongly, winger Tyson Lewis denied at full tilt by a try-saving Tom Parton tackle. The South Yorkshire outfit were causing the Exiles no end of