London Irish aiming to exit Madejski with flourish
DECLAN Danaher denies Saracens' nightmare Premiership predicament has had anything to do with London Irish’s sudden purple patch.
But the Exiles’ assistant coach does admit there is an extra motivating factor which is driving Irish on to potentially their highest top flight finish in many years. It’s the real desire and determination to bring down the curtain on their two decades based in Reading in the most memorable fashion.
Irish go hunting a fourth successive victory today when they entertain Wasps with their confidence sky high. Defeats of Northampton, Harlequins and Gloucester have ramped up the usual chants of “Keep it going Irish” a few notches, and a team fuelled by both experience and youthful exhuberance appears to be afraid of nobody.
The four tries which local lad Ollie HassellCollins ran in against the Cherry and Whites merely increased the feel-good factor gripping a club which start a new era this summer with a move to the Brentford Community Stadium.
Irish have taken 14 points from the last 15 but, asked what has triggered the turnaround, Danaher insists: “It’s nothing to do with the fact we cannot be relegated. We are looking at ourselves and no-one else. What’s happened with Sarries has happened and it has little to do with how we are performing on the field.
“We certainly have not talked about the fact we cannot get relegated this season or, indeed, whether we can get into the top four or six.
“The team have five more games at home and we want to do the last 20 years proud. If there is anything that is extra motivation, it is the prospect of finishing our fantastic time at the Madejski Stadium with some outstanding performances and results.
“I was lucky enough to play here. It’s an unbelievable stadium and we’ve had some fantastic years here.”
It has been 11 long years since Irish finished third before going on to lose by a single point to Leicester in the final. A lot of tears of frustration and disappointment have flowed since then but Danaher, who was in the back row against Tigers that day, insists no-one is getting carried away by recent success.
He added: “We went away to Spain for a week where the boys worked very hard and then they had a week off.
“The biggest thing the coaching staff challenged the players was on their effort. Basically on the fact you won’t win or achieve anything unless you are working hard on and off the ball. If you are not doing that you are not giving yourself an opportunity to be in the right place and score tries or make those double hits we saw against Gloucester.
“The boys enjoyed the win last weekend but will not dwell on it. You have to quickly move on and be prepared for what will be a very tough challenge against Wasps.
“We have to keep believing in ourselves and what we can do. It’s all about us, and if we put the effort in week in week out we will get the right results.
“The run has come off a mixture of very hard work, effort and commitment by the lads. We have two more games in the Six Nations window starting with Wasps this weekend and then Sale Sharks. We have to make the most of those and pick up more points and continue to build on recent weeks.”