Even Arundell’s 114-yard wonder try cannot save Irish
HENRy ARuNdELL raced 114 yards for an outrageous length-of-the-field try as the hottest prospect in English rugby sent another reminder of his astonishing talent to Eddie Jones. Arundell had already been on England head coach Jones’s radar for this summer’s tour of Australia after a series of stunning performances for London Irish. But the 19-year-old — who also qualifies for Scotland and Wales — delivered another moment of brilliance in his team’s Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat by Toulon. With his team 19-13 down in the 74th minute at the Stade Felix Mayol, Arundell picked up possession just a metre off his own line.
He proceeded to show an outrageous turn of foot to leave attempted Toulon tacklers in his wake. Arundell then stood up the final two French defenders to finish in the corner for a try which had to be seen to be believed. The only shame was it came in a losing cause for Irish. ‘We weren’t surprised when that happened because we know what’s possible with him,’ said Irish head coach Les Kiss. ‘It was great to see what he did. ‘We made a good start, probably the middle period we made too many errors. The penalty count was too high in that period and it put us on the back foot. We tried to finish strongly, but we just couldn’t get there in the end.’ Irish might have lost but this was the day Arundell announced himself to a wider rugby audience. His try quickly went viral on social media. Sportsmail understands
Jones has already made contact with Arundell ahead of his team’s three-Test series with the Wallabies to ensure he is not pinched by a rival. Arundell, who also scored from 100 metres for England in this season’s under 20 Six Nations, is set to be named in Jones’s extended squad for the July matches with Australia. ‘I must say that was quite a good finish — credit to him,’ said Toulon lock Eben Etzebeth when questioned about Arundell’s moment of brilliance. Had Paddy Jackson converted Arundell’s try and not missed an earlier penalty, Irish would have left the Cote d’Azur with victory. In the end, Toulon hung on thanks to Charles Ollivon’s try and the boot of Louis Carbonel. They will host Saracens in the semi-finals. Irish were heroic throughout and Albert Tuisue grabbed their first but they were undone by yellow cards for Agustin Creevy and Juan Martin Gonzalez and missed kicks.