Brentford base will attract new recruits says Kiss

LONDON Irish head coach Les Kiss insists the Exiles move to Brentford will attract more big guns to the club – but won’t stop their development of English players.

Irish have yet to see a crowd at their new digs at the 17,250 capacity Brentford Community Stadium since moving there last year but Kiss is convinced it will prove a hit with players and fans.

Irish have managed to attract the likes of Argentine hooker Agustin Creevy, Aussie lock Adam Coleman and Wallaby scrum-half Nick Phipps in recent years and more are on the cards.

But Irish also have young guns Tom Parton, 23, and 22-year-old wings Ollie Hassell-Collins, right, and Ben Loader ripping up the Premiership where Irish are currently sixth. And Kiss says the new ground shows the club are going places with their mixture of home grown talent and overseas big signings.

“Even without the crowds you can sense the excitement it has to offer,” said Kiss. “You have to put the right ingredients together on the pitch and play the right style of football. Hopefully that can explode into one of the best tickets in town. It still comes down to being able to build a good rugby programme and getting people to being committed. “When we talk to prospects we ask what they know about us and most of them know we moved into a new stadium in London. It shows the board’s ambition and where they want to take the club and how they want to position it.”

Prospective signings will not detract from Irish’s push to develop their own players. Kiss added: “We will always be open to whatever is on the market but we are hoping to be able to drive from within.

“I do think there is an opportunity for England to have a look at our back three

“The message I would give them is do something good with your mates here and you will get the reward. They are being observed and if that type of chance does arise they will get their opportunity to see what that is like. They probably deserve it at this stage and there are a couple of guys in the forwards they could be looking at as well.”