Kennedy hails fighting spirit
Saracens 44 London Irish 13
NICK KENNEDY hailed the fighting spirit of his side – but acknowledged they were outclassed by league leaders Saracens.
London Irish contested well for the most part, trailing 20-13 heading towards the final 20 minutes before Sarries ran in four late tries to win convincingly.
“I was pleased with our effort,” said Exiles director of rugby Kennedy.
“We went in at half-time very much in the game.
“Discipline probably cost us in and around half-time with the yellow card
(to Teofilo Paulo on 39 minutes) and we were on the wrong end of the penalty count by quite some way.
“But it was a much improved first half than recent performances. We took that energy and impetus from our last win at Stade (Français) and really took it to Saracens.
“Then they just really showed their class in that last 25 minutes where they ran away with the game.”
He added: “The boys stuck in there well. It’s always tough going down to 14 men. We pride ourselves on our discipline and it was slightly off.
“We got on the end of a couple of close refereeing calls. I’ll have a good look at the video and we’ll try to learn our lessons there so those things don’t happen again.
“The boys showed great fight but then Saracens brought such strong players off their bench.
“They’re a team that have been together for a very long time now and we’re at the start of our journey and the scoreboard reflected that.”
Kennedy handed starts to seven of the players who performed so well in Paris the previous week.
Joe Cokanasiga and Tom Fowlie kept their spots on the wing while Ben Meehan was given the nod at scrumhalf. Fergus Mulchrone returned for the first time since suffering an injury on the opening day.
Exiles got off to a good start, taking the lead on three minutes when Tommy Bell kicked a penalty.
But Sarries grabbed the first try when England international Mako Vunipola sprinted clear to dab down under the posts.
However, Owen Farrell was struggling from the tee which kept Irish in the contest and they reduced the arrears to 7-6 when Bell added another threepointer.
Farrell regrouped with two successful kicks to give the hosts a 13-6 half-time advantage.
Exiles’ cause was not helped by a yellow card to Paulo for an off the ball challenge, and Saracens capitalised by adding their second try through Farrell.
But back came Irish, scoring their only try of the afternoon when skipper David Paice burrowed over following a driving maul.
That was as good as it got for the Exiles as Sarries burst away in the closing stages with Liam Williams, Chris Wyles and Nathan Earle (2) all crossing
the whitewash to clinch their 44-13 success.
“I thought we started reasonably well,” Exiles star James Marshall told The Wokingham Paper.
“But to be fair, I thought we were really hanging on for that 60 minutes. “I thought Saracens were class.
“They were a different level at the weekend to anything we’ve played and anything I’ve played before as well.
“I was really impressed with how good they actually were.”
He added: “Even watching the game back, it was so close with 20 minutes to go but we didn’t really look like scoring or we didn’t really get much of a chance to fire a shot.
“They just controlled the game so well and we’ve learnt a lot out of that game.”
LONDON IRISH: Bell, Cokanasiga (Ojo 73), Fowlie (Brophy Clews 66), Mulchrone, Lewington, Marshall, Meehan (Steele 59), Franks (Elrington 64), Paice (c) (Woolstencroft 66), Du Plessis (Hoskins 56), van der Merwe, Paulo (NorthcoteGreen 66), McNally, Cowan, Treviranus
(Schatz 56).
Try: Paice (49)
Con: Bell (50)
Pens: Bell x2 (4,26)
Sin-bin: Paulo (39)
SARACENS: Goode, Williams (Earle 62), Tompkins, Barritt (c) (Lozowski 64), Wyles, Farrell, Spencer (Wigglesworth 52), Vunipola (Barrington 62), George (Tolofua 62), Kock (Figallo 52), Isiekwe (Skelton 41), Kruis, Clark, Burger, Wray (Earl 66). Tries: Vunipola (9), Farrell (45), Williams (58), Wyles (60), Earle x2 (65,79)
Cons: Farrell x4 (10,46,59,62)
Pens: Farrell x2 (31,40+1)
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Attendance: 10,000