Exiles exiled
London Irish 14 Saracens 51
LONDON IRISH are heading back to the Championship.
The outlook has appeared bleak for the Exiles for many weeks, but their fate was finally sealed this weekend.
Irish knew they must beat Saracens at Madejski Stadium as well as winning away at Bath on the final day to stand any chance of survival, but that proved academic with relegation confirmed before they even took to the field on Sunday.
That is because victory for secondbottom Worcester Warriors on Saturday ensured Declan Kidney’s men would slip back into the second tier and Irish could not give their fans much to cheer as they were hammered by European champions Sarries in the final home game of the season.
Just two points separated the sides at the break thanks to late Irish tries from Joe Cokanasiga and Johnny Williams.
But the visitors turned the screw after the restart, ending with eight tries to book a home semi-final as they ran out convincing 51-14 winners.
“We fought tooth and nail just to stay in the Premiership and that hasn’t worked out,” said Kidney.
“We’ve had one or two conversations with the coaches and I think the future is bright on that front.
“There will be comings and goings with the players, but we want players who want to be here.
“There’s a lot of good things that happen at this club that don’t necessarily show on the pitch, but they’re things in my experience that you can’t just go out and buy.
“So, we need to build on those and get ourselves ready for next season in what’s going to be a very tough Championship.”
Fresh from announcing his impending retirement last week, David Paice led the side out for his final game at the Mad Stad.
But it was the visitors, on a mission to build momentum ahead of the end of season play-offs, who started brightly and took the lead following a yellow card to Exiles’ Josh McNally.
Owen Farrell broke the deadlock with a penalty before quick-fire tries from Brad Barritt and Duncan Taylor opened up a 12-0 advantage.
But a brilliant Cokanasiga try brought the hosts back into the game with a powerful run down the wing before dotting down.
And Williams also got his name on the score-sheet before the half was out, finding a gap to wriggle through two challenges and score under the posts.
Two successful Greig Tonks conversions kept the game alive at 14-16 to Sarries at half-time.
But that would be as close as things got as the title-chasers added 12 more points to the board soon after the restart as Michael Rhodes scored from a rolling maul before Marcelo Bosch also crossed the whitewash.
And it stayed 28-14 until the final 10 minutes when Blair Cowan, who only returned from a loan spell at Saracens last week, was sent to the sin bin.
That led to a flurry of Sarries scores with Richard Barrington, Alex Goode and Schalk Brits all grabbing tries with Farrell successful from the tee to seal the big win.
“Saracens have a lot of power and they certainly took their opportunities during the game in the closing stages,” said Kidney.
Irish round off their campaign against Bath at The Rec on Saturday (4pm).
LONDON IRISH: Tonks (McLean 70), Cokanasiga (Tikoirotuma 57), Fowlie, J. Williams (Tonks
77), Lewington, Brophy Clews, van Zyl (Steele 60), Franks (Elrington 54), Paice (c) (Porecki
59), Hoskins (Du Plessis 55), van der Merwe, McNally, Schatz (De Chaves 65), Cowan, Treviranus (Basham 75).
Tries: Cokanasiga (30), Williams (40+1)
Cons: Tonks x2 (31,40+1)
Yellow cards: McNally (10), Cowan (70)
SARACENS: Goode, L. Williams (Wyles 72), Taylor (Bosch 35), Barritt, Maitland, Farrell, Spencer (Wigglesworth 55), M. Vunipola (Barrington
58), George (Brits 58), Koch (Figallo 58), Itoje, Kruis, Rhodes (Isiekwe 51), Burger (B. Vunipola 60), Wray.
Tries: Barritt (21), Taylor (25), Rhodes (49), Bosch (55), Barrington (71), Goode (77), Brits (80+1) Cons: Farrell x5 (51,57,72,77,80+3)
Pens: Farrell x2 (16,36)
Yellow card: Itoje (39)
Referee: Ian Tempest