- Club: London Irish – Player: Tomás O’Leary (Scrum-half)
The tests keep on coming for London Irish and Tomás O’Leary.
The Exiles could not add to their solitary Premiership win against Worcester Warriors last week as they were blown away in the second half, eventually losing 35-11.
Having come close to positive results in their opening three matches, and having defeated Bath 29-22 at the Madejski Stadium, this was a head-plunge in the smelling salts.
“We were confident going in and it was close in the first half (Irish trailed 10-8 at the break),” said O’Leary. “We fell away badly in the second half though.
“It was disappointing but we are trying to keep positive and not let the heads so down.”
“We were not happy at conceding four tries so hopefully we can tighten it up. It is an aspect of out game that we need to improve,” added the Cork native.
Saints marching in
The Exiles are second-bottom in the Premiership with only Sale Sharks, another team that underwent wholesale change during the summer, faring worse.
YouTube credit: PremiershipRugby
The arrival of league-leading Northampton Saints to London on Saturday presents a daunting challenge but one that O’Leary is relishing. He said:
We are confident that we can beat them. They have a big, big pack with lots of powerful ball carriers and a power-orientated game. We definitely need to front up to beat them.
“It is great to be back at home but there are no easy weeks in this league.”
The saints, coached by Jim Mallinder and captained by Dylan Hartley, have no Irish professionals on the books this season after losing James Downey and Roger Wilson to Munster and Ulster respectively.
Elsewhere in the Aviva Premiership
Sharks, who started Tony Buckley and Cillian Willis last weekend, will loot to prise themselves from the foot of the table when they entertain Leicester Tigers and Niall Morris on Friday evening.
On saturday, Shane Monahan will hope that his try-scoring exploits for Gloucester will earn him a start at Kingsholm against Bath, for whom Ryan Caldwell is still injured.
Exeter Chiefs, with Tom Hayes and Ian Whitten featuring, lost badly against Leicester last time out and entertain Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins.
On Sunday, Mark McCall takes his Saracens team to the Kassam Stadium tackle London Welsh, while Belfast prop John Andress and Worcester are away to London Wasps.
