Coleman and Simmons are line-out weapons as well. Style and skills The verve of Irish’s phase-play continues to impress. Despite defending for long periods, they still completed 193 passes against Exeter. Hoskins, the tighthead prop, threw a couple of doozies. Coleman and Pearson flipped away two offloads each, tying Chiefs’ total of four between them. Irish ended up with 10 offloads as a team. Rowe’s flick to Paddy Jackson in his own 22 late was extremely cool.
Eight points separate them and the current top four. But things can change very quickly. Schedule and circumstance Whereas most rivals have seen numerous Six Nations call-ups, disruption will be minimal for the Exiles. Ollie Hassell-Collins made the England squad, while Ben White and Kyle Rowe have trained with Scotland. With respect, Irish should have those three back for most of the crossover fixtures. Consistency of selection at this time of year, as Harlequins enjoyed in 2021, offers so many advantages.
“His attitude is good, he wants to learn all the time and he’s physical, isn’t he? He enjoys that part of it. ” Scotland supporters will be relieved that the Chiefs trio of Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray and Sam Skinner emerged unscathed a week before the Calcutta Cup. This afternoon was about Irish, though. Appropriately enough, hooker Matt Cornish was their first try-scorer on a day that frustrated the Devonians. James Stokes added a decisive second on the stroke of half-time. That stung the Chiefs, who had been pressing for their third try moments previously. “It was the defining point of the game, ” Rob Baxter admitted. “It is a 14-point turnaround, basically. It is a bit of a symptom of where we are. We just got into a scenario where we didn’t take that extra step. ” On the face of it, this was a mid-table contest.
Two graduates of Cardiff Metropolitan University, Alex Dombrandt and Luke Northmore, have stamped their mark on the Premiership in recent years to win England call-ups. Pearson is another alumnus relishing his introduction to the top flight. “There are some gems out there, ” said Les Kiss, the Irish head coach, of Pearson, whose contribution he described as “immense”. “Tom just does the business. He’s very coachable and, despite not coming through a professional academy, he has a great approach to the game.
Five reasons London Irish can be Premiership playoff contendersRecent history suggests that one Premiership play-off place will go to a surprise package that either builds form during the Six Nations period or puts together an even later surge. In 2018, Newcastle Falcons reached the knockouts. Two seasons later, Bath mounted a post-lockdown charge. Last year, Harlequins gatecrashed the top four and won the whole thing. This term, the dangerous dark horses might just be London Irish. An 18-14 victory over Exeter Chiefs on Saturday has brought them into sixth place and set them up perfectly for a seminal stretch of this fascinating Premiership campaign.
The teams occupied the sixth and seventh rungs on the Premiership ladder before kick-off, though both were looking upwards. Irish survived a scare when Jack Innard skewed his throw from a close-range line-out, but Exeter were clinical from their next opportunity. Hogg gathered an Exiles clearance and looped a long pass across-field for Ian Whitten to gather momentum. Joe Simmonds then flashed a dummy and sliced the Irish line. Scramble defence delayed the Chiefs until their forwards regained impetus and Jack Maunder sniped at the fringes before lifting a delayed pass to Olly Woodburn. The roaming wing wriggled free and Simmonds converted for a 7-0 lead within five minutes. Even amid a reshuffle that slipped Harvey Skinner to inside centre in the absence of Henry Slade, Exeter’s backline was causing trouble. Using the wind, Simmonds drove a delightful kick that earned a 50:22.
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Rugby Union, England: London Irish live scores, results, fixtures