Two bonus points give Kidney cause for hope
DECLAN Kidney’s first match in charge of London Irish ended in defeat but not before they had given play-off hopefuls Gloucester an almighty hurry-up.
Backed by a bumper St Patrick’s Day crowd, the Exiles roared from the blocks with tries from fitagain lock Josh McNally and scrum-half Piet van Zyl, only to concede 33 unanswered points as Gloucester appeared to make the game safe. However, Kidney’s side responded bravely to salvage two vital points, leaving them ten behind Worcester with four games remaining.
Kidney said: “I saw lots to encourage me but we still came second and I’m not going to settle for that because we’re better than that. Losing can become a habit, as can winning, and we just need to learn how to finish games off.
“London Irish are a Premiership proposition – I’ve seen the structure behind the club and it’s strong enough to do that – but we need to start winning. We’ve got a massive game against Harlequins in two weeks.”
James Marshall slotted a penalty as Irish dominated the early exchanges and they bagged their first try when, following concerted pressure led by livewire pivot van Zyl and their fired-up forwards, McNally located a route to the line.
Irish’s lightning start continued as Alex Lewington exploited a gap, and a deserved second try arrived on 18 minutes when Arno Botha took a close-range lineout and van Zyl powered through Willi Heinz, with Marshall converting for a 17-0 lead.
David Paice’s long throw found Johnny Williams on the charge as Irish came again, before Gloucester hit back against the run of play when Jason Woodward set sail down the right and the ball was worked inside for James Hanson to score.
Billy Twelvetrees, a temporary replacement for Billy Burns, found touch after Irish infringed on halfway and Gloucester were back in the contest when, after Woodward and Mark Atkinson went close, Twelvetrees deftly sent in Tom Marshall.
Gloucester’s comeback was complete three minutes later when Heinz released Jake Polledri and he made 30 metres before Trinder took control to put Lewis Ludlow in for try No.3 – making it 19 points in eight madcap minutes.
Gloucester led 19-17 at the break and looked to have extended their advantage when Marshall capitalised on Atkinson’s midfield break, only for play to be called back for Josh Hohneck’s needless obstruction on Paice.
Van Zyl wriggled clear, forcing Gloucester to scramble back, but Polledri’s turnover put the visitors back on attack and Atkinson, enjoying a fine game, took advantage of Twelvetrees’ decoy run to hand off van Zyl and roar in from 30 metres.
That secured the try bonus and Gloucester were in clover three minutes later when Marshall bagged his second try after wonderful interplay between Burns, Atkinson and Heinz, with Burns converting from the touchline for 33-17.
To their credit Irish fought back and Theo Brophy Clews stretched over from Joe Cokanasiga’s offload, before Cokanasiga demonstrated his power by rattling over Charlie Sharples and Heinz for a magnificent individual score.
