The Aviva Premiership season has barely reached its halfway point but the odds on London Irish escaping relegation are already starting to lengthen. There was only one winner of this pre-Christmas basement battle with Worcester, now a full 10 points clear of their struggling rivals, and the Exiles will need something truly remarkable to avoid a swift return to the Championship.
Worcester, who have picked up 17 points from their last five Premiership games, were far from perfect but two tries from their in-form wing Josh Adams and the accurate boot of Chris Pennell proved sufficient to inflict Irish’s 10th defeat in 11 league games. Irish’s director of rugby, Nick Kennedy, made no attempt to sugarcoat the bitter pill, conceding his team had been “very poor” and fallen short of the required level. “It’s very disappointing and frustrating…we’ve obviously given ourselves some work to do,” he said.
In many ways this was a microcosm of the visitors’ season: more injury woe, a slow start and only the occasional flicker of real quality. This season’s Premiership is no place to be even fractionally off the pace and, with the exception of the dangerous Alex Lewington, the Exiles have found the step up in fitness and skill levels difficult to bridge. “I wouldn’t have minded losing if we’d come out and thrown some shots but we didn’t,” said Kennedy. “It’s a big hill, not a mountain, for me but we know we need to get better very quickly. There’s a gap in the league we did not want and the players have two choices now. They can wake up and feel sorry for themselves or do everything they can to fight and win the next game.”
Even before kick-off there was an ominous start to Irish’s evening when it emerged their captain, Fergus Mulchrone, and the All Black prop Ben Franks had been injured in the morning’s captain’s run. The Exiles have endured relentlessly grim luck with injuries and, without seeking to make excuses, Kennedy admitted preparations had been disrupted.
With Worcester on the brink of confirming that their director of rugby, Gary Gold, will be departing sooner than planned to take up his new role as the US Eagles head coach, this was also a result that will be greeted with some relief in Northampton, who remain 14 points ahead of Irish and in control of their own destiny. A mere five minutes had elapsed when a neat left-footed chip behind the defence from Ryan Mills was neatly finished off by Adams in the left corner and Pennell’s conversion increased the visitors’ discomfort.
In full flow the Warriors look a more than decent side, particularly with Hougaard back at scrum-half and the underrated Mills helping to pull the midfield strings. They have also suffered more than their fair share of treatment room agony and the premature departure of their unlucky tighthead, Nick Schonert, with another ankle ligament injury underlined the Premiership’s heavy attrition rate.
It had a sizeable effect on a previously one-sided contest after Pennell had extended the lead to 10-0 with an excellent long-range penalty. First Greig Tonks clawed back three points with a 35th-minute penalty before Lewington showed rare pace to score a stunning solo try, regathering a bouncing ball ahead of a dawdling Adams. It was suddenly Worcester’s turn to fret, albeit briefly. In the final seconds of the half some space materialised in the Irish midfield and Adams, now the league’s leading finisher, redeemed himself with his eighth Premiership try of the season.
The second half proved rather less eye-catching, aside from a spat involving Donncha O’Callaghan and the former Australian hooker Saia Fainga’a. The Irish lock appeared to take a tug at the ex-Wallaby’s dreadlocks at one point, prompting Fainga’a to retaliate with a swipe to O’Callaghan’s face. But the referee, Wayne Barnes, in charge of a record-breaking 191st Premiership game, opted not to show either man a card.
Irish will probably need to win at least four of their last 11 fixtures to stand even a chance of survival, starting at home to Newcastle next Saturday. Worcester will head to Saracens under the command of the experienced South African Alan Solomons, drafted in to assist Gold back in October. The latter is not yet entirely writing off Irish – “They’ll never give up the fight” – but the Warriors can now look forward to Premiership rugby next season regardless of who is in permanent charge.
Worcester: Pennell; Heem, Willison (Humphreys, 78), Mills, Adams; Lance (Olver, 59), Hougaard; Waller (Bower, 64), Singleton (Taufete’e, 64), Schonert (Milasinovich, 12), O’Callaghan (capt; Barry, 64), Spencer, Denton (Faosiliva, 64), Lewis, Van Velze. Tries: Adams 2. Cons: Pennell 2. Pens: Pennell 3.
London Irish: Tonks (Bell, 54; Northcote-Green, 74); Cokanasiga, Fowlie (Tikoirotuma, 59), McLean, Lewington; Marshall, Meehan (Steele, 50); Reid (Elrington, 59), Fainga’a (Woolstencroft, 59), Du Plessis (Chawatama, 59), Van der Merwe, Paulo (De Chaves 17-29), Coman (capt), Cowan, Treviranus.
Try: Lewington. Pen: Tonks.
Referee: W Barnes (RFU). Att: 9,600.
