London Irish are a side that enjoyed a golden era with the likes of Nick Kennedy, Seilala Mapusua, Mike Catt, Bob Casey and Declan Danaher running out at the Madjeski Stadium week in week out however since their retirement and movement on they have struggled to re-find their mojo.
Last season their form progressed as the season went on and the challenge for new head coach Tom Coventry is to come in and stamp his mark on the club. The potential is there due to some strong recruitment and the re-building of their academy which is now in the very safe hands of Nick Kennedy with his team of Declan Danaher and Paul Hodgson. Of course an instant Aviva Premiership title is not expected however like all clubs an improvement in output is desired. The Kiwi is not shying away from what needs to be done to deliver this as he shared at the recent Aviva Premiership launch;
"I’m feeling very positive, it is good to be here it has taken a while to settle in. The long pre-season has been good for me to get to know my squad, my coaching staff and the club in general so it has been a good process.”
“I’ve made lot of changes, most of the changes come from the direction in which we want to take to the club into and expectations around playing style which takes time. I want it to take 5 minutes but it is going to take longer than that, I understand that."
“We are just trying to gain some respect in this competition and that is going to be our mantra for the season is making sure that the people that come to watch us play, the media, the reporters, the fans, they can see that there has been a change in the way that London Irish are going to do things in 2015/16. For a club that has high ambitions we need to start there and that is what we will be aiming to.”
One area that Tom is hot on is discipline, London Irish’s statistics are less than rosy when it comes to penalties conceded and yellow cards, indeed two of the individuals that conceded the most penalties last season are Exiles however I'll spare them the blushes and not name them. In short, toning this down will allow Irish to establish themselves in matches as opposed to giving sides easy three points and leads as a result of their ill discipline.
London Irish have a healthy stock of personnel to fill their back line all capable of playing positive attacking rugby with Andrew Fenby, Alex Lewington, Sean Maitland and more. I fully expect Alex Lewington to have another explosive season after his 12 tries last year and in pre-season he looked sharp. As Andy Goode’s career has ended prematurely it will be up to Chris Noakes and/or Shane Geraghty to step up at 10. Personally I believe that Shane is best used at 12 and could strike up an extremely useful partnership with Asaeli Tikoirotuma given the opportunity however the decision will be up to Tom Coventry as to how he shapes his mid-field. Regardless of the personnel chosen it needs to be strong and have the ability to control games as opposed to be controlled by the opposition. Up front Irish have always been solid, David Paice has plenty of experience, Leo Halavatu is a good scrummager and last season Richard Palframan came through strongly. Of course Kiwi Ben Franks will add much to the party when he arrives and Matt Symons is a really exciting addition from the Super 15.
The fact is that London Irish have talent housed within their squad and if galvanised together have the ability to start moving up the Aviva Premiership table. They have a tough start to the competition as their first four games are against the Leicester Tigers, Exeter Chiefs, Saracens and Bath Rugby however I expect that as the season progresses London Irish will move in the right direction.
Players In - Ben Franks from Hurricanes, Sean Maitland from Glasgow Warriors, Brendan McKibbin from NSW Waratahs, Joe Trayfoot from Harlequins, Dominic Waldouck from Northampton Saints, Matt Symons from Chiefs, Tom Cruse from Rotherham Titans, Eoin Sheriff from Saracens & Asaeli Tikoirotuma from Harlequins
Players Out - Tomas O'Leary to Munster, Kieran Low to Glasgow Warriors, Myles Dorrian to Bedford Blues, Guy Armitage to London Welsh, Sean Cox (Retired), Eamonn Sheridan to Oyonnax, Harry Allen to London Welsh, Daniel Leo to London Welsh, Matt Parr (Released), Michael Mayhew (Released) & James Short to Exeter Chiefs
