Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

Premiership: London Irish 22-9 Leicester Tigers - hosts make winning start at Brentford

Written by 
Published in Rugby
Sunday, 29 November 2020 10:28

London Irish enjoyed a winning return to the capital as they got the better of Leicester in their first match at Brentford's Community Stadium.

Curtis Rona scored the first try at the new ground, the only one of the game, while Paddy Jackson kicked 17 points.

Leicester could not build on an impressive win against Gloucester as their poor away form continued.

A first win of the season for Irish was just their second victory in their past 13 Premiership fixtures.

After 20 years at Reading's Madejski Stadium, Irish finally made a long-awaited return to playing home matches again in London.

Declan Kidney's side, who were narrowly beaten at Worcester in the opening round of fixtures, clearly came out motivated to make a perfect start on their new turf.

It took half an hour before Exiles outside centre Rona had the honour of the stadium's first try when he combined well with fellow Australian Billy Meakes as space opened up inside Leicester's 22.

Tigers winger Kobus van Wyk had earlier been sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on and his afternoon ended before half-time with a calf strain.

Irish took a 13-3 lead into the interval as Jackson landed two penalties, but two further missed attempts by the fly-half kept the Tigers in touch.

Leicester returned reinvigorated for the second half and the introduction of back-row Jordan Taufua and prop Nephi Leatigaga gave the visitors more go-forward ball and dominance in the set-pieces.

But, despite persistent infringements from the Irish pack, they managed to limit Tigers' advances to just two Joaquin Diaz Bonilla penalties and Jackson landed two more kicks of his own to make it 19-9 with nine minutes left.

Errors crept into Leicester's game after that and Irish almost sneaked a second try through replacement scrum-half Nick Phipps.

But Jackson made sure of an opening home win when he slotted over his fifth penalty with the last kick of the game.

Leicester's winless run away from home in the Premiership now stretches back more than 19 months to a victory at Newcastle in April 2019.

London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney told BBC Sport:

"When you look at our recent results, getting a win was most important for us, not just in terms of wanting to start right here.

"It was a massive occasion for us and we wanted to put a bit of icing on the cake of all the hard work that's gone in to getting us here.

"We will get better the more games we play on this surface. There were still lots of departments that we didn't improve on from the opening round defeat, particular the penalty count against us in the third quarter.

"Once we can get crowds inside the stadium, it will be a great place to play, but first and foremost we have to make sure the supporters have a team who are performing well that they can get behind. But it's certainly a fantastic place to play club rugby."

Leicester head coach Steve Borthwick:

"There were plenty of opportunities there for us to come away with the win.

"Credit to the players for how they fought back in that second half and put London Irish under continued pressure.

"But, crucially for all that possession and all the dominance we started to get at the set piece, we didn't take those chances and that's something we will need to assess closely."

London Irish: Homer; Loader, Rona, Meakes, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, Meehan; Dell, Creevy, Kepu, Nott, Mahu, Cooke, Cowan, Rogerson (capt).

Replacements: Matu'u, Elrington, Hoskins, Munga, Mafi, Phipps, Brophy Clews, Parton.

Leicester: Steward; Van Wyk, Taute, Scott, Potter; Henry, Wigglesworth; Bower, T Youngs (capt), Cole, Wells, Green, Liebenberg, Brink, Wiese.

Replacements: Clare, Leatigaga, Heyes, Reffell, Taufua, White, Díaz Bonilla, Porter.

Sin-bin: Van Wyk (15).

Referee: Karl Dickson.

Read 254 times

Soccer

Ronaldo fans must end pitch invasions - coach

Ronaldo fans must end pitch invasions - coach

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPortugal coach Roberto Martínez urged supporters not to invade the...

Austria upset Dutch to claim surprise top spot

Austria upset Dutch to claim surprise top spot

Austria's aggressive and hard-running approach propelled them into the round of 16 of the European C...

Mbappé scores as France draw to end group in 2nd

Mbappé scores as France draw to end group in 2nd

A Kylian Mbappé penalty was cancelled out by Robert Lewandowski's spot kick as already-eliminated Po...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Reports: Knicks' Anunoby opts out of contract

Reports: Knicks' Anunoby opts out of contract

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsKnicks guard OG Anunoby has opted out of his contract and into free...

Porzingis scheduled for surgery, to miss Olympics

Porzingis scheduled for surgery, to miss Olympics

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsCenter Kristaps Porzingis, who played through a rare left leg injur...

Baseball

Twins place RHP Chris Paddack on 15-day IL

Twins place RHP Chris Paddack on 15-day IL

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe Minnesota Twins placed Chris Paddack on the 15-day injured list...

Reds place LHP Lodolo (blister) on 15-day IL

Reds place LHP Lodolo (blister) on 15-day IL

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe Cincinnati Reds placed left-hander Nick Lodolo on the 15-day in...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated