London Irish brush aside financial questions to win their Premiership finale

After a difficult week for London Irish, overshadowed by financial uncertainty, the men in green ended their season on a high, beating Exeter Chiefs 17-14 in a match for the purists at the Gtech.

First-half tries from Jacques Vermeulen and Juan Martin Gonzalez kept the score level at the break. The second half was a tightly fought affair with scores from Tom Pearson and Tom Hendrickson but Martin Gonzalez’s second score sealed the victory for Exile Nation and their highest finish in the Premiership since 2009.

“I saw on YouTube a basketball match and he was talking about success,” said London Irish Director of Rugby Declan Kidney.

“Only one team can win but like what the lads have battled through this year, like in other clubs is huge but to get through a war like that when they’re not used to doing it is brilliant and I think what you saw was a bit of real ‘this is what it’s about.’

“There’s no trophy for it but you live with the last result for a week or two but you live with your league placing for the rest of the summer and that can give a little bit of confidence.

“We’re planning for a rich future; you saw the age of the lads out on the pitch that came to join the team and that’s what we are building it on. There’s a rich future for this club on the pitch and I’m sure the people of the pitch will do the business and they just need a bit of time to see it through.”

The less said about the first half the better. In front of 11, 576 fans, both sides failed to get a foothold in the game earlier on. Rain that had dampened the King’s Coronation was limiting attacks on both sides of the ball with knock-ons a plenty and scrum time dominating the opening 40 minutes.

Under the high ball, Irish were being exposed. The visitors were able to pepper the Irish wings and exploit the slippery hands of winger Lucio Cinti who dropped four catches in a row.

Exeter were first on the board. After Paddy Jackson missed an early penalty, it was a seemingly endless wait until Jacques Vermeulen rumbled over for the visitors with captain Henry Slade adding the extras.

There continued to be no luck for the Irish through the air.  But after back-to-back offside penalties, the hosts turned the ball on their try line and the Gtech stadium roared into life to the sound of Irish drums and choruses of ‘Fields of Athenry’ undeterred by the lashing rain.

London Irish dominated the subsequent scrum and Jackson’s penalty cleared their line to the 22.

The Irish forwards took matters into their own hands and after winning the lineout, drove Exeter over 30 metres back inside their half and beyond their 10-metre line in a textbook display of how to maul.

Minutes later, following another attacking lineout, deep in the Chiefs’ 22, a well-executed set piece saw the ball weave its way into the hand of Juan Martin Gonzalez who broke tackles to dive across the line and finally get the hosts on the board. Jackson levelled the match with his conversion.

Play resumed in a similarly dreich fashion to the first with both sides causing unforced errors all over the park.

The loudest cheer of the half came as Irish talisman and the team’s top tackler Tom Pearson was unleashed onto the field. The forward made an immediate impact, adding to his already electric season, scoring off the back of a maul 10 minutes after coming on for his final appearance of the Premiership season.

Pearson’s try proved a catalyst for both teams to embrace this season’s curtain call. Knock-on chaos continued but the Chiefs capitalised in midfield as Tom Wyatt scooped up a loose Irish ball. A simple offload to Tom Hendrickson saw the replacement canter over the line from halfway.

The unpredictability of the loose balls meant it was impossible to predict when the next break would come. Amidst the disorder, Jackson offloaded into the hands of Pearson down the right wing who linked up beautifully with Martin Gonzalez who scored his brace in the corner on his way to a Player of the Match performance.

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