London Irish’s inconsistent season took another twist with their heaviest defeat in the league since May 2006. The Exiles went down by 30 points to 3 against an off form Bath team. Irish now sit sixth in the league but have again dropped points in a game they would have expected to at least pick up a losing bonus point.
Irish were outclassed all over the pitch, with Bath particularly dominating in the forwards. It took 16 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, but once it was, through a converted Stephen Donald try, Bath never looked back and the Irish were never in contention.
Tom Homer added a solitary penalty for Irish on half an hour, but numerous errors from the Exiles let Bath in on a number of occasions. This was summed up when just after half time Adrian Jarvis’ loose chip was easily collected by former England full back, Abendanon who linked up with Tom Biggs to wrap the game up for Bath. Abendanon is one of the favourites to be the Player of the Tournament on the Betfair Six Nations Betting markets
England star, Delon Armitage, who has previous with Bath was sin binned in the 70th minute for a late tackle, which cost Irish further, when a penalty try was awarded to Bath the add insult to injury. The 27 point defeat was a delight to Bath coach Ian McGeechan, whose Bath team were impressive. The big story though could be Irish’s poor display and with tough games against Sale and Harlequins their next two league encounters it could be the start of a difficult run for the Exiles.
This was not only their heaviest defeat for five and a half years, but was up their as one of the worst performances in that time. They will have to improve on this display if they want to be in contention for a return to the Betfair Heineken Cup 2012 next year. Consistency has been missing for the Exiles this year and it is something they must find soon.