NICK Kennedy hailed the London Irish pack following their emphatic win at Connacht Eagles which sealed their place in the British & Irish Cup quarter finals.

Exiled romped to a 41-14 victory in Athlone on Saturday to reach the last eight of the tournament with one group match to spare.

Irish, who are now unbeaten in 18 games in all competitions, ran in seven tries during the bonus-point victory including a blistering 19-minute hat-trick from scrum-half Scott Steele, a brace from Academy product Ross Neal plus further touchdowns from Senitiki Nayalo and Tom Gleave.

And director of rugby Kennedy said the performance of his forwards helped lay the foundations for the victory.

He beamed: “Our scrum was brilliant, especially in the first half, so well done to the tight five.

“It was great to see Theo Brophy Clews and Joe Trayfoot getting some valuable game-time following lengthy spells out through injury.

“We leaked a couple of line breaks which we will have to look at during the week, but on the whole we are flying home happy.”

A host of London Irish players stood out against the Eagles including towering lock, Josh McNally, on his debut following his recent capture from London Welsh.

“I thought Josh did well considering he’s only trained with us three times,” added Kennedy. “Our core values are still yet to be engrained in him, but his performance was pleasing.

“I’m looking forward to seeing more from him and the rest of the squad who are training very well at the moment.

“As the week went on, training intensified and there was a lot of transfer from that into the game which was excellent.”

Irish will be hoping to preserve their unbeaten record when they host Ospreys Premiership Select in their final British & Irish Cup group match at Madejski Stadium this Saturday (2pm ko).