NICK Kennedy praised 19-year-old wing Joe Cokanasiga after he again impressed during Exiles’ crushing 82-3 Greene King IPA Championship victory against Rotherham Titans, writes Richard Ashton.

The 19-year-old’s power and off-loading ability was again in evidence as he set up a brace of the hosts’ 12 tries, and underlined why he has been tipped as a possible wildcard England tourist to Argentina this summer.

Kennedy told the Chronicle: “Joe’s an excellent player. I’ve known him since he was 16 and he’s been a great player for the Under 18s for a couple of years.

“It’s great to see him out on our home ground and doing what he’s been doing for the U18s. He’s a fantastic prospect.”

With Irish having only one regular season game left before they enter the play-offs in search of promotion back to the Aviva Premiership, Kennedy revealed his side are upping their intensity.

He commented: “There’s definitely an extra buzz around the camp. We’ve changed a few things because everything until now had been about rotating the squad and trying to stay injury-free and peaking towards the end.

“It’s different now. We’re looking for continuity in the team for the first time now and hopefully we’ll see the benefits of that.”

He continued: “I thought it was a very, very good display. It was an 80-minute performance which was great. Everything we’ve been doing all year has been about peaking for the end of the season, such is the nature of the league.

“This was the first game where we really wanted to put our 80-minute performance together. We’ve trained the team together the past couple of weeks and you could see the benefits of that.

“Everyone who came on really, really added. It was great to see Tommy Bell back, kicking the ball a mile.

“What we’ve been doing in the gym, what we’ve been doing on the pitch, is all about this sprint finish which we’re entering now.”

Kennedy admitted that while the side that crushed Rotherham is near his first-choice, there is still time for tweaking.

He revealed: “We have got a few injuries and we’ve got a very strong squad.

“It was a very good team we put out and we are looking for continuity, but there will be one or two changes.”