DAVID Paice admitted his record-breaking 283rd London Irish appearance had been marred by an 'embarrassing' 10 minutes at the start of the second half as Exiles were beaten 25-17 at Northampton Saints.

Having performed superbly to take a 14-3 lead into half time, Nick Kennedy's men shipped three tries in just eight minutes at Franklin's Gardens, a result which leaves them 16 points adrift at the foot of the Aviva Premiership and facing an immediate relegation back down from the top flight.

Paice – who has spent 13 years at London Irish – went past teammate Topsy Ojo's record number of appearances for the club in the defeat, but was left to rue another frustrating day at the office.

He confessed: “I was very proud of our first half performance going into half-time 14-3 up, but the first 10 minutes of the second half was pretty embarrassing.

“Northampton came out for the second half on the front foot and executed their attacks very well. We missed tackles and conceded a succession of penalties to give them some momentum and you can’t afford to do that at this level.”

Irish host second-bottom Worcester Warriors – who have all but secured their safety with back-to-back victories against champions Exeter Chiefs and high-flying Gloucester – on Sunday (1pm), and while survival appears impossible, Paice said his side will fight right to the bitter end.

He said: “There’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves and giving up.

“We’ve got to get back into training, get ourselves fully prepared for the Worcester game and take each game as it comes.

“Yes, we have a huge hill to climb, but we’ll be putting everything we can into the Worcester game.”

Director of rugby Kennedy echoed his sentiments, adding: "That eight-minute spell was a big momentum swing. Those little switch-offs and tiny areas have cost us big this season and they cost us again.

"We're going to fight right to the end until it's mathematically impossible to survive.

"Most people are writing us off now, so there's no pressure on us and we just need to go out and play."