Toby takes positives from European exit

Published 25 Jan 2010 09:00 0 Comments

LONDON Irish head coach Toby Booth is looking on the bright side after seeing his side knocked out of the Heineken Cup in heart-breaking circumstances on Saturday at Twickenham.

Fly half Chris Malone's 78th minute penalty looked to be enough to give the Exiles a narrow 11-8 win over reigning champions Leinster and book their place in the last eight.

However, Ireland number 10 Jonathon Sexton had other ideas. His 79th minute drop goal brought the sides level again and despite two last gasp attempts by Malone to find a winning kick, Irish had to settle for an 11-11 draw.

That saw them slip to third in Pool Six and bow out of Europe, but Booth hopes the disappointment proves to be another stepping stone in the development of the club.

He said: "I'm not feeling suicidal. Strange as it may seem, my first emotion is I'm proud of what we've achieved in this Heineken Cup campaign.

"To be undefeated against the team that holds the trophy, and to go to their back garden and win, tells me we can live at the top table of European rugby.

"The damage was not done at Twickenham, it was done in rounds two and five. While you can have some indifferent performances in the Guinness Premiership, if you have them in the Heineken Cup you can't recover.

"It's part of the continued improvement that we need, this ability to perform when we feel less threatened.

"It's about moving from happy underdog to expectant favourite and we need to learn that at this club."

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