A young Exiles side coached by academy director Nick Kennedy showed plenty of courage and commitment throughout the evening, but were only able to win one of their three games.

They tackled Harlequins on their home ground in the Cup quarter-final, and made the worst possible start when Jordan Burns gave Quins the lead in the opening minute.

Cam Cowell hit back for Irish before he was sin-binned for an alleged tip tackle, and Quins scored again through Jack Maslen to take a 12-5 lead.

Academy starlet Johnny Williams showed tremendous power and footwork to reduce the arrears to 12-10, but Burns’ second try and another from Davin Dampies dumped Exiles out of the main competition.

London Irish bounced back with a victory against Newcastle Falcons in the Plate semi-final.

A try from Will Harries gave Exiles a 5-0 half time lead but that was wiped out late in the second period, before substitute Connor Murphy secured the win for Irish.

However, they were unable to take the honours in the final as they slipped to a 17-0 defeat to a well drilled Leicester Tigers side, with Josh Fowles, Phil woodhead and Dan Rundle crossing the whitewash.

• THE club has also announced that it has extended its partnership with Ridgeway Volkswagen.

The company has been involved with Exiles since 2011 and has agreed a major shirt sponsorship deal along with remaining as the club’s official vehicle partner.

Ridgeway Volkswagen branding will appear on the rear of the first team playing shirts for all Aviva Premiership, LV= Cup and European Rugby Challenge Cup fixtures.

The company will also enjoy extensive branding, marketing rights on match days and replica jersey branding.

As part of the sponsorship, Ridgeway - which operates Volkswagen dealerships in Reading and Newbury - has provided the club with a fleet of Volkswagen Golf’s and Caddy vans, to be used for the club’s

community projects.

Jim O’Toole, commercial director at London Irish said: “Ridgeway Volkswagen have been great partners for us over the last few years and we are pleased to extend the relationship for another two seasons. We look forward to taking the marketing partnership to a new level.”

Ridgeway’s Chief Executive John O’Hanlon added: “We are absolutely delighted to have the Ridgeway name alongside that of London Irish once again.

“We believe there is a great fit with our Volkswagen dealerships and the Club and look forward to continuing our successful partnership.”

Andrew Lean, Ridgeway Volkswagen’s Brand Director was delighted to continue the deal.

He said: “We are a performance-orientated and innovative brand so there is no better fit than with a sport that continually captures the imagination and a loyal following.”

London Irish’s Aviva Premiership season kicks off on Saturday September 6 when they face Harlequins at Twickenham as part of the London double header.