London Irish 13 Harlequins 16

Published 31 Jan 2010 14:30 0 Comments

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LONDON Irish slipped to a narrow 16-13 defeat at the hands of rivals Harlequins as their hopes of progressing in the LV= Cup suffered a terminal blow.

Quins scored all their points in the first 40 minutes, and despite a valiant fightback by the hosts after the break, they could not get the win that would have still given them a chance to progress from Pool Two.

The visitors led 16-3 at half-time thanks to Sam Smith's breakaway try, and 11 points from the boot of Nick Evans.

Ryan Lamb got the hosts' only points with the final kick of the half, but missed two other penalty chances he would expect to have made - and they were to prove crucial in the final analysis.

Irish absolutely dominated possession and territory after the break, with Quins rarely getting the chance to get out of their own half.

Academy centre Jonathan Joseph crossed for his first try for the senior side 12 minutes into the second half, but Lamb's missed conversion meant Quins still led by two scores.

And despite throwing everything at their visitors, Irish did not score again until Joseph grabbed his second try after time had expired.

Another missed conversion by Lamb summed up his day, and left Irish facing a meaningless clash at Worcester next week, with Scarlets almost assured of topping the pool.

Full-time

80mins: It's going to be too late, but Irish get the second try their pressure has deserved, and once again it's the Exiles' man of the match Joseph who crosses in the corner. Lamb misses another kick, but the damage was done withe earlier misses.

77mins: Irish are pressing but indiscipline is costing them at crucial moments. Looks like Lamb could be left to rue those missed kicks today.

72mins: Lamb has looked much more dangerous today with ball in hand rather than at his feet. A terrific sidestep sees him burst into the Quins' 22, but he is lacking support and the ball is turned over.

69mins: Quins finally break out and win a penalty just inside the Irish half. Evans has plenty of distance on the kick, but pulls it just to the left of the posts. Still just eight points in it.

64mins: Constant Irish pressure at the moment as the look to close within a score. But Quins are defending tigerishly to keep the hosts at bay. Plenty of time left though.

52mins: For once I wasn't wrong. Irish keeping the ball in hand after a fine counterattack before spreading it wide to Ojo. He does well to stay in play before feeding Jonathan Joseph to cross for his first Exiles' try. Lamb misses a makeable conversion though. Not having one of his best days with the boot...

46mins: Game really starting to open up now - I can see there being a few more tries in the remainder of this clash. By the way 10,030 inside the Mad Stad today. Not too bad for rugby's version of the Carling Cup...

42 mins: Turner-Hall returns after his sinbin, and Irish didn't take advantage - still 13 points adrift after a penalty to either side in the centre's absence.

Half-time: Well, Irish have enjoyed plenty of territory and possession, but have only really threatened on a couple of occasions, and Sam Smith's breakaway try has given Quins a cosy 13-point interval advantage, leading 16-3.

40mins: Irish finally get on the scoreboard with a penalty on the stroke of half-time, Lamb's kick scraping over after hitting the post.

37mins: Well it hasn't helped much so far. Irish concede a penalty in front of the posts but near halfway. Evans takes the shot at goal and converts with ease to move Quins 16-0 ahead.

36mins: The hosts will play the rest of the first half with a man advantage after Jordan Turner-Hall is sinbinned for a late hit on Ryan Lamb. But Lamb himself misses a presentable chance to get Irish on the scoreboard when he pulls the resultant penalty wide.

35mins: Irish have been exerting constant pressure on the Quins line for the last 10 minutes. But as they look to get Topsy Ojo away on the right, Quins' Sam Smith steps in, snaffles the pass and sprints 70m unchallenged to score under the posts. Evans adds the extras and suddenly it's 13-0 to the visitors.

31mins: Same corner, same frustrating outcome for the Exiles. Captain for the day Peter Hewat chips through for himself, collects and touches down. But he has put a foot in touch a metre short of the line, and it is just a Quins lineout. The hosts are getting some joy down their left side though.

26mins: Irish come closest to the game's first try with a quick move along the line giving Sailosi Tagicakibau his first sight of the tryline. But Quins skipper Mike Brown makes a fine trysaving tackle to force the winger into touch a couple of metres short.

22mins: Penalty in front of the posts, Evans obliges, 6-0. Simples (to quote a recent advertising campaign)

20mins: Quins enjoying the better of things so far, dominating possession and territory, but Irish's defence has held firm so far.

10mins: Irish go straight on the attack after falling behind, and their scrum enjoys some early success. They win a penalty after Quins collapse one, but Ryan Lamb's effort hits the upright and bounces to safety.

5mins: Quins take advantage of an early penalty to move 3-0 ahead. Nick Evans chips over from the 22, just to the left of the posts.

2.55pm: The LV= Cup features one of the more extraordinary qualifying processes in the world of sport - namely you play none of the sides you are drawn with in the group stages. Instead you take on all four sides from another group to ensure equal number of home and away games.

That all means that the Exiles' earlier victory over Cardiff and defeat to Wasps sees them sitting third in Pool Two behind Scarlets and Gloucester.

Confused? You soon will be...

Hello, good afternoon and welcome to the Madejski Stadium for today's Anglo-Welsh Cup clash between London Irish and their great rivals Harlequins.

Having agonisingly slipped out of the Heineken Cup last weekend, Toby Booth's men will be looking to get straight back to winning ways with the visit of their 'neighbours' from The Stoop.

With the Six Nations kicking off next weekend, Irish are without their England contingent with Booth making 12 changes to the starting XV from last week's clash with Leinster.

But with a Heineken Cup spot on offer to the winner of the LV= Cup, both sides will be desperate for the win to keep them in line for qualification from their respective pools.

The action gets underway at 3pm.

London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat (c), 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Mike Catt, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Peter Richards, 1 Dan Murphy 2 James Buckland, 3 Paulica Ion, 4 Gary Johnson, 5 Andy Perry, 6 Kieran Roche, 7 Richard Thorpe, 8 George Stowers.

Replacements: 16 Danie Coetzee, 17 James Tideswell, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 John Rudd, 22 Alfredo Lalanne, 23 Jamie Lennard.

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 George Lowe, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Sam Smith, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 1 Ceri Jones, 2 Matt Cairns, 3 John Andress, 4 James Percival, 5 Lewis Stevenson, 6 Chris York, 7 Will Skinner (c), 8 Tom Guest.

Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Aston Croall, 18 James Johnston, 19 Thomas Vallejos, 20 Neil McMillan, 21 Steve So'Oialo, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Josh Drauniniu.

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