JOSH McNally hopes his London Irish side can gain a measure of revenge when they travel to Jersey in the Greene King IPA Championship this Saturday (2pm), writes Richard Ashton.

The Islanders were the only side to beat Exiles in their last spell in the second tier of English rugby two years ago, while also knocking them out of the British & Irish Cup at the quarter-final stage.

Irish go into Saturday’s contest having moved three points clear of Ealing Trailfinders at the top of the table on the back of a pulsating 38-29 home victory against Cornish Pirates on Saturday – their eighth consecutive win – and appear well set for an immediate return to the Gallagher Premiership.

But McNally, who scored two tries as skipper against Pirates, says his side will be up to the task in Jersey.

He told the Chronicle: “Two years ago we lost to them two weeks on the bounce in the league and the cup, and there are a few lads still here hurting from that.

“We want to go and prove a point and really try and put some space below us.

“We’re pretty happy to be top of the league, we’ve been chasing that since we missed the game in round three, so it’s nice to see us there.

“There were some good performances against Pirates and we’re happy going into Jersey.”

Director of Rugby, Declan Kidney, agreed his side must be on their mettle, stating: “Two years ago this was the game we lost and playing them over there, we’ll need to adapt.

“They’ve been scoring points for fun and we’ll need everything we have.”