LES Kiss reflected on a satisfying afternoon as London Irish retained their nine-point advantage at the top of the Greene King IPA Championship following an eight-try, 52-22 home win against Coventry, writes Richard Ashton.

Exiles overcame a mid-game wobble when the visitors closed the gap to 31-17 with a brace of quick-fire tries to run out comfortable victors, although Kiss admitted to slightly mixed emotions.

He told the Chronicle: "It was a satisfying afternoon, but we had to work hard for it. At times we were a little frustrated we couldn't get our teeth right into the game and we were our own worst enemies at times.

"We probably left a couple of scores out there, but to get eight tries in any competition, you've got to be happy.

"On the flip side, we were just a little bit lazy with our defence and it's not nice to yield that many points."

Kiss was particularly pleased with some of the play from his back-line, which contributed six of the eight tries, and in particular man-of-the-match Alvireti Veitokani.

He commented: "He's an exciting product and we probably haven't seen anywhere near his best at this stage. He comes from an environment that's a little more unstructured and we hope he can build in.

"We saw a few bits of what he can do though and I'm sure we'll see a lot more.

"He's good on both sides of the ball, he can make a hit and he puts his shoulder into the tackle."

The centre partnership of Tom Stephenson and Brendan Macken also impressed, with the latter a late call-up for the ill Terence Hepetema.

Kiss reflected: "They were good. We've been building combinations throughout the year and we're seeing that come through.

"Tom Stephenson has been really strong on both sides of the ball, and while Brendan hasn't had a lot of chances, he's shown both last week and this week his class."

Macken modestly added: "Tom's a great player and the type of guy whose a joy to play alongside. He's a good pal of mine and I enjoy playing with him.

"It's important for the backs to take some pressure off the forwards – obviously the rolling maul has been a massive weapon for us this season – but it's our responsibility to take some of the workload away from them."