London Irish chief aiming to shock Saracens

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London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney insists his side are heading in the right direction despite registering just one win this season.

Irish face a trip to a daunting trip to Saracens on Saturday, who despite the absence of England stars Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and Jamie George, will still be a stern test.


The Exiles one victory came at champions Exeter and they have drawn against Sale and Gloucester but all three of their defeats have been by single-figure margins, something Kidney admits has been both deeply frustrating and also encouraging.

“The frustrating thing last week against Bristol is that we were at home and you want to make more of that,” Kidney said.

“But what we know is that if we stay on the money for 80 minutes it will obviously give us a better chance of winning.

“We did that at Exeter but not last week and we are absolutely going to have to do it this week against Saracens.”

Irish are the fifth highest points scorers in the division and lead the league in bonus point scoring.

Despite these positive statistics, Kidney said his side need to start turning the performances into victories.

“I have been around long enough that there never used to be analysts and the only statistic that mattered was that on the scoreboard,” he said.

“But that said, those stats show we are going in the right direction but what we need to be doing is getting across the finishing line.”