Rugby story by Georgina Scane, Mon, 30 Jan 2006 08:36:00 GMT


London Irish pulled off a stunning upset as they beat Gloucester for the first time at their opponent's home ground since 1993. It was a curious performance by Gloucester as they played half-heartedly and without much purpose for much of the game.

They only seemed to realize they were the losers during the last 10 minutes of the game as they scrambled in a mad rush to try and snatch a late win. Juan Leguizamon got in the game's only try, which was surprising since there were a host of England players hoping to make it to the starting line-up against Wales in the Six Nations later in the week.

Prospective England centers Mike Tindall and James Simpson-Daniel did not impress at all and it would be surprising if Andy Robinson starts with them. Australian Riki Flutey got in two penalties and a conversion and Ludovic Mercier got in three penalties, but the game petered out to a tame end with London Irish holing on to register a well-deserved win.

Gloucester coach Dean Ryan said that the referee was responsible for his team's loss, "He's a world-class referee and I would welcome him coming in for six or eight weeks but not for one game," Ryan said. "We all know the Premiership is unique, just as the Super-14 is unique and the Tri-Nations is unique, but the laws are interpreted differently around the world and it's unfair on us to deal with that in a one-off game."

London Irish coach Brian Smith said that his side could register their best finish in the Premiership after this win, "It wasn't pretty but we're not worried about that, it was always going to be a tight game," he said. "We want to finish the season strongly, that top four is where we want to be and we're going for it."

Match Details
Referee: J Kaplan (South Africa).

Gloucester: O Morgan; M Garvey (R Keil 50), J Simpson-Daniel, M Tindall, J Bailey; L Mercier, P Richards; P Collazo, M Davies, G Powell, A Eustace, A Brown, P Buxton, J Boer, A Balding (capt, J Forrester 50).

London Irish: M Horak; D Armitage (S Tagicakibau 50), N Mordt, M Catt (capt), T Ojo; R Flutey, P Hodgson; N Hatley (M Collins 78), D Coetzee (D Paice 78), F Rautenbach, B Casey, N Kennedy, K Roche, O Magne (K Dawson 50), J Leguizamon (P Gustard 39).

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