Irish defence holds firm to edge out Worcester
A late penalty from Paddy Jackson has sealed a gritty 20-17 victory for London Irish over Worcester at the Brentford Community Stadium on Sunday.
Jackson held his nerve to bisect the post with a monster kick from 56 metres – the longest by any Premiership player this season – as Irish produced a Herculean defensive effort to hold off a Worcester side who belied their position at the foot of the table for much of the game.
The Exiles were on the back foot for most of the match despite leading 17-3 at halftime thanks to converted tries from Ben Meehan and Steve Mafi and Worcester came flying out of the blocks after halftime to dominate.
Niall Annett’s broke through the Irish defensive line on 50 minutes and raced over for a try with Billy Searle kicking the two extra points to kick-start a sustained spell of pressure from the visitors who were encamped on the Irish half for almost 15 minutes
Led by the inspirational veteran flanker Blair Cowan, who made a stunning 35 tackles for the match – the most by any player in the history of the competition – Irish held off wave after wave of Warriors attacks.
Their resistance was finally broken when Justin Clegg wriggled over shortly after Irish were reduced to 14 men when Nick Phipps was yellow-carded.
Searle’s kick levelled up the match at 17-all before Jackson’s huge kick – helped by a strong westerly wind – sailed through the posts to seal the victory.
Worcester continued to press but the Irish defence, who made 307 tackles to Worcester’s 81, somehow held on – despite five minutes of time being added on – to secure a hard-earned win and maintain their hopes of qualifying for European competition next season.
