London Irish edged out in season opener

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London Irish kicked off their Premiership season with a 11-10 defeat at Worcester.

In a scrappy affair at Sixways, Worcester led 6-3 for much of the match before Australian scrum-half Nick Phipps dived over to put Irish in front 13 minutes from time with Paddy Jackson kicking the conversion.



But Worcester hit back immediately when Tom Howe touched down in the corner to restore his side’s lead after the match officials took a second look at the grounding of the ball.

The subsequent missed conversion gave the home team the narrowest of margins to defend and Jackson had a golden opportunity to put Irish back in front eight minutes from time.

However, his penalty fell short in front of the posts and despite some late pressure from the Exiles, Worcester’s defence held firm to claim the win.

Irish play their first ever match at their new home of the Brentford Community Stadium next Sunday against Leicester.