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London Irish head coach Tom Coventry is expecting a "fully loaded" Grenoble side to visit the Madejski Stadium for their European Rugby Challenge Cup Pool 5 clash. - 13/01/2016 15:30
London Irish head coach Tom Coventry is expecting a “fully loaded” Grenoble side to visit the Madejski Stadium for their European Rugby Challenge Cup Pool 5 clash.
The Exiles are sitting second in the standings after winning two of their four games to date and are well in the hunt for a quarter-final berth.
However, one of the Aviva Premiership side’s defeats came at the hands of pool leaders Grenoble when a heartbreaking score from an overthrown Exiles line-out allowed the Frenchman to snatch the victory from the last play of the game and change the complexion of the pool.
Gaining revenge would give Irish, who climbed out of the Premiership relegation zone at the weekend, a great chance of advancing but Coventry knows how tough a proposition Grenoble will prove.
“We had a good result at the weekend, we need to be winning regularly and it certainly does not do any harm if you can get those wins in front of your home crowd,” he said.
“I think we are growing as a team, it’s about getting players to be aligned in their thinking and that is a work on for us because we have maybe relinquished leads at times this season and we want to see an improvement in our ability to close games out.
“I would like to think the win at the weekend can boost confidence. Grenoble have been playing well and will come fully loaded after a week off. I will have to make changes, I cannot afford to play guys week in week out, but this comes at a good time for guys to impress.”
Match Facts
- Grenoble have won two of their three matches against London Irish, though all three of those matches have been decided by a margin of 10 or fewer points.
- London Irish have accumulated 18 wins across the last 20 fixtures where they’ve hosted a team from France (D1, L1).
- London Irish have won 21 of their last 24 home matches in the Challenge Cup, including their last two by a combined margin of 86-16.
- Grenoble have won their last three matches in the Challenge Cup, a win against London Irish would extend that streak to their best ever in the competition.
Obligé de gagner après le succès d'Edimbourg contre Agen
Grenoble put themselves in charge of Pool 5 – and dealt a hammer blow to London Irish knock-out stages qualification hopes – with a 28-18 win on the road at the Madejski Stadium.
The top 14 club head the group on 18 points, a point ahead of Edinburgh Rugby, with the Exiles six points off the pace with just one round of matches to go.
Grenoble and Edinburgh, the two pacesetters in the group, now meet in a winner-takes-all clash at Stade des Alpes in a thrilling climax to the Pool.
But in Reading it all added up to Grenoble notching up a notable double as a dramatic score from an overthrown Exiles line-out allowed the Frenchman to snatch the Round 2 victory from the last play of the game and change the complexion of the Pool.
Grenoble have now won their last four matches in the Challenge Cup, their best run in the competition, while London Irish were condemned to just a fourth defeat in their last 25 home matches.
Shane Geraghty did give the Exiles the lead in the first minute with a penalty goal – but that was the only time they were ahead as Grenoble responded with two Jonathan Wisniewski penalties.
Geraghty did level matters but from the 18th minute on they were chasing the game.
Tries from Armand Batlle and Nigel Hunt put them in charge ahead of the break with Wisniewski converting both to open up a 15-points advantage.
Charl McLeod got a third early in the second half and although London Irish staged something of a comeback with late, late tries from Dom Waldouck and Alex Lewington not even good enough for a bonus point as Grenoble had already done the damage.
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