Hearn taking the positives

This weekend sees London Irish face Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership, with Falcons currently sitting on place above the Exiles at the bottom of the table.

After Boxing Day’s heroic win against Northampton, London Irish put in a frustrating display at Kingsholm, squandering a 12 – 6 lead at the break following a Gloucester fight back. In contrast, Falcons started their 2016 with a win over last year’s finalists, Bath.

One play who made it onto the score sheet for London Irish last week was Canadian centre, Ciaran Hearn. He joined the club following an impressive World Cup where his performances saw him named in the Tier Two Team of the Tournament.

There is no denying that the Exiles are starting to move in the right direction, and Hearn is keen for the squad to build on the positives they have shown in their last two outings.

“Nobody wants to have a losing record and be at the bottom of the table,” he said.  “We have to take the positives out of what we have done but also look at the negatives and try to rectify them.

“If we do and take care of our structures and individual performances then our team performance will come out of it.

“I have settled in really well, the boys are great and have welcomed me with open arms, I am really enjoying it.

“It was good, good to get a monkey off the back and hopefully I can do it again,” said Hearn of his first try for the Club. “But I’m not really worried about the individual things I am just focused on the team aspect

“It was one of those momentum shifts that happens in every kind of sport,” said the Newfoundland native of the Gloucester game. “There are going to be shifts in a game but it is about how you deal with them.”

“I think we have learned how we can deal with it so in the future when we get into those situations we can look back on that game and know what to do.”

Hearn will be hoping they have learned the lessons fast, with their crucial game against Newcastle just around the corner.

“It is going to be a big game but every game is a big game,” he said of the match on Sunday.

“You have to look at the processes of the game, you can’t look at the outcomes. If you worry about the outcomes you wont get the processes right.

 “If you focus on your individual actions phase to phase and minute to minute and get those right then we will come away with the ‘W’.”