London Irish 2022-23 season preview - prediction, signings, ones to watch
Api Ratuniyarawa made over a century of appearances in six seasons for Northampton Saints before joining Irish
©Steve Haag
Will this be the season London Irish realise their potential?
The Exiles will dine with Europe’s elite this term as their young squad look to make more strides up the Gallagher Premiership table.
Under the leadership of Declan Kidney and Les Kiss, their attacking and 'never say die' style of play should attract many to the Gtech Community Stadium once again this campaign.
Many believe this may be the season Irish make a push for the top four places as they currently have some of the biggest English talents in the country in Henry Arundell, Tom Pearson and Will Joseph.
Last time out
Last season was one of real progress for London Irish as they qualified for the Heineken Champions Cup and were runners-up in the Premiership Cup.
They will still be hurting from that cup final loss to Worcester at their home stadium, but they can take great positives from the campaign especially due to the young players they unearthed in their academy.
Arundell, Joseph and Pearson had great ‘breakthrough’ campaigns as they showed their talents on the big stage.
They finished the year in eighth place resulting in a spot at Europe’s top table, something they haven’t experienced since the 2011-12 season.
The London-based side will be looking for a better start to the Premiership term than the last as they only won one of their opening five games.
One improvement Irish will be hoping to implement this season is turning draws into wins. The Exiles drew an astonishing five games in 2021-22 which is unheard of.
Incomings
Danilo Fischetti (Loosehead Prop) from Zebre
Luca Morisi (Centre) from Benetton
Tom Hitchcock (Centre) from the University of Exeter
Josh Basham (Back Row) from Newcastle Falcons
Josh Caulfield (Second Row) from Cornish Pirates
Ed Scragg (Second Row) from Cornish Pirates
Api Ratuniyarawa (Second Row) from Northampton Saints
Joe Powell (Scrum-half) from Melbourne Rebels
So’otala Fa’aso’o (Back Row) from Brive
Isaac Miller (Hooker) from Worcester Warriors
Outgoings
Albert Tuisue (Back Row) to Gloucester
Terrence Hepetema (Centre) to Grenoble
Steve Mafi (Second Row) to Oyonnax
George Nott (Second Row) to Dragons
Phil Cokanasiga (Centre) to Leicester Tigers
Olly Cracknell (Back Row) to Leicester Tigers
Rory Brand (Scrum-half) to Watsonian
Marcel Van der Merwe (Tighthead Prop) to Brive
Allan Dell (Loosehead Prop) to Glasgow Warriors
Nick Phipps (Scrum-half) to Green Rockets Tokatsu
Tadgh McElroy (Hooker) returned to Ealing Trailfinders
Sean O’Brien (Back Row) retired
George Davis (Hooker) retired
Theo Smerdon (Fly-half) retired
Jamie Dever (Tighthead Prop) released
Noel Reid (Centre) released
Alandre van Rooyen (Hooker) released
Rory Morgan (Scrum-half) released
Cillian Redmond (Winger) released
Marcus Rhodes (Back Row) released
Areas of strength
The main strength of this Irish squad is the youth and the fearless attitude that comes with that.
The backline options are quite frankly scary in terms of their age and profile.
The coaching group will have to make a lot of hard decisions during the season when picking their weapons of choice which includes the likes of full-back sensation Arundell, Joseph, Ollie Hassell-Collins, Tom Parton and Ben Loader to name just a few.
This young backline will keep defences up and down the Premiership on their toes as they have the pace and trickery to score from anywhere, as Arundell showed on many occasions last year.
Players like Loader, Parton and Hassell-Collins also have another year of experience under their belt which will help them and also academy graduates Joseph and Arundell.
The hooker position is one of great depth and quality in the Irish squad too.
Augustin Creevy, despite being 37-year-old, still brings so much quality and power to this Exiles pack as well as a great try-scoring record.
The Argentinian veteran racked up an astonishing 14 tries last time out and will be looking to do the same this season as he comes under pressure for a starting role from new signing, Isaac Miller, and Englishman Matt Cornish
Areas of weakness
One weakness this ambitious club may have is the lack of experience to guide such a youthful squad.
There are only three players over the age of 30 in their ranks which begs the question; Will the side crumble under pressure?
Creevy and new signing, Api Ratuniyarawa, will bring a wealth of knowledge to the pack but fellow newcomer, Luca Morisi, is the oldest player in the backs at 31-year-old.
Paddy Jackson will have the bulk of the leadership being a seasoned pro however if the No.10 was to pick up an injury this campaign, then the Exiles will struggle to replace the 30-year-old with the same calibre of skill and experience.
Fellow fly-halves Rory Jennings and Jacob Atkins didn’t start a single Premiership game last season between them so this may cause a lot of stress among the Irish fans who will be hoping Jackson has a clean bill of health this season.
Opening fixtures
Round 1: Worcester Warriors (H)
Round 2: Northampton Saints (A)
Round 3: Bristol Bears (A)
Round 4: Bath Rugby (H)
Round 5: Sale Sharks (A)
London Irish are set to open their season against a Worcester Warriors side who have endured an extremely difficult time since the final whistle sounded on the 2021-22 campaign.
Following that, three away fixtures in the opening five rounds will really test the credentials of this promising Exiles squad while a home clash against Bath will be a real chance to gain some valuable early points.
Predicted line-up
1. Danilo Fischetti
2. Agustin Creevy
3. Ollie Hoskins
4. Adam Coleman
5. Api Ratuniyarawa
6. Matt Rogerson
7. Tom Pearson
8. So’atala Fa’aso’o
9. Ben White
10. Paddy Jackson
11. Ben Loader
12. Benhard Janse Van Rensburg
13. Curtis Rona
14. Ollie Hassell-Collins
15. Henry Arundell
Predicted finish: 7th
This was another hard prediction to make because it is clear to see that Irish are a team on the up but when you ultimately evaluate their squad against some of the giants of the Premiership, you can see them falling just short of the top four.
Their backline has great potential, but over the course of a season, they might be found out defensively.
They also don’t have the same calibre of depth in their pack compared to the likes of Gloucester, Leicester Tigers and Saracens to maintain a top-four push in my opinion.
Despite this, I believe the Exiles will be the team to watch this term playing expansive rugby once again, and scoring an abundance of tries.
2023-24 maybe when we finally see Irish make the top-four and challenge for the Premiership title. Since returning to London, it feels like the Exiles have their identity and team back again which can only put them in good stead for the future.
