London Irish to return to Aviva Premiership following 55-48 win over Yorkshire Carnegie

London Irish 55-48 Yorkshire Carnegie, Madejski Stadium

Brendan McKibbin and Alex Lewington scored a double each as London Irish completed a 55-48 victory in the second legged final of RFU Championship against Yorkshire Carnegie at Madejski Stadium to confirm their promotion in the Aviva Premiership.

The victory also meant that London Irish have extended their aggregate to 84-66 following their 29-18 win in the first leg of the final in Headingley.

Canada international Ciaran Hearn got London Irish got off to a promising start but Tommy Bell missed out on the conversion. Yorkshire Carnegie bounced back after Chris Elder offloaded one to Seb Stegmann, who crossed over for the visitors.

Alex Lewington provided the breakthrough for Irish once again as he found McKibbin running an unstoppable angle to scythe through a static defence but Mike Mayhew replied back for Yorkshire Carnegie as he brought the deficit down to six points at the end of the first quarter.

However, Bell added a penalty and a cross over from Fergus Mulchorne provided London Irish clear advantage at half time.

Yorkshire fly-half Joe Ford started the second half with a penalty but a double from Lewington and a touchdown from McKibbin proved enough as London Irish raced to 55 points. Bell also contributed with five penalties and as many conversions in the game.

A try from Benjamin West and a penalty try awarded to Yorkshire Carnegie ensured they gained some momentum and following a red card to Ben Franks and Charlie Beech for punching each other, Simone Faletau and Stegmann scored further tries for the visitors as they ended the game with a respectable total of 48 points.