Coventry staying positive

After back-to-back wins over European giants Leinster and Toulon in the Champions Cup, Wasps continued their run of form into the Premiership at the London Double Header at Twickenham.

London Irish played host to the Coventry outfit in a game which saw the Exiles’ big summer signing and double World Cup winner Ben Franks make his Aviva Premiership debut.

The final score of 33 – 15 somewhat flattered Wasps who, after an incredible defensive effort from the Exiles, ran away with two late tries in the final ten minutes to put the game out of reach.

The opening periods of the game saw Wasps dominate possession and territory but the Exiles’ defence held firm meaning Wasps only had a Ruaridh Jackson penalty to show for their efforts.

Chris Noakes levelled the score for London Irish from the tee after breaks from Aseli Tikoirotuma and Ofisa Treviranus put Wasps under pressure and forced the penalty.

A second Jackson penalty reclaimed the lead for Wasps but it took them two bites at the cherry to claim the first try. First England hopeful Nathan Hughes spilled the ball over the line but in the end the Wasps pressure told and Frank Halai dived in at the corner.

With seconds left in the half Irish responded, Alex Lewington’s break providing the platform for teenage centre Johnny Williams to score his third try in as many games for the Exiles having made his debut two weeks ago.

In the second half a try from Elliot Daly and the boots of Jackson and replacement Jimmy Gopperth put Irish on the back foot but the Exiles battled back, Williams crossing for his second to close the gap to just six points and Irish in the ascendancy.

However, a late flourish from Wasps with tries from Thomas Young and a second for Halai saw them end the game comfortable winners a 33 – 15.

Despite recording a fifth straight loss in the Premiership, Tom Coventry was adamant his team are moving in the right direction.

“There were signs of growth in our game,” he commented after the match. “Particularly our defence which was marvellous at times, I have just been looking at the stats and Wasps had 65% possession which meant a lot of defending for us.

“I thought we were pretty valiant at times in defence but it wore us down eventually.

Although the Exiles did defend for large periods of the game, when they did attack they looked threatening and Coventry was keen to praise his young centre.

“We had performances like the one from young Johnny Williams who scored two today as an 18 year old playing in the Premiership,” he said.

“I thought he was marvellous and there is some real growth in his game so there are lots of positives.

“Our scrum was pretty strong today but at times we struggled to play, we spent a lot of time in our own 22 and that was a bit of an issue for us tonight.

“Obviously as you lose more games it becomes frustrating and the big thing when you lose is that you lose your confidence. We need to make sure we continue to keep our confidence in our Club and stay as positive as we can with what we are trying to do.

“A lot of what we are doing is good but the results aren’t quite coming and we aren’t polished enough and we are certainly a little naïve in certain parts of our game.

“I would like to hope at the end of the year we can look back on this time and say it has been a building block for us and something we needed to go through but we are desperate to do what we need to do which is to win football.”