London Irish Assistant Coach Brad Davis has said that the team will savour a win over Bath Rugby as the Exiles took a first win at the Recreation Ground in 14 years.
Scores from Paddy Jackson, Ben White and Benhard Janse van Rensburg aided in the momentous victory for the Exiles in Round 17 of the Gallagher Premiership.
Davis was still a coach at Bath when Irish last triumphed away from home to the Blue, Black and Whites, as his current side held out their hosts in a 13-0 second-half win on Saturday.
As well as the scoring effort of Irish on the day, for Davis the defensive work rate throughout was a key contributor to earning four points on the road in the West Country.
“It’s a huge win for the Club,” he proudly stated.
“It was 2009 the last time the Club won at the Rec, we understand they’re a very good team and could’ve won last time out against Sale.
“We always knew it was going to be a tough challenge to come down here, so all credit must go to the guys.
“We were under huge amounts of pressure in that first 40 minutes and we were camped out on our own try line, and I believe that determined the outcome of the game.
“We kept them to a minimal scoreboard going into the break gave us real confidence to come out in the second half and impose ourselves on the game, which I thought we did admirably.”
As of Saturday evening, the win elevated the west Londoners to fifth in the league rungs, their highest position in the table this season.
With the Boys in Green securing a first league double over Bath in 16 years, the coach credited his squad for the implementation of the strategy set out to conquer Johann van Graan’s side away from home.
“The game of rugby is about utilising the squad as a whole, and we’re trying to utilise that as much as possible.
“Fair play to the players, we had a game plan going into the game and they tried to execute that plan and we got 90% of that right.
“We could have done better with our exits which put us under a bit of pressure in that first half, and Bath put us under the pump with that.
“We’ll look at that and try and be better for next week, but we will savour this win because it’s a big place to come and get a result for London Irish.”
The Club as a whole is riding a crest of a wave at present; with progression to the Academy League and Premiership Rugby Cup finals secured, as well as the senior squad tasting defeat only once in their last seven outings in all competitions.
Davis cites the aggressive competitive approach across the board at the Club pushing standards on the training paddock and in turn, creating positive results.
“Both teams that train against each other at Hazelwood show how competitive they are, and that quality within the team over the past 12-24 months has risen.
“We’re able to have much more quality training sessions, but the real benefit is that we’re trying to live in every moment we have on and off the park.
“We’re going to enjoy this now and we’ll be back on Monday to examine the game and try to be even better.
“The squad as a whole has improved from the base level upwards to make us more competitive.
“This competition is so tight that you have to be right on it every day and every game, and our focus will now be when Leicester come to visit us for a huge challenge at our place in Brentford.”
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