Cross ready for physical Cardiff encounter

Following a productive time away with Scotland, London Irish prop Geoff Cross admits it is good to be back with his club.

"It was an enjoyable experience away with Scotland,"he said reflecting on Scotland's Autumn Series. "We achieved two wins from three and believe as a squad we let the All Blacks off the hook with our errors.The national side is improving and it is exciting to be involved, however it is also great to be back with London Irish."

We are a tight group and want to get back on the horse and get improving." Cross continued turning his attention to club rugby.

London Irish wil be glad to have their international stars back after a tough November. Geoff got the nod a tight head last weekend for the Aviva Premiership clash with Gloucester, his first Premiership start of the season.

"I was really happy to start against Gloucester and was pleased with the scrummaging performance the pack puut in that day."

In a scrappy affair last weekend, Irish came off second best 9-21.

"I think it's very important we don't beat ourselves up," said Cross. "The quality of our lineout and particularly our ball retention and work at the tackle contest undid a lot of the good work we did create and prevented us from taking the opportunities we made."

Despite a disappointing performance, Cross is adamant there are positives for his side to build on. "It's important to maintain the things we did do well, our discpiline and our display at the scrum were steps in the right direction. We have to maintain these and provide a better platform to attack off from the lineout.

Irish now have a break from Aviva Premiership action as attention turns to the European Challenge Cup. The Exiles currently sit top of the pool of points difference having recorded wins over Rovigo Delta and Grenoble and now face a crucial double header with Cardiff Blues on consecutuve weekends.

"We are working on a direct game to meet the physical game that I think Cardiff are going to bring. They are a big team with physical runners, especially in their back row.

"It is great to be involved in games when it is all up for grabs," Cross said of the double header. And with Irish playing the first game away and having the second fixture at home, Geoff believes the games pose a real opportunity for the Exiles. 

"I think it is, in some sense, an opportunity to have the second game at the Madejski. It gives us an chance to show our supporters what we can do. I would love to see a big turn out for that we as we are really looking forward to it and want to show them what we can do."

 Having siad that, Cross, who joined Irish from Edinburgh, knows the threats that Cardiff pose. Irish have performed well so far in the European Challenge Cup, and following a tough time in the Premiership in recent weeks, the double header with the Blues offers Irish an opportunity to get their season back on track.