Hat-trick hero reflects on Falcons win

Hat-trick hero Ollie Hassell Collins revelled in Saturday’s resounding victory over Newcastle Falcons at the Brentford Community Stadium.

The winger dotted down twice in the first half as Irish led 28-14 at half-time, before a third early in the second half strengthened the Exiles’ stranglehold on proceedings, as Declan Kidney’s men ran out 43-21 winners in Round 10.

“It was good fun out there,” admitted Hassell Collins.

“It’s always great to score tries - and credit to the boys up front and the guys inside me, who set up the platform for me to score.”

Hassell Collins, who was deservedly named man-of-the-match, believes Irish got their game plan spot on against Dean Richards’ side.

“It was a class performance,” he said.

“We got on top of them, and you could see we really enjoyed playing our rugby out there.

“Newcastle are a physical side but we stood up to the challenge well and were deserving winners in the end.”

Next up for Irish is a European Challenge Cup clash against Pau in France on Saturday night - and Hassell Collins is keen for the momentum to continue as Irish look to finish the calendar year with a flourish.

“That’s four wins and a draw from five now,” he said, “so we feel we’ve got some real momentum at the moment.

“We need to carry that into Europe now and see where it takes us.

“We want to be fighting on all fronts, go full throttle and keep building that momentum.”