London Irish open their tenure at the Madejski Stadium with victory

London Irish gained a valuable victory in their first home match at the Madejski Stadium in Saturday 2 September 2000, defeating Saracens 27 - 22 in front of over 7,000 supporters.

The win saw Irish take four points from the match and open their Thames Valley beginnings in the perfect way whilst also ensuring a upbeat experience for supporters in attendance.

Kieron Dawson and Paul Sackey crossed for the London Irish tries with Jarrod Cunningham booting 17 points.

Thomas Castaignede scored a full house for the visitors a try, conversion, drop goal and four penalties for a good day for the Frenchman personally.

A young Declan Danaher, the Exiles now Assistant Coach was among the replacements on the day nearly 20 years ago.

Scorers: London Irish: Tries: Sackey, Dawson, Conversions: Cunningham, Penalties: Cunningham (5); Saracens: Tries: Castaignede; Conversions: Castaignede, Penalties: Castaignede (4), Drop goals: Castaignede

London Irish:

15 Conor O'Shea (c), 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Tabai Matson, 12 Jason Wright, 11 Justin Bishop, 10 Jarrod Cunningham, 9 Kieran Campbell, 1 Mike Worsley, 2 Richard Kirke, 3 Simon Halford, 4 Ryan Strudwick, 5 Steve Williams, 6 Eddie Halvey, 7 Kieron Dawson, 8 Chris Sheasby

Replacements: 16 Kevin Ellis, 17 Barry Everitt, 18 Dinos Alexopoulos, 19 Declan Danaher, 20 Neal Hatley, 21 Rob Hardwick, 22 Glenn Delaney

Saracens:

15 Thomas Castaignede, 14 Dan Luger, 13 Ben Johnston, 12 Kevin Sorrell, 11 Darragh O'Mahony, 10 Duncan McRae, 9 Kyran Bracken (c), 1 David Flatman, 2 Matt Cairns, 3 Julian White, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Richard Hill, 7 Tony Roques, 8 Kris Chesney

Replacements: 16 Paul Wallace, 17 Tony Diprose, 18 Bill Davison, 19 Ben Cole, 20 James Parkes,

21 Nick Walshe, 22 Brett Sparg