Man of the match Tom Parton wore a wide smile at the full-time whistle on Sunday - as London Irish produced a scintillating late comeback to claim a deserved share of the spoils against Harlequins at The Stoop.

Parton shone at full-back, time and again impressing with his composure and cool head in defence, and springing into life with quality and class in attack, as a pulsating London derby flowed from one end to the other like a basketball match.

Speaking in the wake of being named man of the match, Parton said: "It was a brilliant game of rugby.

"It was a shame we couldn't nick it and the end - but a draw was probably a fair result after such an enthralling game.

"We were disappointed not to win it, but three points on the road - having trailed by 12 points late on - is all credit to the boys."

Irish looked doomed when a Quins try made it 27-15 with a little over 15 minutes left on the clock, but the Exiles refused to lie down, with the 'finishers' from the bench making a devastating impact to turn the tide.

"The bench made a massive impact," acknowledged Parton.

"We call them finishers for a reason and they showed that with the impact they brought to the game when they came on.

"It's all about the squad here and each and every player has a role to play."

After an enforced two-week break owing to COVID-19 protocols, Parton was pleased with the way Irish stuck to the task at The Stoop, adding: "I think the performance on Sunday showed the togetherness of this group.

"We didn't let the last two cancellations get us too down.

"Of course we were disappointed, but we saw it as an opportunity - an opportunity to keep improving which is what this group is all about.

"Where possible, we trained individually, putting in the hard yards and I think that showed with how we performed on Sunday."

 

 

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