Porecki looks ahead to Saints trip

Hooker Dave Porecki is happy to be back fit and fighting for his place in the Exiles starting line-up as the squad prepare for the trip to Franklin’s Gardens in Round 9 of the Gallagher Premiership (live on BT Sport, kick-off 7:45pm).

After nursing an injury for the opening few months of the season, Porecki started by expressing his thanks to the Irish physios that helped him with his recovery.

“Firstly, I just want to thank the London Irish medical team. They have progressed me well throughout my injury, from getting back out onto the pitch for fitness to now, where I am raring to go.”

This weekend sees the London Irish squad take on Northampton and, should he be selected, Porecki is expecting a tough encounter against one of the form teams in the league.

“Northampton are a class team to watch. Their attacking game is fluid, especially at home, so this Friday will be a big test for us as we head to Franklin’s Gardens. It’s going to be tricky to match them and try to exploit some space, but we are up for the challenge.”

After a testing couple of months for the squad, Porecki went on to explain that the morale in the dressing room is still positive.

“The mood is still very positive, and we know that we need to switch on for the full 80 minutes. We’ve come together as a group this week to iron out some things that we need to get right. We are excited to test it out this Friday night.

“There is a bit of frustration in the camp, but only because we know how close we are to getting the results. We prepare well and are ready for the games, but we have let ourselves down in short periods of the games that have resulted in games getting away from us.”

Following this weekend’s match, there is a two-week break from matches, but Dave insists that the players are only focusing on putting everything into Friday night’s game.

“I think that you would have to be naïve to think that you can through yourself into this week’s game because we have a break after it.

“That isn’t the sort of mentality that you should have. Every game is just as important, so we need to be putting 100% of our efforts into every time we step onto the pitch.”

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