This might have been a bottom-of-the-table clash but increasingly things are looking up for London Irish. It must be qualified in the sense that Bristol, not for the first time this season, were desperately disappointing, but for the second home match in a row Declan Kidney’s side produced the kind of matured performance that suggests they can look up the league table with optimism.
Irish’s two two stand-out performers were also their try-scorers – Benhard Janse van Rensburg and the livewire Ben White – but they were ably assisted by Tom Pearson and Rory Jennings, who was a late replacement for Paddy Jackson at fly-half. Given Jackson had started the previous 57 Premiership matches for Irish they’d have been forgiven for taking a while to adjust but Jennings turned in a composed performance, guiding the Exiles to a victory which gets the gut-wrenching defeat by Gloucester last week out of the system.
