Richards fears for Exiles in final

DEAN RICHARDS fears London Irish could be flattened by the Leicester juggernaut in Saturday’s Guinness Premiership final.

Richards saw his Harlequins side demolished 17-0 in a disappointing play-off as the Exiles booked their place in the Twickenham showpiece for the first time.

The former Leicester director of rugby admires Irish’s swashbuckling style but believes they may lack the muscle to contain the Tigers up front.

“I don’t think they have a front row to compete with the Leicester front row but their back row and three-quarters are extremely good,” said Richards.

“The pace and power they have in the back line has the measure of any team in the Premiership.

“If they get 40-45% of the ball then they could be quite dangerous and it would be an interesting game if they manage to do that. But I think Leicester’s power game will make things difficult for them.”

Tries from James Hudson and Mike Catt sent Irish galloping into the final where they will start as heavy underdogs against Leicester.

With one pre-season objective achieved director of rugby Toby Booth must now look to complete the second – finishing the campaign with some silverware.

The Challenge Cup represented their best chance of landing a trophy but they were edged 32-30 by Bourgoin in last month’s quarter-final.

“You learn more in defeat than victory,” said Booth, in his first season as Exiles boss.

“If you don’t chase the dream and put the same amount of effort into what you do then before you know it you’re doing the pretty things and not the tough things that got you into that position.

“We were given a stark reminder of that against Bourgoin and against Quins it looked like the players had learned that lesson.

“I’ll back my players to the hilt every time.

“I was asked after the Bourgoin match if the players had let me down but they will never let me down, only themselves on occasion.

“I promote people to express themselves and do what they’re good at.”