Irish shattered by latest defeat as victory sends Leicester top

LONDON IRISH boss Toby Booth struggled to mask his frustration after Bath’s late show at the Madejski Stadium consigned the Exiles to a ninth successive defeat.

Irish’s latest Aviva Premiership reversal was their fifth on the bounce, accompanying two Heineken Cup and two LV= Cup defeats. They have not won since October 31.

Bath marksman Olly Barkley floored them with the game’s final kick to pinch a 25-24 verdict despite Irish scoring tries through Sailosi Tagicakibau, Richard Thorpe and Topsy Ojo.

However, Bath prevailed through Barkley’s 20-point haul and a try from scrum-half Michael Claassens for their first Premiership triumph in more than three months.

“When you score three tries and concede one, you expect to win,” Booth said. “I have got a dressing room full of people in disbelief. We did enough to win the game, but we didn’t. Discipline cost us the game.”

Elsewhere, Harlequins coach Conor O’Shea revealed his pride after his team pulled off a tremendous 16-13 victory over leaders Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens.

Quins overcame the loss of John Andress and Nick Easter to the sin bin as they became the first team to win at Northampton this season.

O’Shea said: “It’s as adverse as you could get, 10-3 down at Franklin’s Gardens with only 13 players. You can’t coach that, it is all down to the hearts of the players and I am so proud of them.”

Reigning champions Leicester hit the top of the table for the first time this season as they secured their fourth league victory in a row with a 22-15 success over Exeter, thanks largely to Jordan Crane’s brace of tries.

Leeds Carnegie notched up their first Premiership win of the season with a 15-13 victory over Gloucester. Tries from Hendre Fourie and Michael Stephenson edged the home side to victory as Gloucester continue to struggle on their travels.

Sale Sharks ended a run of five consecutive defeats in all competitions to give new head coach Pete Anglesea his first win with a 28-22 victory over Saracens.

New captain Mark Cueto and his predecessor James Gaskell went over in the first 10 minutes with Chris Bell adding a third try before the interval.

Saracens looked more like a team third in the table after the interval, but could only manage a single try from James Short.

It was a day of contrasting fortunes for Welsh exiles. Sarries’ Gavin Henson hauled off after 53 minutes, while Andy Powell produced an inspirational performance as Wasps climbed into the top four with a 33-16 dismissal of Newcastle.

Wales coach Warren Gatland, in particular, will have been warmed by Powell’s display less than a month before he names his Six Nations squad.

Ben Jacobs and Serge Betsen scored the tries that put Wasps in control and the victory was sealed by 18 points from fly-half Dave Walder and a late penalty try.

Newcastle clung on until the final quarter, with fly-half Jimmy Gopperth scoring all the Falcons points, including a try just before the interval.

And while Powell was the heartbeat of Wasps’ performance, England will have been less convinced by Riki Flutey, who made his first start since suffering a calf injury in October only to limp off before the end.