O'Shea looking forward to good Exiles season

Former Ireland full-back Conor O’Shea is banking on Heineken Cup qualification for London Irish, in his second season as the club's managing director.

The Exiles open the 2004/2005 Zurich Premiership season on Saturday afternoon against NEC Harlequins and new signing Mike Catt is certain to figure prominently, according to O’Shea.

“Mike is obviously a huge influence both on and off the pitch,” said the 33-year-old. “He’s a great distributor and talker, so we’ll be looking for him to free up an exciting set of outside backs. He’s also a great kicking option, so his vision and kicking skills can take the pressure off our 10.

“Our aim domestically will be to qualify for the Heineken Cup for next season. That can be done through winning the European Challenge Cup, so we will be going all-out to win that.”

An unbeaten pre-season run of three games, including wins over Connacht and Munster, has given O’Shea, appointed managing director last January, heightened hope.

“Whereas it’s always good to win, we wouldn’t pay too much attention to the results. We tried various combinations just as the provinces did, especially as they are short of their main international players for the moment, particularly Munster.”

O’Shea also revealed that he is in constant contact with Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan, mindful of the international chances for his Exile stars Barry Everitt, Bob Casey, Justin Bishop and Kieron Dawson.

“The dialogue between Eddie and myself is always excellent,” said 35-times capped O’Shea. “It is not hard for the players to get recognition. They know if they play in a winning environment they will get recognition. Eddie will, in fact, be over here at the weekend to run his eye over the players.”

One man itching for a return is 29-year-old Bishop, whose last international appearance was in March 2003’s 42-6 grand-slam defeat to England at Lansdowne Road.

O’Shea confirmed that Bishop’s current hamstring injury will keep him out of action for another couple of weeks. “It’s a matter of wait and see. He trained hard over the close season, having had a plate removed from his leg, recovering all of his old zip, so the injury was unfortunate timing.”