Parton try lands the KO for Irish fighters

LIKE two sluggers without much care for their own wellbeing, London Irish and Gloucester traded blows throughout a nine-try thriller in Brentford.

- DANIEL GALLAN

That the home side made sure of their victory with only eight minutes to go is testament to their guests’ tenacity, and the ding-dong nature of this entertaining scrap.

Encapsulating the spirit of this contest, Irish head coach Declan Kennedy chose to praise his vanquished adversaries rather than single out his own troops.

“I give them credit for what they did,” he said. “We know they play a great brand of rugby and are dangerous across the park.”

The scoring began with less than a minute on the clock. Adam Coleman’s game lasted just as long with a suspected hamstring injury, but it was his charge of Willi Heinz’s box-kick that led to Blair Cowan registering his first of two tries.

Gloucester roared back immediately. Billy Twelvetrees’ restart was allowed to bounce into the arms of Jordy Reid who unfurled a cute pass for Henry Trinder to scamper over in the corner.

Before the first quarter of an hour was out, Ollie Hassell-Collins obliged Paddy Jackson’s miss pass with the finish it deserved and Alex Craig dotted down having cut a scything line against the grain.