A resurgent London Irish team scored four tries compared to two in reply from the Northampton Saints to beat the Aviva Premiership leaders 39-17 and record only their second victory in the new season. The Exiles started the match in blistering fashion and were up 18-0 by half time, and the mini resurgence from The Saints in the second half wasn’t enough to deny the London side a well deserved victory.
The Exiles had tries for Jonathan Joseph, Topsy Ojo, Jamie Gibson and Daniel Paice while The Saints replied through Tom Wood and Ken Pisi. Before the start of the match, not even the most ardent of London Irish fans expected such a result, let alone the performance against a side that has been at its dominating best in the Aviva Premiership so far this season, but what transpired on the pitch is bound to give the London side a lot of hope for the rest of the season as well as plenty of confidence.
The Irish were languishing in 11th place in the 12 team Championship and had conceded, on average, 36 points in each of their matches, prior to the game against The Saints. Only the Sale Sharks have had a worst start but on Saturday, The Exiles were absolutely flawless and proved that they could really turn on the style if they choose to. In contrast, the Northampton Saints arrived in Reading prior to the match as the only team still unbeaten in the whole division and they were flying high at the top of the league.
But The Saints will perhaps now learn to give importance to the teams that languish near the bottom as the lesson they were taught by the London Irish is bound not to go down well with the side as they chase their first title.