Armitage back with a bang

Delon Armitage marked his return from shoulder surgery with a try as London Irish demolished Brive 34-13 at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday.

Armitage's searing individual effort in the last minute earned Irish the vital four-try bonus point that keeps them on top of Heineken Cup Pool Six.

The Exiles were dominant throughout and would have been kicking themselves had they failed to take maximum spoils for the second week running against French strugglers Brive, who had four players sin binned and remain without a point in the competition.

London Irish raced into a 20-6 half-time lead with tries from Tom Homer, the England Under-20 winger who scored twice last weekend, and Seilala Mapasua.

Elvis Seveali'i showed neat footwork to score a third but it was not until the final play of the game that Armitage, who had come on as a 66th-minute replacement, sealed the bonus point.

Armitage was included on the bench after three months out of action with a shoulder injury, which had ruled him out of England's autumn international series.

Irish made one change to the starting XV that won in Brive after England scrum-half Paul Hodgson failed a fitness test on an injured thumb.

Tension

Boss Toby Booth had accused Brive of "thuggery" in the closing stages of the Exiles' 36-3 victory last week, which resulted in two forwards receiving lengthy bans.

On this occasion, all of Brive's yellow cards were for technical offences and the game lacked any of the spite that had marred that previous meeting.

The Exiles took the lead inside 10 minutes after a neat pass from Richard Thorpe released Homer, who beat the last man with a vicious right-foot step to score next to the posts.

Brive profited from two penalties in quick succession, both struck cleanly by the Italian fly-half Luciano Orquera.

Chris Malone extended the Exiles' lead to 13-6 before Mapasua scored their second try, finishing off a dominant spell that had begun with David Paice's powerful midfield tackle.

The England Saxons hooker drove Brive back 10 yards to win a penalty, which Malone arrowed into the corner.

Brive lock Damien Brown was sin binned as London Irish increased the pressure before Mapasua picked a simple line through a ragged defensive line to score.

The French side wasted their best field position of the half when Orquera missed a simple drop-goal attempt when he had options to run the ball outside him.

Furious

Brive had prop Pat Barnard and centre Jamie Noon sin binned in quick succession, with the former furious at the referee's interpretation of his scrummaging.

Seveali'i extended the Exiles' advantage to 27-6 on the hour mark with a combination of power burst and quick feet.

Armitage could have scored earlier had he not been taken out near the line by Scott Spedding, who became the fourth Brive player sin binned.

Brive's winger Guillaume Namy scored a late try but there was still time for Armitage to seal the bonus point by touching down under the posts.