Gaffney upbeat in defeat

Saracens crashed to a third straight defeat at London Irish but director of rugby Alan Gaffney refused to criticise his players.

Irish coach delighted with comeback

Slumping Saracens crashed to a third straight defeat at London Irish but director of rugby Alan Gaffney refused to criticise his players. "We didn't get a great start to the game but there's no doubt we've improved since last week," said Gaffney. "Some people won't like to hear me saying that but there's no doubt we did. "We know we've been disappointing in the last two weeks and that doesn't make a difference who you play - we've just got to live with our own performances. "You can't fault the effort of the players but at times we weren't as smart as we should have been and the lead at half-time was pretty much against the run of play."

Comeback

London Irish coach Tony Booth hailed his side's second half comeback after they trailed by the narrowest of margins at half-time. "We came in at half-time in a one point ball game and to be honest it was quite astounding," he said. "We had the majority of quality possession at that stage and it just seemed amazing that it was so close still. "To be honest it's probably through rose tinted glasses but if we had of lost that game it would have been a travesty. "The Worcester game was very stop start but today we played in the danger zone and particularly at the breakdown."