London Irish coach Brian Smith hailed the versatility of Peter Richards after the Exiles' 43-20 victory over Leeds Carnegie.
England hopeful hailed for unselfish efforts
London Irish coach Brian Smith hailed the versatility of Peter Richards after the Exiles' convincing 43-20 home victory over relegated Leeds Carnegie.
A scrum-half by trade, Richards switched to outside centre for the second half of the season after losing his number nine shirt to Paul Hodgson following a bicep injury.
Smith acknowledged that his efforts in the centres have probably jeopardised Richards' international ambitions with Hodgson having claimed his slot at scrum-half in England's Six Nations squad.
However, Richards has continued to produce the goods for his club side and Smith was quick to praise him for his unselfish efforts.
"Our tactics are to get our best rugby players on the pitch, and Pete Richards is one of our best 15 rugby players," he explained.
"Paul Hodgson did well in his absence, but our thoughts are that we need to threaten in every position in the backline and Pete is a threat there.
"The fact that he can just change positions and play that far wide from what he's used to is a testament to his skill.
"To Pete's credit, he understands that we are not doing him any favours as far as the England team going to New Zealand is concerned, but that doesn't bother him.
"He's put the team first, and we need a threat at 13 with Delon Armitage and a few other boys injured, and that's the way we've chosen to go."
Smith accepted his team had made a sluggish start against Leeds before hitting their stride in the second period with forwards coach Toby Booth adding: "A better side would have asked us more questions in the first half."
Lancaster rueful
For his part Carnegie supremo Staurt Lancaster was satisfied with his team's efforts but admitted their eventual capitulation was the story of a sorry season.
"Unfortunately, we couldn't maintain it," he explained.
"That's been the story of our season. We made some crucial errors and the game slipped away."
