Toby Booth believes London Irish are right back on course for the Guinness Premiership play-offs.
Coach says strong starts are key for stuttering title contenders
Toby Booth insists London Irish are right back on course for the Guinness Premiership play-offs after bouncing back with their first win in seven games.
Chris Hala'ufia, Seilala Mapusua, James Hudson, Richard Thorpe and Clarke Dermody scored the tries in the resounding 38-17 triumph over Worcester at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday.
The result means Irish, who were a constant in the upper echelons of the table until the last few weeks, are now back up to second.
Delighted
"We definitely deserved the scoreline, I'm just delighted for the boys and the people off the field," said Booth.
"The facts are the facts, we've come second for a number of weeks by close margins and it's testament to the people involved, players and management, that we squeezed out a little more effort and energy and I like to think that this victory is for not just this week but for the last three weeks.
"The big difference today was the quality of our first phase. Rugby is a simple game, it's about quality of ball, speed of ball and keeping hold of the ball for long periods of time and the difference was that we could play at that pace for longer."
Booth believes the fact that his side scored first in both halves created the perfect platform for a convincing victory.
"The one common denominator in the last three weeks is that we have started averagely," reflected Booth.
"It's very important to start well otherwise in the last 20 minutes you give yourselves an Everest to climb, it was good that we gave someone else an Everest to climb today.
"I'll be disappointed not to make the play-offs. I don't know how long this group of players will be together, we have had the momentum from last season, been top of the table for a long period of time and that gives you the confidence you can compete in that arena."
Slump
Worcester director of rugby Mike Ruddock admitted his side are in the midst of a slump, meanwhile.
"We made a poor start - that's our biggest disappointment," Ruddock said. "We had to chase the game again and were on the back foot. It does nothing for our confidence and we looked like a team low on confidence.
"But we have got to try to pick the guys up now. We will relish the challenge of Gloucester; the performance today did not reflect the training we put in. We need a big challenge; we can't hide from the challenges. The local derby is coming just at the right time."
