London Irish head coach Tony Booth is hoping their LV= Cup win over Northampton is the start of a strong run.
Exiles head coach pleased with victory over Saints
London Irish head coach Tony Booth felt his decision to field a strong side in the 37-20 LV= Cup win over Northampton had been vindicated by the result.
Two tries from hooker Brian Blaney and one apiece from Daniel Bowden, Steffon Armitage and George Stowers saw the Exiles to a comfortable victory at the Madejski Stadium which kept alive their slim semi-final hopes - and Booth also welcomed the boost for their upcoming league commitments.
"The LV= Cup is a difficult competition," he said. "There's a lot of disruption but we wanted to use this game to kick on for the Premiership.
"We put out the strongest available side and the scoreline was exactly what was intended.
"Northampton are a quality side but it was a slow start, we were a bit naive at times and we allowed them to dictate.
"After that we dominated, 10,12 and 13 (fly-half Bowden and centres Seilala Mapusua and Elvis Seveali'i) all played well but that came about because they had quick ball as our forwards ensured we were playing on the front foot.
"Brian Blaney, our hooker, threw exceptionally well and got on the scoresheet."
Soft tries
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder took a contrasting view of the competition.
"We had a mixture of a side and we played generally well," he said. "We gave away two soft tries, one just before half-time and the other when they had a man in the bin.
"We didn't get out of our half and didn't get the basics right. We are disappointed to lose but it's not the end of the world and we learnt a lot of good lessons.
"They had a very talented back division with a very quick back three and we defended well against them. It was a good opportunity to blood players."
