Exiles boost play-off hopes

Brothers Delon and Steffon Armitage were the heroes as London Irish came from behind to beat bottom side Worcester and boost their Guinness Premiership play-off hopes.

The England international siblings both crossed to give their side the advantage after Worcester had failed to build on a 10-3 lead.

Exiles fly-half Chris Malone notched 13 points with his boot to seal a victory which moves them into fourth, three points above Wasps.

The result means the Warriors remain bottom, three points behind Leeds Carnegie with three games left - including a crucial trip to Headingley.

Changes

The hosts showed four changes from the side beaten by Sale last time out, while Irish handed starts to young forwards Alex Corbisiero and Jamie Gibson.

In perfect conditions, it was the Warriors who belied their league position to make a strong start.

However, they lost flanker Tom Wood with an injury sustained when Irish pressed deep inside the home 22, before a speculative defensive clearance by full-back Chris Latham put the visitors in all kinds of bother.

Tony Booth's side failed to deal with a wickedly-bouncing ball and, after centre Dale Rasmussen hacked on, his midfield partner Alex Grove sprinted over unopposed for the first try on 13 minutes.

Walker added the extras, before the visitors quickly found themselves under further pressure as Worcester's forwards pressed.

But Irish weathered the storm and - after Malone and Walker had traded penalties - the visitors stunned Worcester with a 14-point blitz in six minutes just before half-time.

Their first try came after Warriors wing Marcel Garvey had been penalised for not releasing possession near his own line. Before Worcester's defence could regroup, Malone's clever cross-kick was caught by Delon Armitage, who easily finished off.

Malone's conversion tied the game and good close-quarter work soon after by the Exiles pack enabled Steffon Armitage to rumble over and give his team the lead for the first time right on the stroke of half-time.

Another successful Malone conversion ended the first half, enabling Irish to troop off 17-10 in front and leaving the hosts wondering where it had gone wrong after they dominated most of the opening period.

Rhythm

After the re-start, Worcester knew they needed to disrupt Irish's rhythm, and a 45th-minute Walker penalty narrowed the gap, renewing confidence among the home support following news of Leeds' 46-11 defeat at Harlequins.

But Malone re-established a seven-point lead with his second penalty on 56 minutes, before Worcester then gifted him another chance after their front row infringed at a scrum.

The number 10 duly obliged, meaning Irish led by 10 with only 15 minutes remaining. Worcester's loss of composure was underlined when Matthew Jones - on as a replacement for Walker - missed an easy penalty chance.

That was the closest Worcester ever got to claiming a losing bonus point as their six-season stay in English rugby's top flight remains under huge threat.

London Irish will now be targeting a five-point maximum against Leeds next weekend - a result which would keep Booth's side firmly on course for another play-off appearance after they narrowly lost last season's Premiership final against Leicester.