Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Aviva Premiership: London Irish Preview

Director of Rugby: Brian Smith

Captain: George Skivington

Position 2013/2014: 10th

Predicted Position 2014/2015: 11th

London Irish Season Preview

Brian Smith is starting the final year of his contract and will be under severe pressure to deliver a positive season for London Irish. Their star player from last season, James O’Connor has moved on to Toulon and will be near impossible to replace.

Irish have made a point of recruiting from their native land, signing a number of young Irish players in Conor Gilsenan from Leinster and Eoin Griffin from Connacht. Tom Court has also signed from Ulster to provide some experience to the front row.

London Irish have also brought some Aviva Premiership experience with Daniel Leo and Luke Narraway returning to England via Perpignan in France. Tom Guest was a reliable performer for Harlequins and will also be pivotal to the pack with Leo and Narraway.

As experienced as these players are, London Irish will still likely struggle this season. Marland Yarde has left for Harlequins. Yarde showed his immense quality with England against New Zealand and this loss to the team is immeasurable.

Brian Smith will have his hands full to steer his squad away from relegation trouble but they just about have enough quality to stay up this season. Whether this is enough for Smith to earn a new contract is another matter.

Players In:

Tom Court (Prop) from Ulster

Geoff Cross (Prop) from Edinburgh Rugby

Sean Cox (Second Row) from Edinburgh Rugby

Daniel Leo (Back Row) from USA Perpignan

Tom Guest (Back Row) from Harlequins

Luke Narraway (Back Row) from USA Perpignan

Conor Gilsenan (Back Row) from Leinster

Scott Steele (Scrum Half) from Leicester Tigers

Chris Noakes (Out Half) from Blues

Eoin Griffin (Centre) from Connacht

James Short (Wing) from Saracens

Players Out:
CJ van der Linde (Prop) to Eastern Province Kings

Ian Gough (Second Row) to Newport Gwent Dragons

Bryn Evans (Second Row) to Biarritz Olympique

Chris Hala’ufia (Back Row) to Scarlets

Ian Humphreys (Out Half) to Ulster

James O’Connor (Out Half/Centre/Wing/Full Back) to Toulon

Setaimata Sa (Centre) to England Hull F.C. Rugby League

Marland Yarde (Wing) to Harlequins

Sailosi Tagicakibau (Wing) to Wasps

Declan Danaher Retired

Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @johnnybkeogh. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter  – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.

For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.

Main Photo:

Share:

More Posts

Send Us A Message