LONDON IRISH Director of Rugby Nick Kennedy insists his side still have plenty to work on despite a convincing start to their Greene King IPA Championship campaign.
Irish opened up with a 19-0 victory over last season’s runners-up Doncaster Knights last weekend, but Kennedy is taking nothing for granted ahead of the visit of Richmond this Saturday.
“We’re very pleased, especially defensively,” he said. “The defence worked very hard out there, getting up off the floor and going again.”
Kennedy singled out World Cup winner Ben Franks for praise, with the New Zealander standing out at Championship level having stayed with the club following relegation.
“Ben Franks gave us exactly what we want from a prop,” said Kennedy. The amount of ground he covered, the amount of tackles he made and his work in the scrum – I thought he was outstanding.
“It was a tough game out there. Doncaster are a good side and they made it tough for us in the difficult conditions with the rain.
“I was pleased to see some of the things we’ve been working on in pre-season come into practice, but we’ve also got a few things to work on ahead of Richmond.
“For us, we just want to get better and better. We’ll have a little look at Richmond’s video from their game against Jersey and then the focus will be about beating them this Saturday.”
Tries from Tom Fowlie and Asaeli Tikoirotuma coupled with the boot of Tommy Bell ensured the winning start.
