Toby Booth: I'm happy to win ugly
London Irish head coach Toby Booth says he doesn't care if his side have to win ugly this season.
The Exiles defeated Leeds 40-24 last weekend in a performance that was not the side's most flamboyant rugby. However, Booth says the performances will not matter for the rest of the rugby year if the results
are right.
London Irish was fortunate that Leeds did not show more quality on the day because there were many parts of London Irish's game that could have been better. Leeds did a lot to show they are not a bottom
of the table team.
Results for any rugby team are very important but there are areas for London Irish to work on over the coming weeks. There are too many good teams in the Premiership for the Exiles to play badly and win
the league.
Results and performance
Results for London Irish are very important because they allow the side to build and maintain some momentum. The Exiles sit top of the Premiership with 20 points after five games.
The team must work on doing all of the basic things right during big games. There were too many examples of poor passing and handling that allowed Leeds to get three tries on the score sheet as well as
one penalty. This will not help the side against a better team that keeps possession.
It's important that the Exiles work extensively on playing more creative rugby. This will make it easier for the side to attack and then hold onto a lead. However, the side has a formula for winning games,
which will be difficult to change.
"It was a workmanlike performance with no glitz or glamour and we are satisfied but not happy with our overall performance. We won ugly and we will take that.
However we haven't played fantastically, Newcastle apart, and there is much to improve," said Booth.
Too many good teams
There are a lot of good teams in the Premiership that play more attractive rugby than London Irish. These teams will start to dominate the league over a long period because
they are more likely to win big games frequently.
It is naive for Booth's side to think that they can win a large percentage of games playing poor rugby. This will not allow the side to maintain a top of the table position
and could see the team slide into the middle of the table by next spring.
It will be much easier for London Irish's title rivals to work out ways to play against the Exiles. This is because teams that play ugly don't have the ability to be expansive
and put the opposition onto the back foot. Leeds' scoring opportunities prove this.
"We cannot concede three tries at home and we need to be more precise in certain areas," added Booth.
Betting advice
London Irish has a very good chance of being in the top four of the Premiership by the end of the rugby year. Don't be afraid to have a punt on the side while the odds
will still be good value.
Back the side in any game against a weaker team. Teams like Leicester, Bath and Northampton will have more quality and better ideas of how to exploit London Irish's problems.
It's difficult to find key players to back in the London Irish team because there is no one player dominating the score sheets. The kicker is always a good bet to be top
scorer in a game. This is because the kicker will have more chances to score from penalty and conversion kicks.
Tags: