European Club Rugby : Brive v London Irish

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Brive v London Irish

Brive	3 - 36	London Irish
Stadium Municipal, Brive, Brive Att: 9,000
Referee: George Clancy
Saturday 12th December 2009, 19:00
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Chris Malone scored the opening try of the match

Match report

Tom Homer struck twice as London Irish boosted their qualification hopes with victory over Brive in Pool Six of the Heineken Cup.

The Exiles had produced one of the shock results of the opening two rounds with a stunning win at reigning champions Leinster before stumbling at home to the Scarlets. But Toby Booth's men got back on track with a hard-fought performance in a bad-tempered contest at the Parc Municipal.

Fly-half Chris Malone was the hero with a 14-point tally including a fourth minute strike which rocked the home side.Malone had been handing the number ten jersey by head coach Booth over the youthful Ryan Lamb and he responded with an excellent solo score.

Then the former Harlequins pivot added three conversions and a penalty in a fine kicking display to guide the visitors to a valuable success in central France.

Toby Booth's men were deserved victors thanks to wing Homer's double as well as contributions from back-rowers Steffon Armitage and Richard Thorpe

But tempers flared in the final quarter as Brive replacement Guillaume Ribes saw red for a punch on Danie Coetzee before the South African hooker and Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux were sin-binned for fighting.

Prior to the hostility, London Irish aimed to relive their wonderful away triumph in Dublin from round one. And it was Malone who set London Irish on their way to a deserved success with the pick of the tries by beating three defenders before dummying Brive full-back Horacio Agulla to touch down under the posts.

Malone stepped up to convert from close-range and hand the Guinness Premiership outfit the perfect start.

Brive fought their way back into the match with a strong spell of possession and their desire was shown in the 16th minute when Agulla squared up to Elvis Seveali'i.

But London Irish put the fragile home side on the ropes by striking another try-scoring blow just a minute later. Centre Seilala Mapusua was causing mayhem in midfield and slick hands found Nick Kennedy waiting in space.

The England lock then assisted wing Tom Homer who crept home in the left corner for the second try. Malone missed the conversion from the far touchline but London Irish were in total command.

And the visitors' capped off a fine opening period for Booth's men when Malone added a routine penalty in front of the posts just three minutes before the break.

Brive finally got on the scoreboard as Palisson hammered a long-range penalty to give them some hope on the stroke of half-time.

But London Irish kept their foot on the accelerator after the break with three well-worked tries.Armitage benefited from weak tackling from replacement Jean Baptiste Pejoine to score following neat work from Malone, Seveali'i and Homer.

Then, after Brive had been reduced to 14 men, Booth's side claimed the bonus point with 12 minutes remaining thanks to the out-stretched arm of Thorpe who galloped onto Malone's pass.

But Homer had the final say with his second try in the right corner in the final minute, leaving Lamb to complete the scoring with the conversion.

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Brive

London Irish

Pos

Player

Pos

Horacio Agulla

Peter Hewat

Alexis Palisson

Tom Homer

Ronnie Cooke

Elvis Seveali'i

Lachlan Mackay

Seilala Mapusua

Guillaume Namy

John Rudd

Fabrice Estebanez

Chris Malone

Shaun Perry

Paul Hodgson

Pat Barnard

Clarke Dermody

Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux

David Paice

Scott Zimmermann

Paulica Ion

Christian Short

Nick Kennedy

Arnaud Mela

Bob Casey (capt)

Gerhard Vosloo

Richard Thorpe

Fabien Domingo

Steffon Armitage

Antoine Claassen (capt)

Chris Hala'Ufia

Replacements

Guillaume Ribes

Danie Coetzee

Davit Kinchagishvili

Dan Murphy

Retief Uys

Max Lahiff

Thibault Dubarry

Andy Perry

Jean-Baptiste Pejoine

Kieran Roche

Luciano Orquera

Jamie Lennard

Scott Spedding

Ryan Lamb

Pascal Idieder

Alfredo Lalanne

Penalty Tries

First half timeline
5	London Irish	Try - C Malone
6	London Irish	Conversion - C Malone
20	London Irish	Try - T Homer
37	London Irish	Penalty kick - C Malone
40	Brive	Penalty kick - A Palisson
Second half timeline
41	Brive	Substitution - L Orquera on for F Estebanez
41	Brive	Substitution - J Pejoine on for S Perry
41	Brive	Substitution - R Uys on for C Short
48	London Irish	Try - S Armitage
48	London Irish	Conversion - C Malone
54	Brive	Substitution - D Kinchagishvili on for P Barnard
54	Brive	Substitution - G Ribes on for P Barnard
54	Brive	Substitution - P Idieder on for S Zimmermann
58	Brive	Substitution - T Dubarry on for A Claassen
58	London Irish	Substitution - A Lalanne on for P Hodgson
62	Brive	Substitution - S Spedding on for A Palisson
65	London Irish	Substitution - D Murphy on for C Dermody
65	London Irish	Substitution - D Coetzee on for D Paice
68	London Irish	Try - R Thorpe
68	London Irish	Conversion - C Malone
68	Brive	Red card - G Ribes
70	London Irish	Yellow card - D Coetzee
70	Brive	Yellow card - J Bonrepaux
70	London Irish	Substitution - A Perry on for B Casey
70	London Irish	Substitution - K Roche on for C Hala'Ufia
70	London Irish	Substitution - R Lamb on for C Malone
78	London Irish	Try - T Homer
79	London Irish	Conversion - R Lamb
79	London Irish	Substitution - D Paice on for S Armitage

Results so far

Brive

Date	Stage	Opposition	Score
23/1/10	Pool 6	Scarlets	L 17-20
16/1/10	Pool 6	Leinster	L 10-27
19/12/09	Pool 6	London Irish	L 13-34
12/12/09	Pool 6	London Irish	L 3-36
17/10/09	Pool 6	Leinster	L 13-36
10/10/09	Pool 6	Scarlets	L 12-24

London Irish

Date	Stage	Opposition	Score
23/1/10	Pool 6	Leinster	D 11-11
17/1/10	Pool 6	Scarlets	L 22-31
19/12/09	Pool 6	Brive	W 34-13
12/12/09	Pool 6	Brive	W 36-3
17/10/09	Pool 6	Scarlets	L 25-27
9/10/09	Pool 6	Leinster	W 12-9

Previous Heineken Cup meetings

Date	Stage	Home	Score	Away
Sat 19th Dec 09	Pool 6	London Irish	34 - 13	Brive
Sat 12th Dec 09	Pool 6	Brive	3 - 36	London Irish

Heineken CupHistory

Brive

2009/10 - Pool 6

1997/98 - Runners up

1996/97 - Champions

London Irish

2009/10 - Pool 6

2007/08 - Semi Finals

2006/07 - Pool 5

2002/03 - Pool 5

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