European Rugby Cup : Irish march on as Dragons burn

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Irish march on as Dragons burn

London Irish	41 - 24	Newport Gwent Dragons
Madejski Stadium, Reading Att: 8,277
Saturday 12th January 2008, 13:30
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London Irish v Newport Gwent Dragons Highlights Round 5

Irish scrum half Peter Richrds clears out

Match report

Richard Thorpe grabbed a hat-trick to put London Irish on the verge of qualification for the last eight of the Heineken Cup with a thumping win against Newport Gwent Dragons.

The Pool One table-toppers gained maximum points in a ten-try thriller and need to win at Italian minnows Benetton Treviso next weekend to reach the quarter-finals.

The Exiles No8 opened the try scoring after 12 minutes and added further tries in the 46th and 76th minute at the Madejski Stadium.

London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith said: "Richard has come through the academy system and has repaid our faith.

He's not played regularly for us but he has stepped up and taken us all by surprise."
Eoghan Hickey, Shane Geraghty and Peter Hewat all touched down before the break to hand the Guinness Premiership the all-important bonus-point within 36 minutes.

The Dragons had scored by then after a momentarily lapse in concentration by wing Topsy Ojo allowed wing Richard Fussell to score in the left corner.

But after Thorpe's second score after the interval puts the hosts 34-7 clear, the visitors rallied with tries by Ben Daly, Gareth Wyatt and Ceri Sweeney before Thorpe had the last laugh.

Dragons coach Paul Turner said: "We can't get things so wrong defensively and expect to win games.

"Our first half was unacceptable so we gave the players an old-fashioned team-talk at half-time and they responded in the second half."

London Irish

Newport Gwent Dragons

Pos

Player

Pos

Replacements

Penalty Tries

First half timeline
5	London Irish	Penalty kick - P Hewat
12	London Irish	Try - R Thorpe
12	London Irish	Conversion - P Hewat
17	London Irish	Try - E Hickey
17	London Irish	Conversion - P Hewat
21	London Irish	Substitution - D Murphy on for C Dermody
23	London Irish	Conversion - P Hewat
23	London Irish	Try - S Geraghty
24	Newport Gwent Dragons	Yellow card - P Emerick
25	Newport Gwent Dragons	Try - R Fussell
26	Newport Gwent Dragons	Conversion - C Sweeney
33	London Irish	Try - P Hewat
34	London Irish	Missed conversion Hewat
39	Newport Gwent Dragons	Yellow card - P Sidoli
Second half timeline
41	London Irish	Substitution - T De Vedia on for T Ojo
47	London Irish	Try - R Thorpe
47	London Irish	Miss Conv: P Hewat
48	London Irish	Substitution - G Tiesi on for P Hewat
48	London Irish	Substitution - P Hodgson on for P Richards
51	Newport Gwent Dragons	Try - B Daly
51	Newport Gwent Dragons	Miss Conv: C Sweeney
51	Newport Gwent Dragons	Substitution - L Evans on for M Owen
51	Newport Gwent Dragons	Substitution - H Gustafson on for G Robinson
55	London Irish	Substitution - D Coetzee on for D Paice
55	Newport Gwent Dragons	Substitution - G Wyatt on for R Mustoe
57	Newport Gwent Dragons	Try - G Wyatt
57	Newport Gwent Dragons	Miss Conv: C Sweeney
59	London Irish	Substitution - J Hudson on for N Kennedy
61	Newport Gwent Dragons	Substitution - P Dollman on for A Smith
65	Newport Gwent Dragons	Conversion - C Sweeney
65	Newport Gwent Dragons	Try - C Sweeney
66	Newport Gwent Dragons	Temporary sub - G Robinson on for H Gustafson
66	Newport Gwent Dragons	Substitution - H Gustafson on for G Robinson
66	Newport Gwent Dragons	Substitution - G Robinson on for A Black
70	London Irish	Substitution - P Murphy on for S Armitage
70	Newport Gwent Dragons	Substitution - A Walker on for W Evans
72	London Irish	Try - R Thorpe
72	Newport Gwent Dragons	Substitution - K Crawford on for B Daly
73	London Irish	Conversion - E Hickey

Results so far

London Irish

Date	Stage	Opposition	Score
26/4/08	Semi Finals	Toulouse	L 15-21
5/4/08	Quarter Finals	Perpignan	W 20-9
19/1/08	Pool 1	Benetton Treviso	W 24-11
12/1/08	Pool 1	Newport Gwent Dragons	W 41-24
15/12/07	Pool 1	Perpignan	L 6-23
9/12/07	Pool 1	Perpignan	W 24-16
17/11/07	Pool 1	Newport Gwent Dragons	W 45-17
10/11/07	Pool 1	Benetton Treviso	W 42-9

Newport Gwent Dragons

Date	Stage	Opposition	Score
19/1/08	Pool 1	Perpignan	L 0-25
12/1/08	Pool 1	London Irish	L 24-41
15/12/07	Pool 1	Benetton Treviso	L 22-24
8/12/07	Pool 1	Benetton Treviso	W 35-33
17/11/07	Pool 1	London Irish	L 17-45
9/11/07	Pool 1	Perpignan	L 19-23

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Previous Heineken Cup meetings

Date	Stage	Home	Score	Away
Sat 12th Jan 08	Pool 1	London Irish	41 - 24	Newport Gwent Dragons
Sat 17th Nov 07	Pool 1	Newport Gwent Dragons	17 - 45	London Irish

Heineken CupHistory

London Irish

2009/10 - Pool 6

2007/08 - Semi Finals

2006/07 - Pool 5

2002/03 - Pool 5

Newport Gwent Dragons

2009/10 - Pool 2

2007/08 - Pool 1

2005/06 - Pool 1

2004/05 - Pool 5

2003/04 - Pool 1

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