Victory satisfies London Irish coach

The Exiles head coach watched on as his men romped to a hard-fought, five-try victory in central France.

And Booth saluted his side who now top Pool Six ahead of reigning European champions Leinster on tries scored by just one touchdown.

Booth said: "We are delighted with the result because it was important to keep our hopes alive in the pool. It's a massive boost for us.

"We knew that Brive had beaten Toulouse last weekend and would come into the game in confident mood. Plus, it's always difficult for a side like us to come to France so we knew it would be tough for us.

"But we came here with ambitions and the effort from the lads was massive. It was important we took care of the win first and the added bonus was the bonus point.

"We hope that will be important as we aim to move forward towards the knock-out stages."

Wing Tom Homer struck twice as the visitors boosted their qualification hopes with a second away success following their opening round win at Leinster.

But fly-half Chris Malone was the hero with a 14-point tally including a fourth minute strike which rocked the home side.

Malone was given the nod over the youthful Ryan Lamb and he responded with an excellent solo score as well as three conversions and a penalty.

Booth added: "Chris was fantastic and to be fair he steered the ship very well for us.

"He got us off to the perfect start and played really well, scoring a nice try and setting up a couple of others.

"Lamby has done exceptionally well for us but his form has just wavered slightly. But Chris has waited patiently for an opportunity.

"We've kept him fresh and this is the result. That's what happens in sport."

Then Booth's men emerged as deserved victors thanks to wing Homer's double as well as further scores 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. Then the bad tempered contest continued to turn ugly as the South African hooker and Jean-Philippe Bonrepaux were sin-binned for fighting.