London Irish fall to Newcastle

Hopes of London Irish avoiding relegation from the Aviva Premiership have taken a major blow as they fell to a critical 13-6 defeat to rivals Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park on Sunday. An intercept try to Marcus Watson in the first half combined with penalty kicks from Mike Delany and Juan Pablo Socino were enough to get the win for Falcons, with the Exiles unable to put anything on the board after Greig Tonks opened with two penalties in the opening quarter.

While Newcastle will celebrate their defense and commitment to the breakdown, where Tongan international Nili Latu excelled, Irish on the other hand will rue their failure to capitalise on numerous scoring opportunities. Despite several line breaks there were inevitable passing errors or poor decisions that erased any positive momentum.

Irish are not yet mathematically eliminated but with seven points separating the two sides, they have to win each of their final two matches against Harlequins and Wasps to stand a chance. Should they finish in the bottom, their fate will be determined by the results of the Greene King IPA Championship playoffs, where the winner must fulfill a set of off-field criteria set forth by the Premiership to gain entry. Bristol are heavy favorites to take that title and return to the top flight.

With that Canadian internationals Ciaran Hearn and Jebb Sinclair could well be playing in the Championship next season. Of concern to Canadian fans will be Hearn’s withdrawal from the match due to injury on 23 minutes. Newcastle’s all-Argentine midfield of Socino and Gonzalo Tiesi, meanwhile, look safe to stay up. Outside back Belisario Agulla and Socino’s brother, hooker Santiago, are also at the club.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 13
Tries – M. Watson (24)
Cons – M. Delany (25)
Pens – M. Delany (11), J. Socino (43)

LONDON IRISH 6
Pens – G. Tonks 2 (8, 18)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1 R. Vickers 2 G. McGuigan (S. Lawson 69) 3 T. Vea (M. Cusack 69) 4 C. Green (A. Hogg 69) 5 S. Robinson 6 M. Wilson 7 W. Welch (capt.) (A. Hogg 3-8) 8 N. Latu 9 M. Young (T. Takulua 69) 10 M. Delany 11 M. Watson 12 J. Socino 13 G. Tiesi (C. Harris HT) 14 A. Tait 15 S. Hammersley

Not used: A. Rogers, M. Botha, C. Willis

LONDON IRISH
1 T. Court (T. Smallbone HT) 2 D. Paice (T. Cruse 69) 3 H. Aulika (L. Halavatau 60) 4 W. Lloyd (J. Sexton 65) 5 M. Symons 6 J. Sinclair (R. McCusker 61) 7 B. Cowan 8 L. Narraway (capt.) 9 S. Steele (B. McKibbin 69) 10 G. Tonks (S. Geraghty 27-31, 33) 11 A. Fenby 12 J. Williams 13 C. Hearn (A. Tikoirotuma 23) 14 A. Lewington 15 S. Maitland

Referee: W. Barnes (RFU)