Coach Kiss calls on Irish to find that little bit more

By GARY FITZGERALD

Les Kiss says London Irish will need to find that crucial “one percent” in order to challenge for a top four Premiership spot.

The head coach also insists the host of talanted youngsters at Brentford Community Stadium will need to step up even further with the departure of so many experienced and seasoned stars from the squad.

Sean O’Brien, Albert Tuisue, Nick Phipps, Steve Mafi and George Nott are just some of the influential players who have left Exiles after helping the club enjoy one of their best campaigns for a long time.

The west London outfit finished eighth after challenging in the top six for a long spell and qualified for the Champions Cup.

Kiss, right, insists: “Our roster has change somewhat. It’s a big hole when you lose players of that quality. That’s a heap of experience departing but they have all left their marks on some of the young guys. That’s what we try to do at the club when people come in they become part of the Irish way of doing things, give their best and then leave something behind when they leave. We have a lot of good young kids who can, hopefully, take that forward and we have a different balance to the squad.

“We played an exciting style of rugby last season which got us so far and showed what our identity is. Now we have to build on that and aim to finish higher up the table and enjoy an even better season. We need to be better and give the big dogs a real challenge.

“It’s an exciting times but there is a lot of work still to do to prove and we need to find that extra one percent that we can be top four contenders.

We know how we like to play the game and internally we have looked into what is needed to improve on our performances and results, and be very surgical in finding the right things to focus on.

“We want to play a good brand of rugby but need to make sure games don’t get away from us this year.

That’s not just one component but a mixture of things in the game. Perhaps in terms of selection and how we use our replacements “We are very encouraged by a lot of things we have achieved and are doing but it’s now about closing that gap on the tour sides.”

Young backs Henry Arundell and Will Joseph earned Test call ups on the back a roller-coaster campaign for try-happy Irish who delighted their fans with plenty of thrills and spills but also frustrated them with some less than steely defence and conceding so many tries. Too many draws, five in total, also cost Irish dearly.

Kiss insists seeing both wing Arundell and centre Joseph strut their stuff on the international stage this summer was a major bonus for a club not used to having so many players on Test duty in the offseason.

“Henry’s try was a special moment,” Kiss added.

He is one of a bunch of good young players we now have at the club. Will Joseph is also a shining light.

“It’s nice to have had so many internationals out there on the world stage this summer. It’s fantastic for the profile of the players and the club. There is a lot of responsibility on the guys and they have done Irish proud.”