London Welsh break Premiership duck in second half fightback
LONDON Welsh picked up their first ever Aviva Premiership victory against Exeter Chiefs yesterday and head coach Lyn Jones admits they have come a long way since their opening day loss to Leicester Tigers.
A last-gasp try from Ed Jackson and Seb Jewell’s subsequent conversion added to the drama at the Kassam Stadium as the Exiles triumphed 25-24, having trailed 14-0 at half-time to tries from Chiefs duo Luke Arscott and Matt Jess.
“Two weeks seems like a very long time ago – when we played Leicester here we were found wanting,” said Jones, who also saw Nick Scott go over for his side.
“We’ve learned so much about ourselves after going through some tough times against Leicester and Harlequins and we’ve had time to improve certain areas of our game.”
Harlequins may have disobeyed their boss in the 37-14 victory over Sale Sharks but director of rugby Conor O’Shea admits it was worth it to maintain their perfect start to the season.
With the win sealed and the game entering its closing stages O’Shea was bellowing at his troops to kick for the corner but full-back Mike Brown took matters into his own hands to steal a last-minute bonus point for the hosts.
“I was screaming at them to try and kick to the corner because I thought we would maul them over,” said O’Shea, who also saw Ugo Monye, Jordan Turner-Hall and George Robson notch tries.
“But what did we do? We tapped and went and they ignored me completely. Browny ([Mike Brown] will go to the end of any game so it was typical that he would be the man popping up to score it.”
Elsewhere, London Wasps got themselves off the mark after seeing off London Irish 43-14 on Saturday – with debutant Stephen Jones notching a 23-point haul.
Jones, signed from Scarlets in the summer, helped turn around an 11-9 deficit at half-time which gave Wasps their first win of the season.
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