Tigers tamed as Mapletoft nourishes hungry Exiles

Not long ago, the suggestion that London Irish would win at Welford Road to grab a lifeline at the foot of the Premiership would have had the proponent carted off to the funny farm, or at the very least accused of over-imbibing on the black stuff. But win the Irish did, against a Tigers side who are a poor imitation of four-time title winners.

As a result, the Exiles moved up three places, and will stay up if they can beat Bristol at home next Saturday. The M4 corridor will be all of a quake, what with that match at Reading, and Bath facing Newcastle at the Rec. Neither can Saracens breathe easy from here on in.

Leicester had lost just once here in 61 Premiership matches since December 1997, but their vulnerability was all too evident when Northampton stormed the fortress in the league in November, and Munster followed suit in the Heineken Cup last month.

"We knew Leicester had a few injuries and that we had a chance," said Conor O'Shea, London Irish's managing director. "There was an incredible hunger and urgency, as you would expect from a team fighting for our lives."

So hungry, in fact, that O'Shea was himself sporting a black eye, having eschewed his desk for the training ground in midweek. By the end, his players had left a few bruises, physical and psychological, on the Tigers.

There was not too much rugby played, save for a spell at the start of the second half, when Leicester trailed 17-13 and decided they had better get their backs moving. It brought them the lead, through two penalty goals by Tim Stimpson, but the impetus was short-lived. Ryan Strudwick's exemplary tackle count drove the Irish on, Mark Mapletoft booted a 68th minute penalty when Leicester killed a ruck 30 metres from the posts, and a capacity 17,000 crowd sat and stared in amazement as Irish held out.

Leicester had fourth place to aim for, a dull bauble by their standards, but one which guaranteed Heineken Cup qualification without the need to bother with the post-season play-offs. They appeared to be on track when Stimpson flew 40 metres for the opening try after three minutes, but consistently ran up against Irish obduracy at the ruck, and a lack of ideas at half-back.

Mapletoft certainly justified his selection ahead of regular points machine Barry Everitt. The bustling, bleached-blond No 10 landed four penalties to put Irish 12-5 up after 28 minutes, and blended chip kicks with the occasional break to keep Leicester guessing.

A rare piece of concerted pressure brought Leicester their second try, for the wing, John Holtby, but in added time at the end of the first half, a stray punt from the 22 allowed Irish a massive overlap which they exploited to work Mike Worsley in at the left corner. From the restart, Geordan Murphy snapped over a dropped goal for Leicester from halfway, but Tigers were only feeding on scraps.

The bonus point Leicester gained was not enough to preserve their interest in a top-three finish. They are now, officially, ex-champions. And Darren Garforth, the warhorse prop who waved what he thought was a Welford Road farewell at kick-off, may have another battle to fight here after all, in the wildcard playoffs.

Leicester: T Stimpson; J Holtby, L Lloyd (G Gelderbloom, 76), F Tuilagi, G Murphy; C McMullen, H Ellis; P Freshwater (G Rowntree, 60), G Chuter, D Garforth, M Johnson (capt), L Deacon (B Kay, 60), M Corry (L Abraham, 69), A Balding, W Skinner.

London Irish: M Horak; P Sackey, G Appleford, R Hoadley, K Barrett; M Mapletoft, H Martens; M Worsley (N Hatley, 48), A Flavin, R Hardwick (S Halford, 13), R Strudwick (capt), B Casey, D Danaher, C Sheasby, K Dawson.

Referee: D Pearson (Northumberland).