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Rugby Union

Irish boost European hopes

12/01/2008

London Irish have put themselves in prime position to claim a quarter-final place in the Heineken Cup after beating Newport-Gwent Dragons 41-24.

The Exiles scored six tries against the Dragons but had to weather a late comeback from the Welsh side before securing the win.

Irish crossed the whitewash three times before Dragons could even get on the scoreboard as their backline combined to devastating effect.

Shane Geraghty marshalled the Exiles from fly-half. Richard Thorpe and Eoghan Hickey both scored inside 20 minutes while Peter Hewat added the extras to give the home side a 17-0 lead.

Geraghty then scored himself before Richard Fussell got one back for the Dragons. Hewat made sure the Exiles secured a bonus point with their fourth try just before the break, giving them a 29-7 lead at half-time.

Thorpe added a fifth for the Exiles soon after the resumption but, with nothing to lose, Dragons then mounted a comeback.

The visitors scored 17 unanswered points thanks to tries from Ben Daly, Gareth Wyatt and Ceri Sweeney. That brought them to within ten points with 13 minutes remaining.

However Thorpe's third try with four minutes left ended any hopes Dragons had of completing the comeback.

Irish are now top of pool one on 19 points with a trip to bottom side Treviso next week. A win in Italy would secure them a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.