LONDON Irish interim head coach Glenn Delaney believes that there is “a lot to work on” after his side narrowly beat Grenoble 43-41 in the Challenge Cup.
Having found themselves 10 points behind with 10 minutes remaining, the Exiles snatched victory through a late try from Myles Dorrian.
The win follows a dramatic last-kick win over Exeter in the league and Delaney is aware that there is room for improvement.
“As a performance, I think there’s a lot that we’ve got to work on. There are a lot of elements we weren’t happy with,” he said.
“Conceding that amount of points, a lot them cheaply, we were very disappointed with. Obviously we’re delighted to get a bonus-point win and stay top of the group, which was the objective.
“You could say we met the objective but not by the methods we had set out to do it by.”
Following Cardiff’s rout against Rovigo the night before, Irish headed into the game knowing a bonus-point win was a must.
The hosts ran in six tries from Alex Lewington, a penalty try, Tom Guest, Geoff Cross, Andrew Fenby and Dorrian to secure a fifth point.
The bonus-point triumph ensures the Exiles remain top of Pool Two and look likely to secure a home quarter-final, something which Delaney feels is important.
“I think it’s important to have any kind of advantage when you reach the knockout stages as it’s any given Sunday (meaning anyone can beat anyone).
“Teams can rise (to the occasion) and it’s a one-off game so you want everything in your favour as much as possible.
“We kind of expected to stay in control of the group we had to win the bonus-point. We had a plan that we were going to try to win the game and put ourselves in a position the take the extra point.”
Irish were able to defeat Grenoble despite spending the final twenty minutes down to 14 men following to dismissal of David Paice.
Delaney was quick to praise his player’s performance despite Grenoble’s numerical advantage but admits playing a man down has become commonplace in rugby.
“It (playing with 14) has become a big part because yellow cards play a big part in games too. There are times when you are down a number and you have to change the amount of aggression in defence.”
“The character of the group is very resilient and they find a way to get through these situations. Those moments of adversity don’t seem to affect them too much.”
The Exiles next game is away to Rovigo this Saturday (January 24).
