THEO BROPHY CLEWS scored four second half tries to keep London Irish’s European Challenge Cup hopes alive with a bonus point victory over Krasny Yar.
After a below par first half which saw the Russian outfit go in at the break 10-7 ahead, the Exiles shot out of the traps to clinch victory thanks to four Brophy Clews scores in 22 minutes.
Substitutes Joe Cokanasiga and Lovejoy Chawatama also crossed the whitewash to add to Ben Loader’s first half try for the Exiles.
Nick Kennedy’s men face the return trip next weekend, needing to win again and hope other results go their way to have a chance of progressing.
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It was the first time Irish had ever played a side from Russia and they came in as big favourites, despite wholesale changes to the team, perhaps understandable given Krasny Yar lost 78-0 to Edinburgh in the last round of fixtures.
But the visitors got an early foothold in the contest with some strong carries before taking the lead when Tommy Bell misjudged the bounce of the ball, allowing Giorgi Pruidze in to score the opening try of the contest.
However, the Exiles bounced straight back, levelling up at 7-7 when winger Ben Loader, brother of Reading FC’s starlet Danny, showed his footballing skills to kick through and dab down for his first score in the Irish first team.
That proved to be as good as it got during a first half in which Krasny Yar, boasting 15 full internationals in their starting line-up, showed they were up for the task.
The Russian outfit came just short of their second try, held up on the line before knocking the ball on as they looked to find space out wide.
Irish suffered a knock-on of their own. After a decent spell of pressure, Harry Elrington looked to break through but knocked on inside the 22.
Isaac Curtis-Harris had been one of the Exiles’ stand-out performers during the first half, but the hosts were dealt a blow when he was forced off with a knock to the head to join the lengthy injury list.
And Krasny Yar went into half-time 10-7 in front after Lasha Malaguradze kicked over a penalty from midway inside the Irish half.
Exiles responded well after the restart, forcing two early penalties in good positions. Needing tries rather than just kicking over the points, a kick to the corner yielded their second try of the day.
In a flashback to last season, a line-out drive pushed Irish to within touching distance of the line before Scott Steele spun the ball to Brophy Clews to score under the posts and put the Exiles 14-10 ahead.
The third try arrived on 64 minutes through Brophy Clews again after a brilliant pass inside by Cokanasiga.
That sparked a rampant run of scoring from the hosts, moving from 14-10 to 47-10 in the space of 11 minutes.
The vital bonus point was confirmed Chawatama profited from a powerful rolling maul before Brophy Clews then completed a 16-minute hat-trick as he waltzed in to dab down.
Cokanasiga then got in on the act, bursting down the right flank and there was even time for a fourth Brophy Clews try before he was replaced and given a standing ovation.
The victory ends an 11-match losing run and keeps London Irish in with a sniff of progression to the quarter-finals.
LONDON IRISH: Bell (Cokanasiga 55), Ransom, M. Williams, Brophy Clews (Fowlie 76), Loader, Atkins, Steele (Meehan 65), Elrington (Smallbone 68), Paice (Woolstencroft 68), Hoskins (Chawatama 65), Lloyd, De Chaves (c), Cooke, Northcote-Green (Gleave 74), Curtis-Harris (Basham 34).
Tries: Loader (11), Brophy Clews x4 (53,64,69,75), Chawatama (67), Cokanasiga (72)
Cons: Bell x2 (12,54), Atkins x4 (65,70,73,76)
KRASNY YAR: Matiashvili, Galinovsky, Pruidze, Malaguradze, Artemyev (c), Apikotoa, Dorofeev, Tnobiladze, Tsnobiladze, Fukofuka, Mahu, Garbuzov, Gresev, Arhip, Khudyakov.
Reps: Kondakov, Prepelitse, Tsiklauri, Ilin, Iagudin, Ryabov, Latu, Golosnitskiy.
Tries: Pruidze (7), Latu (79)
Con: Malaguradze x2 (8,80)
Pen: Malaguradze (36)
Yellow cards: Tsnobiladze (66)
Referee: Mike Adamson
Attendance: 4,746
Scoring sequence (Irish first): 0-5, 0-7, 5-7, 7-7, 7-10, 12-10, 14-10, 19-10, 21-10, 26-10, 31-10, 33-10, 38-10, 40-10, 45-10, 47-10, 47-15, 47-17.
