LES KISS has urged his London Irish side to learn from their away outing at Coventry last month when they head up to Doncaster on Saturday (2.30pm).
Despite Doncaster’s lowly league standing, Exiles head coach Kiss is expecting a similar test to when Irish were made to work hard for their 21-17 win at newly-promoted Coventry.
And he says picking up a convincing win in Yorkshire will set them up for two tough games the following weekends against Cornish Pirates and Jersey Reds.
“There is an important three weeks,” said Kiss.
“Doncaster away, I think that’s really important for us.
“We went away to Coventry and teams will lift at home and maybe even stack their team a little bit, rest before and come at us and see what they can do.
“I’d prefer not to have a Coventry experience. I’d like to get away there and do a job.
“I do believe Doncaster are a very proud team at home and I’m looking forward to that challenge.
“But that’s going to be important for the further challenges that we have when we go away for Jersey two weeks later.
“It does start with Doncaster.”
He added: “We’ll come to the end of that first period once we hit Jersey and we’ll see where we are as a competition.
“We’ve watched Doncaster a little bit already and I think they pushed the game really tight (against Bedford) last week.
“We’re very wary of them, particularly an away game.
“We need to make sure that we manage an away game. I haven’t been there but apparently it’s a tough environment to play in and then two weeks later it’s even tougher in Jersey.
“But get Doncaster right and that sets us up for the challenges ahead.”
After six wins from six, Irish sit second in the Championship table, two points behind leaders Ealing Trailfinders with a game in hand.
That comes after Saturday’s thumping 72-5 win over Yorkshire Carnegie at Madejski Stadium where Topsy Ojo scored on his club record-equalling 290th appearance.
And Kiss was pleased to see the winger cross the whitewash.
“You’ve got guys like Topsy who have been part of the infrastructure in the club for such a long time and it was great for him to have that opportunity to perform on Saturday,” said the coach.
“It’s easy to say it’s his 290th game and that he just got a run because of that, but he is playing some good rugby.
“He’s probably a yard slower than he used to be but he is still a good footballer around the park and covers things for us and is a good experienced voice for (Tom) Parton and (Ben) Loader as well, which has been great.
“It’s great to see Topsy get a reward for what he’s given to the club.”
