ANDREW FENBY hopes his hat-trick against Edinburgh will ensure “the coaches won’t be able to carry on ignoring me”.
The Welshman was selected for first time since the opening day of the Aviva Premiership in October and bagged three tries as London Irish claimed a bonus point 38-6 win over the Pro12 side at Madejski Stadium to go top of their European Challenge Cup pool.
Having been a regular starter during the last campaign, Fenby has found chances hard to come by recently under new head coach Tom Coventry.
“It’s been an incredibly frustrating couple of months waiting for an opportunity,” Fenby told The Wokingham Paper.
“I started the first game of the season and got dropped after that.
“I’ve just had to be patient, work on my game, try to stay positive and take my chance when I got it which I’m hoping with that hat-trick I’ve done and the coaches won’t be able to carry on ignoring me.”
After playing the entirety of Exiles 28-16 defeat to Leicester Tigers two months ago, Fenby was left out of the side with the likes of Alex Lewington, Topsy Ojo and Sean Maitland taking the backs spots, and was forced to play in the club’s ‘A’ side.
And he says his predicament was akin to that of when he first joined the club in 2013.
“It’s part and parcel of being a professional sportsman,” explained the winger.
“It’s all down to rotation, opinions and it happens.
“It’s all about how you deal with it and trying to do as best you can.
“I guess initially my first games for Irish when I was trying to establish myself, it’s slightly similar to then.
“I had to play a couple of A League games. It’s not what you want to be doing, going down to Bristol on a Monday evening in the freezing cold.
“You want to be out there at the weekend, playing with all your mates in a game.
“I’m hoping now that that will be happening a lot more.”
Irish face part two of their double header with Edinburgh this weekend and Fenby is expecting a much tougher battle north of the border.
“I imagine we’re going to be in for their retribution,” he said.
“They’re going to be fuming after that performance last week and, at home, they’ll probably bring back a few more of their big names.
“They’re going to be out to prove a point.
“It’s going to be a lot harder and it’s all about for us trying to build momentum.”
