LES KISS believes Ben Loader will keep on improving after nailing down a regular spot in the London Irish side.
The young winger, formerly of Wellington College in Crowthorne, stole the show again on Saturday in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 fans for the club’s annual St Patrick’s Party clash at Madejski Stadium.
Loader, 20, scored the pick of the tries in the 49-12 win over Doncaster Knights, collecting the ball on the halfway line before showing his pace and power to burst all the way through and across the whitewash.
The England youth international also recently scored two tries in the Championship Cup semi-final win over Yorkshire and Kiss says he deserves his chance in the first team.
INTERVIEW: Porecki pleased with response to Yorkshire defeat
“He’s growing all the time, Ben,” head coach Kiss told The Wokingham Paper.
“When he backs his ability, puts the ball in his two hands and then puts it under his wing and accelerates, he’s a hard man to get hold of.
“He showed that nicely on Saturday and we’re really pleased. I think defensively he’s also improving which is nice.
“We’ve put pressure on him in certain ways, we haven’t just gifted him that position.
“He’s had to earn it at training and I think that’s a really important quality we want, when you get your position, you’ve earnt it and when you get hold of that position you make sure you do it justice.
“I think he’s maturing nicely in that respect. I think for Ben, he’s just getting a run of games and getting more robust. He’s getting less and less calf issues, he used to cramp up a lot early in games and he doesn’t seem to
be doing that as much so he’s growing as a young man and he’ll only get better.”
The weekend win keeps the Exiles eight points clear of nearest challengers Ealing Trailfinders with just four games remain this campaign, starting on Saturday when Irish head to fifth-placed Cornish Pirates (2.30pm).
“Ealing have got to go to Jersey and we’ve got to go to Pirates,” said Kiss.
“They are tough games. Our challenge is to reverse what happened there around Christmas time. We got beaten (19-7) there, we haven’t mentioned it yet but we will talk about that this week and ensure we’re a little bit better prepared.
“Pirates down there are a tough proposition.”
London Irish XV v Cornish Pirates: Veitokani, Loader, Stephenson, Mulchrone, McLean, Keatley, Meehan, Reid, Porecki, Hoskins, van der Merwe, McNally (c), Tuisue, Ioane, Treviranus.
Reps: van Vuuren, Chawatama, Maddison, Schatz, Steele, Atkins, Williams.
See this week’s Wokingham Paper for our brilliant St Patrick’s Party photos.
