NICK KENNEDY says confidence is slowly starting to build again after London Irish made it three wins in a row with victory over Wasps on Saturday.
The Exiles named a strong side against a young Wasps outfit in the Anglo-Welsh Cup clash at Madejski Stadium and it was a one-sided affair with the 66-7 victory their biggest of the season.
Irish scored 10 tries on the day with Joe Cokanasiga bagging a hat-trick while Alex
Lewington, Ollie Hoskins, Piet van Zyl, Scott Steele, Aseli Tikoirotuma, James Marshall and Saia Fainga’a also on target in the rout.
“Wasps were an under-strength side, there’s no hiding from that,” admitted director of rugby Kennedy.
“But you can still only beat what’s in front of you.
“The way that we played and the way that we looked after the ball was better than previous weeks.
“The line speed we brought in defence in the second half especially was impressive and the boys took their tries well, exploited the space well and it was enjoyable to watch.
“Confidence is starting to build slowly but surely.
“I think confidence comes from playing well and the boys definitely played well.”
The win leaves Irish third in their Anglo-Welsh group with victory at Cardiff Blues on Friday night a must to keep their chances of progressing to the semi-finals alive.
Kennedy is yet to decide how many players to rest ahead of the vital block of Aviva Premiership fixtures to come but is excited about new arrivals Arno Botha and van Zyl, who debuted on Saturday.
“I thought Piet looked really sharp off the bench,” said Kennedy.
“He looked quick. It was nice for him to score a try.
“Arno on the far side, his hand-off, fend, it looks explosive. Good acceleration and then to put us away there with a nice little pass.
“For debuts, they’ve been in the system two weeks and I thought they were both very impressive.”
