LONDON IRISH finished their league campaign with victory and were crowned as league champions against second placed Ealing Trailfinders as Topsy Ojo made his last home appearance after 16 years at the club.
The 33-12 victory ensured that Irish finished top of the Championship and will be playing Premiership rugby next season having secured promotion last week against Richmond.
Topsy Ojo retires from rugby having made 301 appearances in 16 years for London Irish but was unable to mark his final home appearance with a try.
Irish made an early breakthrough after just two minutes as Albert Tuisue played a pass to Brendan Macken whose neat footwork allowed him to step past the first tackle and he raced past two more Ealing defenders before touching the ball down in the corner. Jacob Atkins then converted to give the Exiles an early 7-0 lead.
Alivereti Veitokani then scored a stunning solo try to put Irish into a comfortable lead. Catching the ball inside of his own half, Veitokani beautifully spun away from the first tackle and then showed the Ealing defenders a clean pair of heels as he accelerated towards the line and with the defenders left helpless, he touched down in the corner.
But the visitors hit back as winger Reon Joseph put Ealing onto the scoresheet as he cleverly evaded a first tackle before somehow squeezing his way past two Irish defenders and scored the Trailfinders first try of the game which was converted by the left boot of Peter Lydon.
Ealing found a good spell of possession and territory as they piled the pressure on the Irish defence. Joseph continued to give Irish problems with his blistering pace and put the away side into the ascendency with a good spell as he ate up the ground to put his side into a good position but the attack eventually fizzled out as a misplaced pass went out for a lineout much to the relief of Irish.
Topsy Ojo then missed a golden chance to mark his last home London Irish appearance before retirement with a try. The ball was moved out to the wing and with Ojo just metres away from the touchline, the usually clinical winger fumbled the pass.
But it didn’t take Irish long to recover from that missed opportunity as Tuisue got over the line for their third try of the match after Ojo played a quick pass to Paulo who offloaded it for Tuiusue to get over the line.
But the away side enjoyed another good spell at the end of the half and took advantage of Irish being reduced to 14 players as Paulo was sin binned for a shoulder tackle in a ruck. Ealing remained patient to break down the line of Irish defence and switched the ball out to Segundo Tuculet on the wing who finished the move but the conversion was missed as Irish went into the break with a 19-12 lead.
Ealing started the second half well and threatened to score early as a good kick over the top found the Trailfinders breaking away with numbers but the referee eventually halted the attack because of a forward pass.
Irish made the first score of the second half as they capitalised on some poor play from Ealing who gave up possession cheaply as Matt Williams raced away and took two exquisite touches with his feet to carry the ball forward before scoring. Atkins then converted to put the hosts into a comfortable 26-12 lead.
Veitokani came close to replicating his brilliant solo effort in the first half as he carried the ball from his own half and breezed past a few tackles before eventually being stopped in his tracks as he knocked the ball on.
Ealing thought they had got themselves back into the game with another try as Max Davies got over the line. But it was eventually disallowed because of a horrible tackle in the build up from Harry Casson, who picked an Irish player up and dangerously dropped him onto his head which led to his sending off.
Despite his teammates best efforts, they were unable to give Ojo the perfect send off with a try but captain Fergus Mulchrone did get on the scoresheet on his final appearance for Irish before Myler converted for a 33-12 win.
London Irish line-up: Veitokani, Ojo, Macken, Mulchrone (c), Williams, Atkins, McKibbin, Elrington, Matu’u, Cilliers, Maddison, Paulo, Tuisue, Gilsenan, Rogerson.
Replacements: Fainga’a, Chawatama, Saulo, de Chaves, Schatz, Steele, Myler.
Try scorers: Macken (2), Veitokani (9), Tuisue (30), Williams (56), Mulchrone (79)
Conversions: Atkins x4, Myler
