TomAs O'Leary targets a top four finish for new club London Irish.

London Itish have been on the verge of good things for a number of seasons now.

O'Leary is a good signing, he seems confident. The Exiles are aiming for top four.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18735721

I've been a big critic of O'Leary for Ireland but I hope things work out for him at LI. He sounds pretty hungry and motivated.

Don't expect quick service or decent box kicks but he's a commited player in defence and pretty good at launching 1st phase set plays.

Hopefully Humph will go well too. Good luck

In the same way that Scotland are aiming for a grand slam and world cup win.

I dont really see that they have much of a squad, especially if they lose Corbs and JJ to England, Ansboro and Shingler ( ) to scootland, ... this despite doing their best efforts to only sign players who wont be on international duty.
Which si a point. Now TOL is a good signing for any Jeff club as usually the IRFU ignore England based players for callups. Hes a decent enough player. The problem is their squad is stacked with these kind of players, without checking the stats Id assume they are the least English of the Jeff clubs. Now you cant really complain about that with the Irish chaps, thats kind of the point of the club. But theres only 2 of them, theres more Tongans Scots and Welsh in the list of players I have for the senior side (this may not be correct so feel free t correct, the general principle is true though). If we are ever going to highlight the problem with the current Jeff setup, EPS system and hiring of non EQs then perhaps LIrish are the example to look at. It doesnt make them evil, they are just reacting to the market as is, but it is sub-optimal forma number of viewpoints, not leas of all the irishness of irish.

I would say that our squad has more potential international players though than the vast majority of Prem teams. Some clubs do field less EQPs (Sale for one), but those that we field really are young and good:

Corbisiero
Lahiff
Paice
Garvey
Skivington
Low
Gibson
Sisi
Gray
Geraghty
Ojo
Yarde
Joseph
Homer
Watson

All of those guys have the chance of competing for international honours over the next couple of seasons. Obviously the timeframe will be different for each player.

OK

I dont really see that they have much of a squad, especially if they lose Corbs and JJ to England, Ansboro and Shingler ( ) to scootland

Here's the LI team that played in the 2009 final: Hewat; Thompstone, D Armitage, Mapusua, Tagicakibau; Catt, Hodgson; Dermody, Coetzee, Skuse, Hudson, Casey (capt), Danaher, S Armitage, Hala'ufia.

Not exactly packed with big names is it? Aside from Catt, there's no-one in that team with alot of international experience.

they are the least English of the Jeff clubs

It wasn't LI who had to field a weakened team of 23 EQP on the last day of the season to ensure that they still received RFU funding - that was Sale.

Next season Irish will have Shaun Edwards coaching the defence, Tom Homer, top premiership points scorer last season kicking the goals, and a host of young talent like Marland Yarde and Anthony Watson coming out of the academy. Brian Smith has also said that there's still money left for a big signing. If things go well, I think its entirely possible for Irish to be in the mix.

Will be interested to see how Conor Gaston, who was recently signed from the Ulster academy to the London Irish academy, does.

If Ulster didn't have such a glut of wingers he would of stayed. He's a very talented young player.

Why do they see top four as the recognised ambition...? Not winning the league.

I think you will find that well over half the teams in all three leagues would have that as a recognised Ambition.

Artful_Dodger wrote:Will be interested to see how Conor Gaston, who was recently signed from the Ulster academy to the London Irish academy, does.

If Ulster didn't have such a glut of wingers he would of stayed. He's a very talented young player.

We don't have huge depth at wing though do we? If you consider the fact that at least two of our wingers will more than likely be in the Ireland squad for a good portion of the season. Which leaves Trimble/Gilroy (assuming that only one of them are called up) and Cochrane. If both are called up then we have only one actual winger. I expect Spence may play a few games on the wing this season.

maestegmafia wrote:Why do they see top four as the recognised ambition...? Not winning the league.

Because hes seen how much people have laughed at the new Scotland coach?

Right now the realistic target for Irish is pushing for a top four spot. That puts them in with a shot of doing and LW and upsetting the big boys. Theyve very much been a mid table club since 2009, and I believe that was the highest they've ever finished?
If everyone just said " Id like to win the league and a world cup" interviews would get a bit predictable and pointless. This shows realistically where the club sees itself, as one of the sides that could push for a top 4 spot.
Personally I believe they will struggle, but I wouldnt rule it out. Tigers Quins, Sarries and Saints are all stronger squads...possibly Glaws, Bath and Wasps will be pushing too. After last season you can hardly rule Exeter out either. Sale could easily be a surprise package again too with some big signings and new money come in. Theres only really two clubs who are no hopers for the playoffs. That makes it a very tough ask for one of the mid range clubs to step up and make the top 4. The Jeff is a very tight and competitive league outside of Oxford.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:

Artful_Dodger wrote:Will be interested to see how Conor Gaston, who was recently signed from the Ulster academy to the London Irish academy, does.

If Ulster didn't have such a glut of wingers he would of stayed. He's a very talented young player.

We don't have huge depth at wing though do we? If you consider the fact that at least two of our wingers will more than likely be in the Ireland squad for a good portion of the season. Which leaves Trimble/Gilroy (assuming that only one of them are called up) and Cochrane. If both are called up then we have only one actual winger. I expect Spence may play a few games on the wing this season.

Maybe not when you put it like that, but Gaston would have gotten very few opportunities at Ulster - especially if only when our wingers are on Ireland duty which they wont be very often. I think having Bowe, Trimble and Gilroy with Cochrane as back up is good depth on the wings.

Maybe not when you put it like that, but Gaston would have gotten very few opportunities at Ulster

To be fair LI are pretty well stocked with wing options in the likes of Ojo, Tacki, even young Watson. They are pretty reliable when it comes to throwing youngsters in the deep end though so, although, he probably won't get a sniff at being first choice he will at least get some game time. Resources aren't big at LI so they utilise their academy very well.