Smith lauds combative forwards

London Irish director of rugby Brian Smith lauded the work of his combative forwards as his side sealed their first Premiership home win of the season over London Welsh.

Props Geoff Cross and Tom Court both crossed the whitewash after lumbering work from the pack in inclement Boxing Day conditions as Irish ended a run of six successive defeats with their 175th Premiership win.

Alex Lewington also touched down and Homer added nine from the tee but Smith felt the Exiles could have done more to snatch a bonus point.

"It is mixed emotions really as I thought with 10 minutes to go, we were within a real shout of squeezing a bonus point from that game," he said.

"They kept us out early when we had them by the throat and that's probably the difference between getting three and four tries. The victory today was purely off the back of the forwards. The rain was heavy, the pitch was very slippy and we clearly went in with a drive focus.

"I think we must have driven for 200 metres today so that is a monumental effort and it was one that was required. The forwards will sleep well tonight and the backs will be buying them coffee on Monday morning."

Both sides were reduced to 14-men before halftime as Tom May and Daniel Leo saw red for elbows to the head.

London Welsh director of rugby Justin Burnell was left distraught with their 11th loss of the season, despite the improvement from last week's record 78-7 defeat at Saracens.

"It was a game we wanted to win so we are bitterly disappointed," said Burnell.

"I felt that some stages in the game we could have won it, especially after last week's debacle. Today we saw a little bit more of a level playing field.

"I felt this week we were able to keep the ball, we started off as we wanted to, and we were going into halftime in the game. Even when it was 17-9, I felt we were in it. It is chalk and cheese from last week.

"They are a very resilient bunch across the board, the players, the staff, everyone involved. The disappointment now becomes more frustration as last week we were just hammered."