London Irish reach Premiership final - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

London Irish reach Premiership final

10/05/2009 06:45:15 AM Comments (0)

London Irish will face Leicester in the English Premiership rugby final after sealing a comfortable 17-0 victory over Harlequins in Saturday's semi-final at the Twickenham Stoop.

After 42 minutes, six missed penalties and two changes of kicker, it was Irish who finally took control when Delon Armitage booted Irish ahead.

Substitute second row James Hudson crossed to put the Exiles further ahead and when Mike Catt added the second in a dominant final quarter it was all over.

Irish finished third in the Premiership, one place behind Quins, but they possessed greater nous than their London rivals, who saw four kickable first-half penalties go begging.

Two of them were missed by former All Black Nick Evans who was passed fit to play after four weeks out with a thigh strain but was clearly not operating at full throttle.

Irish march on, however, with a place in the Twickenham final looming next Saturday, when they will start as underdogs against a Leicester side who dispatched Bath 24-10.

Former England captain Martin Corry confirmed he will retire at the end of the season after watching Leicester's win.

Corry did an emotional lap of honour at the Walkers Stadium even though he took no part in the match.

The 36-year-old will make himself available if needed for the Premiership final and the European Cup final before hanging up his boots at the end of the season.

After 290 matches for Leicester, 64 for England and seven appearances for the British Lions, Corry, who has had pelvic and groin problems, can no longer cope with the strain on his body.

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