Premiership: London Irish 32-26 Gloucester - Exiles hang on for narrow win

Loose forward Blair Cowan weighed in with two of the five London Irish tries against Gloucester at Brentford

London Irish claimed their third win in eight Premiership games this season as they hung on to see off Gloucester.

But, after leading 14-12 at the break with first-half tries from centre Henry Trinder and lock Alex Craig, the bottom club did at least end up with two bonus points in a game of nine tries.

As it was, the second of Blair Cowan's two tries - against 14 men - was key.

Gus Creevy and Tom Parton added to Ollie Hassell-Collins' try before Craig built on Mark Atkinson's earlier score.

Craig's last-minute score not only earned a fourth-try bonus-point, it brought Gloucester back to within seven points of the Irish total to secure a second bonus point and close the gap on 11th-placed Worcester to just one.

For Irish, following last weekend's victory over Newcastle, it was back-to-back wins in the Premiership for the first time in 12 months to help them climb to sixth in the table.,

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Ciaran Knight's yellow card just before the interval was pivotal, as Cowan scored almost straight from the restart, before Argentine hooker Creevy extended the hosts' advantage on 51 minutes.

Gloucester then got back to within a point when Atkinson scored, one of three successful conversions for Billy Twelvetrees, before Parton stretched the Exiles clear again.

But Gloucester, who had England winger Jonny May, Scotland centre Chris Harris, Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit and Italy stand-off Steven Varney all away on international duty, finished strongly.

With three minutes left, Paddy Jackson added a penalty to his two earlier conversions to seemingly stretch the Exiles clear - but there was still time for lock forward Craig to go over for his second try.

The consolation for Gloucester boss George Skivington, against his former club, was at least getting something from the game.

Aside from their opening weekend thrashing by Leicester, none of the Cherry and Whites' seven defeats have been by a margin greater than 12 points - and two of the last three have earned a losing bonus point.

London Irish director of rugby Declan Kidney:

"Any time you get five points is a good result, but it's left us with an awful lot to work on.

"We know Gloucester play a good brand of rugby. They're very dangerous because they threaten you right across the park.

"We can keep the opposition guessing but, at the same time, it's important to get your basics right. Some of those things we were a bit short on. We need to have a bit of variety to our play."

Gloucester head coach George Skivington:

"It was a deserved victory for an Irish side who dominated possession, territory and chances. But we're making strides in the right direction. We're confident about the track we're on.

"I was impressed with the boys' attitude. Obviously we wanted to put ourselves in a position to win. But London Irish are a very good team. They executed a couple of plays more than we did.

"And they got on top of our set-piece at the end, Obviously that's disappointing for me as the forwards coach, but we've made a lot of progress in that area."

London Irish: Parton; Loader, Rona, Hepatema, Hassell-Collins; Jackson, Phipps; Goodrick-Clarke, Creevy, Kepu, Simmons, Coleman, Rogerson (capt), Cowan, Tuisue

Replacements: Matu'u, Dell, Chawatama, Mafi, Donnell, O'Brien, Meehan, Brophy-Clews

Gloucester: Woodward; Carrerras, Trinder, Atkinson, Thorley; Twelvetrees, Heinz; Ford-Robinson, Walker, Knight, Craig, Alemanno, Reid, Ludlow (capt), Ackermann

Replacements: Gleave, Seville, Balmain, Atkins, Clarke, Chapman, Kveseladze, Moyle

Referee: Ian Tempest (RFU).

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