Danaher played in the 2006 European Challenge Cup final for the Exiles

London Irish players and coaches are convinced they can win this season's European Challenge Cup.

The Exiles start their campaign at home to Rovigo on Saturday with coach Toby Booth selecting his strongest squad.

Flanker Declan Danaher told BBC Radio Berkshire they are desperate to take some silverware this season.

He said: "It's so close you can almost feel it. It's going to happen - we're moving in the right direction and we're playing a brand of attractive rugby."

He added that although they will start as favourites against the Italians, they will not be taking them lightly:

"You don't have a lot of information on teams like Rovigo, there's no video of them, so it hasn't been a normal week where you watch the line-outs and scrums.

"And for a lot of these teams, this is their cup final, they have a point to prove.

"You don't want to be embarrassed. It would be a giant-killing for them. I've seen it before, we've gone out against certain teams in the past and we've thought it was sevens but it doesn't work like that.

"You have to start well and strongly. It's not going to happen straight away and we pile 10 tries on them. We have to start and do the basics well and see what happens."

Head coach Toby Booth said he believes the European Challenge Cup will be good for London Irish.

"Three years ago it proved valuable to us, getting to the final. It also kicked Gloucester on in terms of their competitiveness and being a Premiership big gun.

"I'd like it to do the same for us. To do so, we have to get past Rovigo, that's our first step.

"Heineken Cup rugby is what we want. We enjoyed the experience over the past couple of years and we've missed out.

"That's a very big driver for us - to make sure that we're in the hunt again."

BBC Radio Berkshire has live coverage of London Irish v Rovigo at 1500 BST.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version