Booth is conscious his Heineken Cup hopes could end in Toulon

London Irish head coach Toby Booth has labelled Saturday's Heineken Cup match in Toulon as 'do or die'.

The Exiles sit bottom of their pool, below Munster, Toulon and Ospreys, having lost 19-13 to the French side in Reading last weekend.

Booth told BBC Berkshire: "It's a cup final. Realistically we're going to find it difficult if we don't get a result so we know what we have to do.

"From a Heineken Cup point-of-view, it's a 'do or die' situation."

Having lost top top spot in the Premiership in recent weeks Irish have now lost their last five matches in all competitions and Booth admits the club is feeling the strain.

"Everybody feels a little bit of pressure," he said. "It's our job to take the pressure of them and let the players do what they're good at.

"The issue really is that people are trying a bit too hard and trying to do a little too much extra because everyone's desperate to get back on the winning trail.

"We're doing everything that we can. We're not chasing our tails, we're trying to make our skills better, our set piece better - you name it, we're trying to make it better.

"The problem is that if you try to force the issue a fraction too much, what you're doing actually is relieving pressure on the opposition. That's what we have to cut out of our game."

Toulon versus London Irish kicks off at 1530 GMT and is live on BBC Berkshire.

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