Irish aware of tough task ahead

Armitage in action for London Irish

London Irish forwards coach Toby Booth is well aware how tough their task is this weekend when they travel to Sale.

If Irish are to qualify for next season's Heineken Cup they must beat Sale, score four tries and hope that Harlequins beat Leicester.

Booth told BBC Radio Berkshire it does not come much tougher than winning at Edgeley Park.

"Sale is a ridiculously hard place to go and win, although we have won there before," he said.

Interview: London Irish forwards coach Toby Booth

"We'll put all our eggs in the basket and see what comes out. We're certainly not underestimating the task ahead of us.

Booth added that while qualifying for the Heineken Cup was highly desirable, failure to do so would not be a disaster.

"To be a market leader in the Premiership and in Europe, obviously you have to be in the main competitions.

We set ourselves the target of a Premiership semi-final and a Heineken Cup quarter-final - we achieved one and failed on the other, which shows it is a work in progress Toby Booth

"If we're not, we'll assess that situation if and when it comes and we'll set our goals accordingly, which would obviously be to re-qualify and probably more importantly, this team is due to win something."

He denied that Irish had given the Heineken Cup greater priority than other competitions this season.

"I wouldn't say it was ahead of the Premiership as that's your bread and butter - the Premiership will always be your primary goal.

"We set ourselves the target of a Premiership semi-final and a Heineken Cup quarter-final - we achieved one and failed on the other, which shows it is a work in progress although we can compete with the big boys."

Booth paid tribute to long-serving number eight Phil Murphy, who plays his last game for London Irish this Saturday at Sale.

Phil Murphy is set to make his final appearance for Irish at Sale (Getty)

"Phil's a great character and he's been a good servant to London Irish and to hostelries around the country. We'll be sad to see him go but he wanted a longer-term contract and he deserves all he can get out of rugby. He's done us proud."

Sale versus London Irish kicks off at 1500BST on Saturday 10 May and is live on BBC Radio Berkshire.