Booth hails Catt

Toby Booth hopes Mike Catt will continue playing after watching him inspire London Irish to a 17-0 Guinness Premiership play-off victory over Harlequins.

Former England fly-half Catt topped a match-winning display with a second-half try to help the Exiles into Saturday's Twickenham final against Leicester.

"Mike Catt was absolutely outstanding. It was one of those games that Mike thrives on," said the Exiles director of rugby.

The 37-year-old player-coach has yet to decide what role he will fill at the Madejski Stadium next season but Booth will never ask him to retire.

Booth added: "The irony is he spent two days in bed with flu this week. We still started him because we know how important he is to controlling things.

"Catty has a fantastic appetite - people dream about being able to do what he does at 37.

"He's a credit to himself, his family and London Irish. I'll never ask him to stop playing.

"It's Mike's decision whether he will play next season. If push comes to shove I'm sure he'll put his hand up because that's the sort of guy he is.

"Mike loves the situation he's in and he'll make the decision over the course of the summer."