Exiles seek consistency

London Irish Director of Rugby Toby Booth is demanding more consistency from his side after seeing them follow up last week's thumping victory over title rivals Gloucester with a 16-13 Premiership defeat by Saracens at a packed Vicarage Road.

The Exiles saw their long 10-match winning run come to an end in front of 16,000 frozen fans in Watford, with only rare glimpses of the league leaders' exciting brand of rugby.

"We are not in a happy place at the moment, to be honest," said Booth. "We contributed to our own downfall, it's very disappointing. The Premiership is a very competitive place, if you are beaten by a better side you can put your hands up."

He added: "Sarries were very, very good in certain aspects, they bullied us at the contact area. We couldn't get any rhythm or control.

"Our performances this week and last week are worlds apart - it's very disappointing."

Booth revealed that he had his doubts over whether his side were victims of some sharp practice at the breakdown area but wanted to review the match on video before making a definitive judgment.

"It's very difficult to play attacking rugby without the ball, we will have to look at the tape to see if that was done legally or not and take it from there," he added.

Booth, who has made a fine start after being promoted to the hot seat following the departure of Brian Smith to the England coaching staff in the summer, also denied that he had ever said his team could win the Premiership title.

This first setback since September will test whether the entertaining Exiles have the mettle to be real contenders over the course of a season in the most competitive league in club rugby, having been Heineken Cup semi-finalists last term.

"The players put a lot into last week's match but they need to be able to consistently deal with the highs and lows throughout the season," added the former forwards coach.