Best's men get better

A sixth defeat does not make it impossible for Newcastle to retain their title, with the levelling up of playing standards in Premiership One, but they remain in a midtable that is becoming more clogged than a bottle bank after the Christmas break.

Their coach Steve Bates admitted: "There's a lot of teams in the league who are of the same standard. Now everyone is producing good rugby."

Dick Best agreed, the London Irish director of rugby going so far as to claim that Bedford in the last 20 minutes of their recent defeat at Sunbury had produced the best rugby of the season against his rapidly improving club, who like Newcastle have now won eight games.

Best, shamefully dumped by England in 1994 and by Harlequins three years later, continues to thumb a metaphorical nose at those two corners of Twickenham.

This time last year Irish had won one league match, and at the beginning of 1998 they conceded 46 points at Newcastle. Best took over as caretaker coach in the spring, first masterminding a record victory over Harlequins and then rescuing the club from relegation via play-offs and rebuilding it with his collection of Southern Hemisphere imports and experienced Irish internationals.

Jarrod Cunningham, the New Zealander whose four kicks separated the sides here, may turn out to be his best signing yet. The leftwing forms a formidable back three with the fleet-footed Irishmen Conor O'Shea and Justin Bishop.

Bishop's try midway through the second half of a disappointing match was one of the game's few memorable moments. The Kiwi half-backs Kevin Putt and Stephen Bachop carved through the middle before Bachop delivered a well-timed pass for Bishop to cut in from close to the right touch-line with a scorching run to the posts.

"Bachop is one of the best passers of the ball since Mark Ella," enthused Best, who says he has not yet been able to field his strongest side.

It was the only time Newcastle's line was really threatened, though. Unlike Ruud Gullit across town, Rob Andrew does have a formidable defence. He also has match-winners in his two try-scorers Va'aiga Tuigamala and Gary Armstrong. What he does not have is a side with the ability to win close matches by keeping their heads.

Newcastle conceded far too many penalties and Cunningham gratefully snaffled nine of the 12 points on offer. The chief offender was Garath Archer, the lock anxious to win back his England place. But a little too anxious at times. When Archer was penalised for lying on the ball just past the hour, Cunningham punished him.

Bates refused to concede that the title has been lost, even though he will announce the departure of his totemic captain Dean Ryan today, and says his side have the ability to win every remaining game. Even Best's alchemy, though, will probably not bring Irish any silverware this spring - but if this multi-national blend do win honours 100 seasons after Louis Magee founded the club, what a delicious irony that will be.

London Irish: O'Shea (capt); Bishop, Todd, Venter, Cunningham; Bachop, Putt; Hatley, Howe, Fullman, Spicer, O'Kelly, Boer, Dawson, Gallacher. Replacements: Kirke for Howe (51 mins); Feaunati for Gallacher (59 mins); Woods for Cunningham (75 mins).

Newcastle: Legg; Naylor, Shaw, Andrew (capt), Tuigamala; Wilkinson, Armstrong; Graham, Nesdale, Hurter, Weir, Archer, Walton, Arnold, Beattie.