Conors impressive european debut for exiles

 

Mullingar’s Conor Gilsenan made an impressive European Challenge Cup debut for London Irish at the week-end.

He was one of three new signings who were handed a start against Italian side Roviga in the Madejski Stadium on Sunday and he certainly grabbed his opportunity, playing the full 80 minutes in an emphatic 70-14 win.

A ten try haul underlined the gulf between the sides.

Conor played a crucial role in the Exiles’ second try, setting up Eoin Griffin for a 50 metre dash to the Roviga posts before drawing the last man and releasing fly-half Myles Dorrian for a fine effort. Dorrian was faultless in his placekicking and converted his try, a feat he was to achieve with all ten tries.

London Irish led 28-0 at the interval and the second half did not got any better for the visitors as the Exiles piled on the pressure, compiling a further 42 points in an almost total rout.

The experience of playing at a higher
level will no doubt stand to Conor and he will be hoping to see more game time in the coming months.