Premiership Is My Main Goal ; Irish Welcome Munster On Saturday in Europe but Booth Won't Shed Tears If Outcome Is Bad [Eire Region]

Summary

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TOBY BOOTH haplessly clutched the straw when London Irish exited the Heineken Cup last January. Instead of bemoaning how his bumbling side had blown what really should have been a second pool victory over Leinster to take them through to the European quarterfinals for only the second time, the coach's immediate reaction was bemusing.

'I'm not feeling suicidal,' he said about the campaign-ending draw the Exiles had just recorded at Twickenham against the 2009 champions. 'Strange as it may seem, my first emotion is I'm proud of what we've achieved in this Heineken Cup' - words you could never have imagined Michael Cheika coming out with if it had been Leinster who'd fallen short of reaching the last eight.

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Premiership Is My Main Goal ; Irish Welcome Munster On Saturday in Europe but Booth Won't Shed Tears If Outcome Is Bad [Eire Region]

'To be undefeated against the team that holds the trophy, and to go to their back garden (the RDS) and win, tells me we can live at the top table of European rugby. The damage was not done tonight, it was done in rounds two and five.'

He had a point. Irish's twin losses to unfancied Scarlets was where most damage had been inflicted (they were matches they also had the wi...

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