LONDON Irish conceded three tries in eight second-half minutes as their Aviva Premiership relegation was all but confirmed following a 25-17 defeat at Northampton Saints, writes Richard Ashton.

An excellent first-half display by Nick Kennedy’s men, underlined by a brace of Alex Lewington tries, had put the visitors 14-3 up at the interval, but their subsequent collapse after the restart, allied to Worcester Warriors’ 25-15 victory against Gloucester, leaves Exiles 16 points adrift at the bottom with only seven games remaining.

Irish made a dream start when they took the lead after just seven minutes, Saracens-bound Lewington hacking the ball forward before collecting his own kick to touch down. Greig Tonks added the conversion and the away side were 7-0 up.

Saints hit back and controlled the next 10 minutes, only for an outstanding defensive effort by Irish to keep them at bay, Northampton also blowing three straightforward points when a Piers Francis penalty struck the posts.

The hosts were made to pay in the 25th minute when Lewington grabbed his second, albeit with the TMO providing the confirmation. A clever grubber kick by Tonks was not dealt with by Welsh international George North, and fellow speedster Lewington beat his opponent to the ball to extend Irish’s advantage. With Tonks’ conversion successful, Exiles were 14-0 up and in a good position to fashion a vital win.

Saints replied almost immediately as Francis atoned for his earlier miss, but it was Irish who finished the half stronger, albeit unable to add to their points tally despite having an attacking line-out short of the home try-line as the clock ticked down.

However, all the excellent work of the opening 40 minutes was butchered in a disastrous start to the second half for Kennedy’s men.

Firstly, after failing to deal with the restart – North winning the ball – Irish conceded a try when the wing rounded off a flowing back move to go over in the corner. Francis added the extras and the gap was down to four points.

Things got even worse shortly after as Saints moved in front, former England centre Luther Burrell creating space for Australian Rob Horne to cross the whitewash. Although Francis was off target with the conversion, the home side had turned the game on its head and led 15-14.

Northampton surged further in front as the wheels well and truly came off for Irish, a 30-metre rolling maul concluding with Mikey Haywood dotting down for his side’s third try in rapid order. Francis refound his range from the tee, and Saints were 22-14 in front.

Despite the sudden turnaround, Exiles regrouped and could have grabbed a third try of their own when Luke McLean’s pass to Joe Cokanasiga was spilled just short of the line, although the powerhouse wing then earned a penalty after Northampton infringed following a powerful run by the Academy graduate.

Tonks knocked over the kick to cut the deficit to 22-17, but as the game moved into the final 10 minutes, Francis slotted an opportunistic drop-goal to push Irish back out of losing bonus-point range.

Irish rallied again and set a platform with another attacking line-out, albeit the chance went begging, and when Tonks sliced a 78th-minute penalty wide, a miserable second half was completed for Exiles.

London Irish host Worcester next Sunday (1pm), aiming to record just a second league victory of the season.

Northampton Saints: Tuala, North, Horne, Burrell, Foden, Francis, Groom (Reinach, 67), Ma’afu (van Wyk, 64), Haywood, Brookes (Ford-Robinson, 20), Ratuniyarawa, Day (c) (Ribbans, 52), Gibson, Brussow (Wood, 64), Harrison

London Irish: Marshall, Cokanasiga (Tikoirotuma, 71), Fowlie, McLean, Lewington, Tonks, van Zyl (Steele, 50), Franks (Elrington, 50), Paice (Porecki, 50), Hoskins (Du Plessis, 50), van der Merwe, Paulo (De Chaves, 63), Botha, Northcote-Green (Gilsenan, 74), Treviranus

Referee: Ian Tempest

Attendance: 13,108