LONDON Irish head coach Les Kiss paid tribute to Ben Meehan after he produced a superb display to guide Exiles to a resounding 72-5 Greene King IPA Championship victory against Yorkshire Carnegie on Saturday, writes Richard Ashton.

The Australian half-back was drafted into the starting line-up after Stephen Myler pulled out in the warm-up, with Meehan scoring the first try and pulling the strings throughout.

Kiss, though, said he was not surprised by Meehan’s display, admitting it was something the club had worked on.

He told the Chronicle: “Ben’s performance was pleasing without a doubt. It’s not by accident and that’s the important thing, we want to be able to progress, perform and get results and it’s come from an off-season making sure we understand certain players flexibility and where they can play in the game.

“We noticed Ben could cover 10 and he’s trained there a lot and played in the friendlies. That arms you for these situations and he played very well.

“Kibs (Brendan McKibbin) also played very well at nine and I thought those two and Matt (Rogerson) were very strong at the spine of the side.”

Exiles ran in 12 tries during their most complete performance of the season to date, albeit against rock bottom Carnegie, and Kiss was also pleased with the power added from the bench, particularly hooker Saia Fangia’a and No. 8 Ofisa Treviranus.

He commented: “Saia’s had a lot of bench time, but he had a chance and he came on and his work rate was phenomenal. He got a bit of reward, and he was very, very good for us.

“Trev had a long off-season representing Samoa, so we had to give him a rest and he’s probably still a game or two off his best, but to get out there and do what he did, he showed his muscle, his power was very good for us.”

While Irish made it six wins from six this season, Kiss admitted there is room for improvement and has his sights set on next Saturday’s trip to Doncaster Knights.

He said: “I’d say we’re playing at about a six or six-and-a-half (out of 10) at the moment, but if we can get a couple of other elements in our game we can push up to an eight or a nine.

“It’s important we understand this competition has only just started. There’s room for improvement.

“We’ve watched Doncaster already and we’re particularly wary of them away. It’s a tough environment to play in and we’re focussed on it.

“They’re a very proud team at home.”