European Rugby Challenge Cup: Topsy Ojo's hat-trick helps London Irish crush Rovigo
Last Updated: 19/10/14 7:52pm
Topsy Ojo scored a first-half hat-trick of tries as London Irish got their European Rugby Challenge Cup campaign off to a barnstorming start with a 70-14 mauling of Rovigo at the Madejski Stadium.
Irish came into their Pool One opener on the back of successive Aviva Premiership defeats to Northampton and Exeter but there was never any danger of another setback on Sunday as they ran in 10 tries against outclassed Rovigo.
Four of those came in the opening 40 minutes, with three of them being notched by former England wing Ojo, who opened the floodgates in the fifth minute before adding further scores in 30th and 37th minutes.
Fly-half Myles Dorrian also crossed in the first half as well as adding the extras for each of Ojo's tries as the Exiles - who scored 18 tries in their opening two matches of last season's European Challenge Cup - went into the break boasting a 28-0 lead and with a bonus point already in the bag.
Dorrian would end the match with a 25-point haul after successfully converting all 10 tries.
Centre Eoin Griffin, making his Exiles debut, needed less than a minute of the second half to increase his side's lead before Rovigo finally got some points on the board when New Zealander Luke Mahoney scored a try that was converted by Stefan Basson.
That was a rare moment of joy for the Italian visitors, though, as Irish resumed their assault on the Rovigo tryline and they crossed five more times through Leo Halavatau, Kieran Low, Tom Guest, Dan Leo and James Short – after returning from a yellow card - as they powered towards a resounding victory.
Dorrian continued his perfect afternoon with the boot by converting each of those tries, before Rovigo gained some scant consolation at the end of a sorry afternoon when they notched a second try through Andrea De Marchi right at the end.
The victory leaves Irish at the top of Pool One with five points, just ahead of Cardiff Blues, with Rovigo and Grenoble still looking to get off the mark.
