Spencer Brown celebrated his call-up to the England squad which meets today at Roe hampton with a couple of stunning tries that floored London Irish in a see-sawing thriller at Sunbury. The Richmond wing underlined his international class with extraordinary vision and pace, finally killing off the Exiles with a solo score in the sixth minute of injury-time.
Brown showed that no Premiership side can afford to be without a genuine flyer prepared to take on defenders. In the final halfhour the Irish seemed to have won the game twice over, leading 2216 and 29-26, yet the hosts were forced to dance to another tune when the former Royal Marines French horn player did his stuff.
Brown, who won two caps on the ill-fated summer southern hemisphere tour, spent lengthy periods at full-back after Matt Pini was stretchered off with a head injury early on. Last season the 25-year-old proved he was no fancy Dan with his hard-hitting tackles in an A international against the All Blacks.
On Saturday, Brown's astute covering restricted the battling Irish to two tries, although the second by Robert Todd in the 84th minute appeared to have settled the issue.
"Spencer is a fantastic athlete," said John Kingston, Richmond's director of rugby, who brought him from Deal four years ago. "People don't realise just how quick he is; once he gets off the mark at training no one can catch him. He fully deserves his England place."
Brown's 25th-minute try illustrated his gift for attacking space from a deep position and his late coup de grace had the authority of a man who believes he will win in a two-on-one confrontation.
Such finesse only told half the story. Richmond's powerful scrum, fired up by three Welshmen - Barry Williams and the Quinnell brothers, Scott and Craig - put the Irish in all sorts of trouble. Having lost their prop Peter Rogers with a 14th-minute knee injury, it was no surprise to see them rolled back for a 57thminute touchdown by Scott Quinnell which brought the score to 22-21.
Earlier the Richmond number eight was sin-binned for foul play, enabling the Irish to turn a 6-16 deficit into a 22-16 lead. During that period Niall Woods kicked three of his five penalties and Conor O'Shea, the Exiles captain, combined slickly with Malcolm O'Kelly for a try at the posts by the Ireland lock.
London Irish, with nine of their number in their first season at the club, will take time to gel, though there were positive signs. When the experienced New Zealanders Kevin Putt and Steven Bachop join their ranks next month, the Exiles' ability to turn a slender lead into victory should be greatly enhanced.
London Irish: O'Shea (capt); Berridge, Todd, Venter, Woods; Brown, Campbell; Rogers, Kirke, Hardwick, Harvey, O'Kelly, Spicer, Dawson, Gallacher. Replacements: Worsley for Rogers (14 mins); Howe for Kirke, Fullman for Hardwick (both 58 mins).
Richmond: Pini; Warne, Bateman, Dixon, Brown; Davies (capt), Pichot; McFarland, Williams, Crompton, C Quinnell, Gillies, Hutton, Vander, S Quinnell. Replacements: Va'a for Davies (12 mins); Deane for Pini (21 mins).
Referee: R Goodliffe (RFU).
