Chandler Cunningham-South gives Steve Borthwick view into future with brutish display

Chandler Cunningham-South is giving Steve Borthwick food for thought ahead of the England coach naming his first XV on Thursday.

The London Irish flanker is only 19 but, on ­Sunday’s brutish showing, he can already mix it with the big boys. Cunningham-South, named in the England Under-20s squad for the Six Nations, was the star of the show in Brentford, leading Irish to a bonus-point win and their fourth Premiership victory in five. Harlequins, on the other hand, have now lost fourth successive league games, but did at least depart this west London derby with a try-scoring bonus point.

World Cup bolter? Training apprentice? Regardless of where Cunningham-South’s path lies, the reality was that Harlequins just could not cope with his ball-carrying combustibility. Alongside him, flanker Tom Pearson was industrious, while 21-year-old Michael Dykes helped himself to a hat-trick on his Premiership debut – only the third ever – as Irish moved up to seventh in the table. Plus, Paddy Jackson was faultless off the tee.

“Chandler is raw,” Les Kiss, the London Irish head coach, said. “But he’s so committed to finding out how good he could be. Pearson is on fire, too. England are spoilt for choice. Chandler should be happy with how he went.”

On the win, Kiss added: “B----- great. It’s like Ted Lasso and his ‘belief’. I have to take my hat off to the lads – they have never lost belief.”

There was a welcome return from injury for another Exiles youngster. Henry Arundell made it through his first appearance since October unscathed, recovering sufficiently from foot trouble to stabilise Irish’s back field for the final half an hour. A silky second-half dummy reminded Borthwick of Arundell’s attacking arsenal, too.

“He’s ready,” Kiss said. “It was not going to be perfect – but I wouldn’t be afraid to throw him into anything. If [England] take him, they won’t be disappointed.”

Harlequins were hampered, however, playing almost an hour with 14 men after captain Stephan ­Lewies was sent off for a nasty, if unintentional, shoulder to Cunningham-South’s head at a ruck.

“A technically correct call … but I don’t know if Steph could have done more,” Tabai Matson, Harlequins’ senior coach, said, before adding: “Our exits were terrible all day – and they punished us. We have to play better in the Premiership. We are a mid-table team currently. That’s the brutal reality.”

Irish had the bonus point wrapped up by half-time and, after seven minutes, Harlequins found themselves trailing by 14 points. Cunningham-South dotted down at the back of a maul to open the scoring, before Dykes scored in the ­corner following skilful work by James Stokes and Pearson.

Dykes would soon turn from hero to zero, however, deliberately slapping a pass out of the path of visiting wing Nick David, who had the line at his mercy. Harlequins were awarded a penalty try – their opening score – and Dykes was given 10 minutes on the sidelines.

With both Dykes and Lewies off the field, it was the hosts who adapted most comfortably to the respective losses. When a Danny Care box-kick hung in the air, bewildering all and sundry, Stokes was the quickest to react and raced away to the line.

Despite Dykes’s return, the 14-man visitors responded with David, who scythed through, only to be stopped by a sublime tackle from Pearson. But Irish ran out of steam and, when Harlequins recycled, Tommy Allan crossed.

Dykes’s second at the end of the half, off the back of a deft tip by Jackson, left Harlequins with some head-scratching to do, but Irish started the second half as they did the first. Ben White darted through a gigantic fringe gap and Dykes was on hand to seal his hat-trick.

Quins did pluck up a miniature comeback, Josh Bassett finishing off a storming Andre Esterhuizen charge and Dino Lamb shunting over from close range, but it was too much of a mountain to climb. Joe Marler was given a yellow card for a collapsed maul, and Pearson’s late step-and-surge try continued the Exiles’ mid-season resurgence.

Match details

Scoring sequence: 5-0 Cunningham-South try, 7-0 Jackson con, 12-0 Dykes try, 14-0 Jackson con, 14-7 Penalty try, 19-7 Stokes try, 21-7 Jackson con, 21-12 Allan try, 26-12 Dykes try, 28-12 Jackson con, 35-12 Dykes try, 35-17 Bassett try, 35-22 Lamb try, 35-24 Allan con, 40-24 Pearson try, 42-24 Jackson con.

London Irish: J Stokes (H Arundell 50); L Cinti, B van Rensburg (L Morisi 75), R Jennings, M Dykes; P Jackson, B White (J Powell 66); W Goodrick-Clarke (D Fischetti 34), A Creevy (M Willemse 45), O Hoskins (C Parker 65), R Simmons, A Coleman (A Ratuniyarawa 35), M Rogerson (c), T Pearson, C Cunningham-South (JM Gonzalez 50).
Yellow card: Dykes (21).
Harlequins: W Edwards (L Wallace 29); N David, O Beard (L Anyanwu 74), A Esterhuizen, J Bassett; T Allan, D Care (S Steele 74); J Marler, G Head (J Musk 45), W Louw (S Kerrod 54), D Lamb, I Herbst, S Lewies (c), W Evans, T Lawday (J Chisholm 57, F Baxter 71).
Replacements unused: H Hyde.
Yellow card: Marler (70).
Red card: Lewies (22).
Referee: M Carley.
Attendance: 13,351.