Bob Casey points to progress as Irish triumph

Bob Casey says London Irish's 23-17 win over Munster proves how far they have come since their Heineken Cup disappointment last season.

But it is a measure of how tough Pool Three is that Casey sees letting Munster grab a losing bonus point as potentially crucial with matches against Ospreys, on Friday, and Toulon to come.

Casey, who was captain when Irish failed to get into the knock-out stages last term, said: "Letting them go home with that point is very disappointing.

"But we are learning from the hurt of how we faded away towards the end of last season. If I'm honest I doubt we'd have won this game last season, so that's a measure of the progress we are making.

"Dave Ellis, our defence coach, has a huge smile right now because that was one of our best defensive performances for some time."

Coach Toby Booth was delighted by the manner of the win.

"We played with our heads and our hearts — something we don't always do," he said. "This time the guys got everything together for a deserved victory against a very fine team."