71. Aussie Hewat stings Champs

London Irish 26 London Wasps 14

Aussie Peter Hewat scored 16 points as London Irish made an impressive start to their Guinness Premiership campaign in the season’s curtain-raiser at Twickenham.

72. Chandler: Onwards and upwards for Gensians

Redingensians, now the town’s premier side, open their second South West Division 1 season with the visit of top West Country side Cleve to the Old Bath Road ground (3pm).

73. Unlucky Catt hobbles out of Tigers clash

Player/coach Mike Catt has been ruled out of the London Irish side to face Leicester Tigers in the Guinness Premiership at Welford Road tomorrow (3pm).

74. Marsh takes over Gensians’ reins

Gavin Marsh will captain Redingensians for their second season in South West Division 1.

75. New skipper has to give up duties at Reading

Reading have suffered a set-back to their 2008-09 South West 2 East campaign with the loss of newly-appointed skipper Mal Roberts.

76. Thompstone treble for Irish

Adam Thompstone scored a hat-trick of tries as London Irish defeated Nottingham 38-12 in a pre-season friendly at their Sunbury training base.

77. England call for Kennedy

London Irish prop Nick Kennedy is one of four uncapped players included in new manager Martin Johnson’s England 32-strong Elite Player Squad.

78. London Irish face holders

London Irish will start their campaign in Group C of the EDF Energy Cup tournament with a visit to Worcester Warriors on the first weekend in October.

79. Booth to replace Smith

London Irish are expected to announce the departure of Brian Smith (above), their highly-successful director of rugby, before the weekend.

80. Booth takes charge at Irish

Toby Booth and Mike Catt have stepped up to replace Brian Smith as head coach at London Irish.