Classy Everitt leads Irish rout

Barry Everitt improved his chances of a new contract with a 24-point haul as London Irish demolished bottom-of-the-table Rotherham 54-11 last night.

Ireland A fly-half Everitt is making a strong case for director of rugby Dick Best to keep him at the Madejski Stadium next season after racking up 218 points in 15 matches.

Everitt scored four penalties and converted all six tries scored by Nnamdi Ezulike, Geoff Appleford, Ryan Strud-wick, Neal Hatley, Paul Sackey and Dinos Alexopoulos.

Best said: "Everitt is a most unlikely Irish player because he is not exactly rawboned. He is quite cultured. But he has fitted in well and now we have to decide whether we keep him for another year."

Irish, who moved one place up the table, got their first try count bonus point of the season. Best added: "The bonus point has been a long time coming and we probably should have scored a few more tries. The win helps maintain our record at home and we showed that if we do chuck the ball around we can look quite a clever side."

Best's men are now ninth in the table and need to move into the top eight to compete in the Zurich championship play-offs in April.