London Irish and Dax clash in a 'winner takes all' Parker Pen Shield Pool 6 match at the Madjeski Stadium on Sunday with Exiles director of rugby Conor O'Shea adamant they will not fall at the final hurdle before the knock-out stages.

The Exiles go into the match with maximum points from their opening five Pool matches - including a 29-22 win at Dax in Round 1 back in September.
But former Ireland full back O'Shea accepts that with Dax holding a 3-2 try advantage from that opening match, London Irish must win to book a quarter-final spot.

"It is going to be an unbelievably hard game," said the O'Shea. "The match in Dax was extremely tough and this one promises to be even tougher.
"We started well against them last time, racing into a huge lead, but they came back strongly and ended up outscoring us in tries. That told us just what they are capable of achieving and what we have to guard against on Sunday.

"This is a genuine winner takes all game - so there is not a lot more you can say about what we have to do on the day - and we will most certainly not be under-estimating them in any way whatsoever.

"Our hope is to be involved in the quarter-finals at the end of the month but our overall aim has always been to win the PARKER PEN SHIELD title.

"From the quarter-finals on it becomes an extremely tough and competitive tournament, with an enhanced profile, and we look at it as a case of being four games away from qualifying for the Heineken Cup...that is our target."

Player/coach Brendan Venter got both London Irish tries at Dax and the South African international centre could be back in action for the rematch after five weeks out with a cheekbone injury.
"Brendan will possibly be fit and ready to play - I guess it will depend on whether or not he picks himself," said O'Conor.

"This is a huge match for the club and we are going to need all the support we can get, it would be great to have a crowd of around 5,000 there to cheer the team on."

For his part, Frédéric Larrieu, the newly appointed Dax coach, hopes to continue with his club's New Year form.
Appointed between Christmas and the New Year, Dax's former fitness coach began his reign at the head of the club with an astounding 95-3 victory over Spanish club Valladolid RAC last weekend.

"There is a place in the quarter-finals resting on this match, the winner goes through, so there is a lot at stake and we will be doing everything possible to win," he said.

"London Irish played very well when they came to Dax and they are one of the leading clubs in England at the moment so it will be a reference point for us to play against them at the Madjeski Stadium.

"We will also be using it as we go back into our Championship series.

"One thing's for sure - we are not going there to be sitting ducks. We are a club with ambition and we want to show that. We will be aiming to meet the challenge and while the result is one thing, the performance and the attitude is very important too."