LONDON Irish moved to the brink of the Greene King IPA Championship title with a resounding 57-12 rout of visitors Hartpury RFC at Madejski Stadium on Sunday.

Exiles remain eight points clear of Ealing Trailfinders and know a win at relegation-threatened Richmond on Good Friday will seal an immediate return to the Gallagher Premiership.

They made a horrific start on Sunday, however, with Ofisa Treviranus requiring a pitchside assessment before a Luke Stratford try put Hartpury in front inside the opening three minutes. Sam Leeming knocked over the extras to make it 7-0.

Irish's response was swift and emphatic, though, with a Ben Meehan pass free-ing in-form wing to cross the whitewash in the seventh minute.

Ian Keatley converted and Irish moved in front when their trademark rolling maul allowed TJ Iaone to dot down before Keatley again nailed his kick.

Treviranus had returned to the field and he got the third score for the hosts off the back of a powerful scrum, and the try bonus-point was secured as early as the 28th-minute when captain Josh McNally cut a fine line to go over following a spell of sustained pressure.

Fijian Albert Tuisue powered over before the break, giving Irish a 33-7 lead at the interval.

A Luke McLean dummy set-up full-back Alvireti Veitokani for the sixth try of the afternoon for Exiles, although Hartpury refused to give up and Sam Graham went over off the back of a drive to cut the deficit back below 30 points.

That was as good as it got for the away side, however, with Exiles adding three further tries to their account.

The first was a sublime effort from Veitokani, initially skipping out of a tackle before dashing half the length of the field to score, jinking past numerous defenders along the way which has made him an instant fan favourite with supporters.

A Matt Williams interception took the score to 50, and it was the Academy graduate who completed the scoring three minutes from time, replacement Jacob Atkins knocking over the kick to put Irish a step from glory.