Monsoon rains in Berkshire washed away any chance that this game could be a spectacle and the storm clouds lingered afterwards when Gary Gold, the Irish coach, launched a withering attack on the referee Sean Davey.
Gold's complaint concerned the farcical final five minutes of the match when Irish has set up residence in the Leeds 22 and forced five scrums. For the last four Leeds were without the back-rows Colm Rigney and Dan Hyde who had been shown yellow cards for killing the ball.
The South African claimed his side should have been awarded a penalty try because Leeds were deliberately wheeling the scrum. "It was a shambles and disgrace. Leeds were committing a professional foul. The RFU should appoint 12 proper professional referees because people's livelihoods are at stake here.
"I know referees are human and make mistakes but the entire management of the game was a total disgrace. The referees need to be given the tools to do the job the best they can. Wayne Barnes, for example, would make a fantastic professional referee."
Gold could find himself in hot water for his comments although Rob Andrew directed the same criticisms at Davey when Newcastle narrowly beat Harlequins last month. Gold, though, admitted his side had not played with the intensity that had given his side a victory at Sale nine days earlier and that the weather, more Galway than Home Counties, helped leave his side becalmed.
Irish were also hampered by the loss of their captain Kieron Dawson with a knee injury after 10 minutes. Dawson will almost certainly miss the start of Irish's European adventures in Auch this weekend and joins a growing injury list that includes Paul Sackey and Scott Staniforth, both of whom might have given the side a cutting edge behind the Leeds scrum they were missing here.
Wet-weather rugby should not be beyond professional players, however. On Saturday in Cape Town Naka Drotske, the best hooker in the Premiership until he left London Irish last season, featured in Orange Free State's Currie Cup win over Western Province in even worse conditions but Gold's fellow countrymen provided rugby that was easy on the eye. On Saturday in Reading the best bit of skill on view came from the spectator who, with glass of stout in one hand, plucked Gordon Ross's kick into touch out of the air with his other.
Even the winning try had an element of controversy about it and came from a mistake. In first-half injury-time the Irish fly-half Barry Everitt failed to hold on to a pass from a scrum 30 metres from the home line. Hyde latched on to the ball and slid over for a try by the posts although he did not seem to be binding on to the scrum when Paul Hodgson flung out his pass.
Leeds, though, deserved their win which completed a memorable day for the city's two rugby clubs. These are worrying times off the pitch for the Tykes, whose owner Paul Caddick is disenchanted with the low attendances at Headingley, but wins at Saracens and here are giving their director of rugby Phil Davies hope they can win at Dean Richards's Grenoble when their European campaign opens this weekend. Leeds were without Iain Balshaw here, their new signing injuring his back training with England during the week. It was not a day for backs, however, or for spectators come to that.
London Irish: Horak (Mordt, 74); Armitage, Appleford, Catt, Bishop; Everitt, Hodgson; Hatley, Russell, Hardwick, Kennedy, Casey, Danaher, Dawson (capt; Roche, 10; Strudwick, 48), P Murphy.
Pens: Everitt 4.
Leeds: Stimpson; Rees, Bell, Snyman, Biggs; Ross, McMillan; Shelley, Regan, Kerr, C Murphy (Morgan, 74), Hooper (capt), Dunbar, Hyde, Popham (Rigney, 66).
Try: Hyde. Con: Ross. Pens: Ross 2. Drop-goal: Ross.
Sin-bin: Rigney, 81, Hyde 82.
Referee: S Davey (Horsham)
Attendance: 6,410.
