Nick Kennedy has promised his mum he won't be talking out of turn when his London Irish side take on Llanelli Scarlets in the Heineken Cup at the Madejski Stadium tomorrow.

The lock reacted angrily to a gouging incident during the 12-9 Pool Six win over Leinster a week ago in Dublin that resulted in Shane Jennings being banned for 12 weeks by a European Rugby Cup disciplinary hearing.

Kennedy pointed to a mark close to his left eye and made his feeling clear to referee Romain Poite when the incident happened at the RDS Stadium.

Unfortunately, the official was wearing a microphone and Kennedy's subsequent swearing was transmitted live, earning the normally softly spoken and erudite 28-year-old a dressing down from his mother.

Kennedy said: "I am not very proud of what I said and my mother is not happy at all - and told me so. I just have to remember to be quiet and that referees are wearing microphones. My eye is fine after the incident and I have apologised for my language."

The 6ft 8in second-row, who is currently in the England Saxons squad, is desperate to regain a place in the senior team for the November internationals against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.

It will require an injury to allow team manager Martin Johnson to adjust that squad and with Wasps' Simon Shaw struggling to overcome a metatarsal injury, Kennedy could get his wish.

On form, he deserves to be elevated to the main squad, having helped Irish move into third place in the Guinness Premiership and register that superb victory over Leinster, the reigning European champions, in Dublin.

However, Kennedy knows Johnson wants to see improvements in the tight work that makes Shaw such a force in the game, using his bulk to dominate rucks and mauls. The Irish lock is the same height as his Wasps rival but gives away nearly two stones, which is a factor when it comes to making a serious impact at Test level.

That is why Kennedy has been increasing his work around the pitch to supplement his world-class line-out jumping in a bid to show Johnson that improvements are being made.

He said: "I am hungry to prove people wrong. I want to show people that I deserve to be in the senior team.

"Everything I do on the pitch is designed to achieve that goal and while there are four other second-rows ahead of me in the rankings, I just have to make sure I am doing all I can."

Kennedy has established a line-out dominating partnership with captain Bob Casey and the pair face a Scarlets pack that have a remarkably impressive record in this area of the game.

He added: "I have been looking at the statistics and Scarlets have won 47 of their last 48 line-outs. That's one of the best records I've heard about."

England flanker Steffon Armitage is rested by Irish under the Elite Player Squad rules with George Stowers expected to come in after completing a three-week ban.

Harlequins must beat Toulouse to ensure they do not become also-rans in Pool Five, having lost against Cardiff last weekend. The return of England stars Ugo Monye, Nick Easter and Danny Care will be a major boost after they sat out the 20-6 loss in Wales.