The
talk of the weekend centred around Bath's bullish and brilliant
performance against the Leicester Tigers in front of a record crowd
of 12,817 at the Rec. Wherever you witnessed this 45-0 thrashing, it
certainly will go down in history as the first time the Tigers have
been nilled in the Premiership. Bath jumped on the treadmill and
didn't get off. Five exquisite tries in total were initiated by
Semesa Rokoduguni early on and then Jonathan Joseph and Kyle Eastmond
followed suit. Not to mention Olly Woodburn and Peter Stringer, whose
tries were set up from Bath's defensive play, metres from their own
try line! It was like musical chairs for all the supporters, up and
down like a yo-yo applauding this phenomenal performance. And how
could I not mention George Ford who had an outstanding game and was
awarded Man of the Match! Drop Goal George and his teammates are on
fire and still unbeaten.
Saracens
are the only other team to maintain a 100% success rate. They
travelled to the Madejski Stadium to take on London Irish but it
wasn't plain sailing for the North London side. Even though Tim
Streather scored in the first minute of the game, London Irish
reacted and it was try time for Blair Cowan. That didn't stop Richard
Wigglesworth from a 'show and go' try but once again, the Exiles
counteracted as Alex Lewington leapt over the line for not one but
two tries in the first half and then he confirmed his hat-trick in
the opening of the second. Had the Irish done enough? Sadly not.
Within the dying moments of the match a rolling maul lead by none
other than Billy Vunipola nudged the Saracens over the line and
disbelief was felt by the Mad Stad faithful. The Sarries had clung on
and clinched a 32-36 win. As for London Irish...what a ferocious
performance. Watch out next week Leicester Tigers!
On
Friday night, Exeter knew it wouldn't be easy travelling to Kingsholm
to face a grilling from Gloucester. Gareth Steenson's kicking was
answered by two initial tries from the home side’s Jonny May and
Dan Murphy who drove over the line whilst Ian Whitten sat in the sin
bin for endangering Charlie Sharples. The visitors responded and it
was again the superb boot of Steenson who slotted the penalty
perfectly. Then came devilish drives from the likes of Dave Ewers
that concluded with Ben White burrowing over the line. It all looked
too familiar for the Cherry and Whites as Matt Kvesic was then yellow
carded for a dangerous tackle on Thomas Waldrom and Henry Slade
landed the three points with ease, but Gloucester reacted and Sione
Kalamafoni edged over the white-wash to put the Cherry and Whites
within grasp. The Chiefs were penalised for not-releasing and James
Hook converted the late penalty, 22-25 but it just wasn't enough to
fend off exuberant Exeter. Never underestimate the Chiefs.
It's
fair to say the Harlequins had a point to prove this weekend as they
took on the testing Wasps at the Stoop. Guy Thompson touched down
early doors for the visitors but Chris Robshaw responded with what
looked like the softest try I've ever seen. Subsequently a penalty
try was awarded to the Harlequins and the Stoop erupted. Had Quins
finally found their feet? Well quite possibly after Danny Care's
successful drop goal put them13 points clear. But the Wasps came back
fighting with Joe Simpson setting Tom Varndell up for a beautiful try
in the corner and then it was Thomas Young who closed the gap, but it
just wasn't enough for the visitors who succumbed to a marginal 26-23
defeat. Well done Wasps and welcome back Quins!
Sale
Sharks welcomed London Welsh to the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday and
it was trusty Tom Arscott who scored the opening try for the sizzling
Sharks. Sale followed form with Vadim Cobilas bagging the second try
of the game and the precious boot of Danny Cipriani kicked twelve
points alone in the first half. London Welsh bounced back and Nic
Reynolds grounded the ball for the Exiles, but Arscott scored his
second and then the game unravelled, with Tom Brady crossing the
white-wash to steal the bonus point try on home turf. Accomplished
Arscott scored his hat-trick of the afternoon and Luke McLean added
the icing on the cake to take the final score to 46-8. With London
Welsh conceding 151 points in three games, it's a tough reality pill
to swallow. But it's onwards and upwards for the Sharks, marking
their first victory of the season. Simply sensational.
Northampton
made the long journey up to Newcastle on Sunday to face the Falcons.
A champion’s first-half performance saw the Saints take a
comfortable 3-28 lead into half time with tries from Will Hooley,
Alex Waller and Ken Pisi but they looked a little unsettled in the
second-half and after 39 minutes Newcastle’s Noah Cato finally
strolled over the try line to put the first points of the second-half
on the board. Were the Saints a little lack-lustre I wonder? George
North did reciprocate though, sealing the bonus point win but the
Saints didn't make life easy for themselves. Yes they came away with
a 10-35 win but they'll have to pull their socks up if they're
looking to beat Bath next week.