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| Aviva Premiership Rugby |
Fizz and fireworks were not the order of the evening for kick off of Aviva Premiership round 6 under the Friday Night Lights, as Leicester Tigers welcomed the Harlequins to a 21,510 crowd at Welford Road. The players had to deal with slip, slide and a serving of squelch as our traditional English weather reliably dictated the conditions once again. But with a refreshing and much needed score for the home side, 22-16, Tigers’ players and fans weren’t left with another damp squib.
This
match was set to be a barometer, with difficulties in both teams.
Tigers have been plagued with injuries and despite the resounding win
against London Welsh last week, Quins haven’t found true form.
However with England centre Manu Tuilagi returning after injury, prop
Marcos Ayerza back after Argentina duty and lock Brad Thorn and prop
Michele Rizzo making home debuts, Richard Cockerill must have been
feeling optimistic. On the flip side for Harlequins, Dickson
replaced Danny Care whose partner gave birth earlier in the day and
Will Collier started in the front row. Well
the Tigers were 7-0 ahead after just three minutes. They played the
ball out of their own 22 and quick hands resulted in Blaine Scully
touching down under the posts. Owen Williams converted and then
exchanged penalties with Quin’s Nick Evans but only a superb
try-saving tackle by Matt Hopper on the Leicester winger Vereniki
Goneva prevented the Tigers from being more than 16-6 up at
half-time. Both kickers then added more penalties after the break
before some good pick-and-go work by the Quins’ forwards enabled
Karl Dickson to dart over with nine minutes to go. Evans converted
to make it 22-16 and that’s how it ended. Conditions were awful
and it was very much a kicking game. But Quins never really got
cracking – it wasn’t until the 67th minute that they entered
Leicester’s 22! But it was also 34 minutes before Tuilagi got the
ball. However through
driving rain and in front of their loyal fans, Tigers toughed it out
to get the result they needed.
And
what a fantastic tribute it was to Luis Ghaut on Saturday at
Franklin's Gardens with his young sister Georgia running out as
mascot and another full house, as the Northampton Saints sailed to an
impressive 43-10 victory over the travelling Sale Sharks. Saints
showcased a sensational surge of relentless rolling rugby action that
put the Sharks under astronomical pressure from the word go. Stephen
Myler kicked the first points of the game but it was Saints’
smiling Samoans and the cool Californian crash-balling man mountain
Manoa who set the standard; providing a cocktail of confidence and
fancy footwork. First off, Ken Pisi jumped for a high ball adding
an ‘air twirl’ to avoid tackle; hit the ground running and belted
for the line whilst passing to brother George, who flew over
magically - like Peter Pan. Franklin's Gardens roared. The Pisi
brothers provided a try apiece and Manu went one better, scoring a
hat-trick from two tantalising rolling mauls and a Sharks fumbling 5m
line out to pirouette over as he grounded the ball. Danny Cipriani
managed to kick three for the board but sadly not enough action in
the afternoon to showcase his skills. And once the bonus try was
sealed, even with a deserved consolation prize that saw Mark Jennings
on the receiving end of a handful of clinical offloads to cross, it
was Kahn Foutali'i who had the final say to finish off the frenzy as
he nudged over, to the delight of his counterpart, Lee Dickson.
James Wilson added the points and it was undoubtedly the win
Northampton had worked hard for and deserved to commemorate such a
hero - Luis. Ken Pisi was awarded Man of the Match. A tricky call –
Samu Manoa for me, but the Saints are looking mighty strong as a unit
heading into Europe next weekend!
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| George Pisi crossing the try line for Northampton Saints Photography by RedHatPhoto.com |
Ever-improving
Gloucester got off to a good start against Saracens at Allianz Park
on Saturday. Greig Laidlaw kicked two penalties and then converted
Rob Cook’s try in the corner to give Cherry and Whites a 13-3 lead.
But Sarries came straight back. First, Chris Wyles charged down a
clearance kick by Billy Twelvetrees and gathered to score. Then
Saracens’ skipper Alistair Hargreaves went over in the corner to
help them turn it around, 15-13 ahead. The key moment came in the
second half when Gloucester’s Nick Wood was sin-binned and
Hargreaves put Chris Ashton in under the posts. But Saracens weren’t
able to clinch the bonus point try and when Tom Savage charged
through to score near the end, it was the Cherry and Whites who
secured a losing bonus point instead. Final score, 28-21 and another
close run encounter displaying the ever decreasing margins in this
Premiership.
After
all the midweek media attention over their forthcoming move to
Coventry, Wasps produced a powerful and passionate performance to
send their fans home happy. Their forwards outplayed Bath around the
park, totally demolished them in the scrum and at one point, the
visitors had three players in the sin-bin! Bad moods abounded from
Bath. Three penalties from Andy Goode and a 59-metre belter from
Elliot Daly gave Wasps a 12-0 lead by half-time. With Leroy Houston
already in the bin, David Wilson was yellow-carded soon after the
break for tripping and he was quickly joined by Micky Young, who
tackled Christian Wade without the ball, as he was about to gather
and score. Goode converted the penalty try and when Sailosi
Tagicakibau scored two minutes later, Wasps were 29-0 ahead. But
bullish Bath bounced back. First Jonathan Joseph went over, then
Micky Young, smartly followed by Dave Sisi. George Ford kicked two
conversions to make it 29-19 with ten minutes to go and then added a
penalty, but the Wasps forwards regained their composure to retain
possession for the final three minutes to seal an impressive 29-22
victory. Their captain James Haskell was the Man of the Match; happy
and smiling, he described the Wasps’ front row as “outstanding.”
It is true - and their scrums were sensational.
Exeter
are up to third in the table after their 44-24 win at home to London
Irish. The Chiefs were charging from the start and had built an
impressive 30-3 lead by half time. Scrum half Will Chudley put prop
Carl Rimmer away for the first try after 10 minutes and it wasn’t
long before the impressive Henry Slade had his name on the scoreboard
too, cutting open the Irish defence to go in under the posts. Then,
just before half time Damian Welch made it three and Gareth Steenson
completed his hat-trick of conversions . A weaving run by Jack
Nowell then put Welch in for his second try and the Chiefs’ bonus
point score, it was quickly followed by another from Don Armand.
That inspired a mini comeback from London Irish. Blair Cowan was the
first to get a try - Andy Fenby followed after some good passing play
- and then Cowan got his second. Shane Geraghty converted all three
but they were still a long way short. London Irish have done well so
far, they keep scoring tries and coming within a few points of the
likes of Sarries and Saints but this loss to the Chiefs means we can
no longer use the words shock and surprise to describe any
Premiership Rugby result.
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| A sandwich tackle for London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium - photography by Getty Images |