It
was a poor night for Premiership Champions Northampton Saints on Friday, as the
intent of the Exeter Chiefs was clear from the outset, leading to a demolition
of the Saints in the first half on home soil. Rob Baxter's men set the bar high
early doors with a driving maul led by Luke Cowan-Dickie, who took the Chiefs
over for the opening try of the match. Stephen
Myler replied with a couple of penalties in quick succession but it wasn't
enough to shake off the challengers. Thomas Waldron's interception and momentum
took him almost half the pitch to slide over the try line for Exeter 's second - superb to see! If that wasn't enough, before half time, the
show stopping forward added another to the tally off the back of a five metre
scrum. The Saints defence was dismal and
they trailed 6-24 at half time. In
the second half Northampton
seemed to switch on their game plan to score the only points of the second 40. Young Tom Stephenson scored the first of two
Saints tries and Jamie Elliott followed suit, touching down in the corner to
take the final score to 18-24. Too
little too late for Northampton
but a triumphant win for the Chiefs on the road and thoroughly deserved too, as
they creep up the Premiership table!
Friday
Night Lights at Kingsholm is always a spectacle and this weekend was no
different! The Harlequins reignited
their squad spark with a delightful 15-22 away win - their first in 15 years -against
the Cherry and Whites. The game could've
gone either way though as the reliable boot of Billy Twelvetrees drummed up
four penalties alone in the first half to put Gloucester on the front foot. But a try scored from a driving maul led by
Quins front man Nick Easter saw the lead narrowed and with the boot of Evans
slotting one between the uprights, going into half time, it was all still to
play for, 12-10. The second half saw the
Harlequins put their foot on the gas. A
second driving maul, this time anchored by Luke Wallace, took his pack 30
metres. The Harlequins shook off the Gloucester
forwards as they continued to spill out the back of the maul, enabling Wallace
to cross the white-wash for Quins’ second. Aled Thomas popped one through the posts in
response but it wasn't sufficient to stop this determined London side. A beautiful phase of play on the attack from
Karl Dickson saw a precise chip, chased down by Charlie Walker who flew over
the try line with ease to secure the visitors’ victory at Kingsholm, their
first since 1999. The Harlequins skilfully reaffirmed their position in the
Premiership with this win ...watch out Sale Sharks!
History
was made in more ways than one this Sunday as Wasps played out their final
match at Adams Park before their move to The Ricoh and they tore up
the pitch in a near devastating win of 71-7 against London Welsh, who again
limp back to Oxford
to lick their wounds. In their final
farewell, Wasps scored 11 tries courtesy of Christian Wade and Ashley Johnson, bagging a hat-trick
apiece, Nathan Hughes crossing twice and Sailosi Tagicakibau, Joe Simpson and
Tom Varndell also crossing each. However they did still leave the door open
for a second and this match will also be remembered for marking a London Welsh try
– Ben Pienaar scoring in the 59th minute - at
Wasps last ever match at Adams Park. As
Wasps take fifth place in the table and London Welsh still languish at the
bottom, Dai Young believes that if his team continue to play the way they did
today, they will cause anyone problems.
We’ll see. Chiefs are a growing
force to be reckoned with.
In
adverse conditions, a very strange match took shape today at Welford Road featuring the home guard
Leicester Tigers and 2nd in the table Saracens.
With not one try conceded, the final score in front of a large crowd
of 21,680 finished at 21 – 21. And it could have been so different, if
Saracens - in Mark McCalls’ eyes - didn’t keep on letting Tigers back into the
match. But they did and with seven
penalties from Charlie Hodgson taking Sarries tally to 21 with less than one
minute left to play, a penalty was awarded to Tigers in the scrum – and Owen
Williams made it count - when it mattered most.
The two points apiece was welcomed by a very calm Richard Cockerill who
was the first to admit that they didn’t control the game but it didn’t please
Mark McCall, who said, "I
think our own discipline throughout the match wasn't good enough." The
boot of Owen Williams meant that Tigers were able to keep clawing their way
back up and at the same time, in a game of penalties, Williams took advantage
of a kicking masterclass, from a man not too far away from him, Charlie Hodgson. Sarries remain 2nd in the table.
In a surprise
result, Sale Sharks trumped London Irish to the tune of 36-8 this Saturday in
front of a 4,753 crowd at The AJ Bell stadium.
I feel Sale Sharks show increasing slickness and style but this is a big
margin against the usually capable London Irish. Sale
galloped to a 22-3 half-time lead against an Irish side who failed to
counteract the Sharks' intent and intensity. Three
first-half tries and two in the second granted Sale their bonus point and they climb ahead
of Irish in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table.
Relying on a penalty in the first half and a try from George Skivington
in the second, with two players also in the bin at one point, Brian Smith
admits his team took a hiding and never really got going. As for Sale ,
they were the masters of the scrum and the maul. Diamond stated that his players stuck to the
script on Saturday and said with delight, "We managed to drag them into
the maul and then they couldn't stop it: if they collapse it's a penalty and we
do it again, so we got inside their brains a little bit on that front.”