Round Up! Aviva Premiership Round 16

Bath's bubble burst on Friday night at The Rec, as the Saracens continued their winning streak. The West Country side looked to have under performed in parts and the 10-23 loss was a woeful one that’s bound to hit them hard. But you can never underestimate the Saracens, poised and of pure class in their ability to play running rugby, they had the edge over the home side and controlled the game .

 

Northampton Saints welcomed the Cherry and Whites to Franklins Gardens on Saturday. A lack-lustre first half made it difficult to predict who was going to walk away victorious but the second half showed effervescent episodes from the Saints and with four tries in quick succession, Gloucester were nowhere to be seen. At the final whistle Northampton gained a bonus point in their 39-13 win and clambered above Saracens to take their place back at the top of the Aviva Premiership table.

 

However, it was despair for London Wasps as they failed to win against Sale on home turf, 17-21. The Sharks showed signs of spark and it was no doubt a great achievement to win at Adams Park. The Wasps had failed to find their feet in the last five games and this game proved no different, even more so when the Sharks threw everything at the home side, even the kitchen sink. Sale are searching for a play-off position this season and with a third away win under their belt, slowly but surely they could find themselves in a strong position.

 

London Irish had been dark horses in recent weeks, seeing off the Saracens. But the tables turned on Saturday as the Exeter Chiefs put in a powerful performance to beat them 18-0 at Sandy Park. The Chiefs were keen to avoid a third home defeat and they prevented this by putting in a fantastic performance that saw two second-half tries and stopping the Irish from registering any points on the scoreboard. A solid and well deserved win for the Chiefs.

 

Worcester arrived at the Stoop to take on the Harlequins. The Warriors, a side who nearly pipped the Tigers to the posts recently, found themselves in yet another similar situation but they couldn't quite manage the win, leaving London defeated, 21-20. It begs the question, just how close is the Premiership table, with the 12^th placed side able to come within 2 points of a win? The Harlequins will need to shape up on their clinical performance if they want to be in with a chance of beating the Saracens in a couple of weeks.

 

On Sunday, Newcastle Falcons welcomed Leicester Tigers to Kingston Park. They showed strength and determination, especially with Noah Cato and Scott Lawson crossing the try line but the Tigers looked threatening on the attack. Especially when a key chip and chase from Niki Goneva set them up. But this game saw three yellow cards for the Tigers, all for deliberate interception! And even though the final score was 41-18, I don't think it reflected the determination the Falcons showed. However, gaps in Newcastle's defensive line and over-committing at the break down was their down fall, with the Tigers once again showing patience pays off, a job well done!

Sharp Saints Continue Solid Winning Streak

The last time Northampton and Gloucester met, it was at Kingsholm Park last year and a late penalty saw the Cherry and Whites steal the win, the only loss Northampton have had in the Premiership this season. But Northampton kept their winning streak on home turf and even managed to gain the bonus point.

Only two minutes into the first half and Ken Pisi made a great break through the Gloucester defence, charging from the half way line to score under the posts. What a start!

But only minutes later, an interception from Henry Trinder saw him running three-quarter's of the pitch to score an equally impressive try at the other end. No-one was under any illusion then. Gloucester were here intent on breaking Northampton's winning run.

Even though points were on the board for both sides, it was an extremely poor first half. Careless mistakes cost Gloucester as they spent a large portion of time defending in their own 22. And although Northampton looked composed in the first couple of minutes, it looked as if their eager eyes were their down fall, with the likes of Kahn Foutali'i giving some weak, inaccurate passes off the back of the ruck and James Wilson kicking straight into touch ... twice, preventing play from progressing.

Anyone would've thought the ball was a hot potato; the amount of quick panic passes played all over the pitch, which had both sides scrambling for possession. There was a sense of unnecessary urgency when composure and patience were critical but the battle kept both sides level pegging.

Neither side showed any clinical phases of play and poor handling errors led to careless penalties; this made for a very frantic game.

Realistically, Northampton should have been bossing the 9^th placed Gloucester pack but it was proving a beefy battle. Gloucester had obviously analysed Northampton's game plan and they looked intent on playing a lot of running rugby to match Northampton's tactics and it was working.

Were the Saints a little lack-lustre or were they warming up still? In the first half, their set play was stuck in the doldrums, especially when poor handling errors saw Ken Pisi passing to thin air.

Dare I say it, the Premiership leaders were looking out of sorts, sloppy and passive. Their clinical performance would need to be stepped up a gear if they were to win and with Samu Manoa on for the injured GJ Van Velze just short of half time, could he be the game changer Northampton needed?

HT 13-10

Soon after the restart, Northampton rang the changes with Ben Foden igniting the crowd on his return from injury and Lee Dickson and Alex Waller also coming off the bench. The strength, depth and experience of these players, along with the youthful composure of Tom Stephenson, Will Hooley and Ethan Waller were just what was needed to set Northampton up from here on in and a superb run of tries saw Gloucester's gumption and fight flounder.

Photo by Alf Parry 

The first of four tries came from Calum Clark who stretched out full length over the line. But it was a further three tries in fourteen minutes that gave the Saints crowd what they came for! An awesome score from Tom Stephenson started it, as he ripped through the Gloucester defence. Great to see the Academy player face up to the likes of Mike Tindall and showcase his ability and confidence.

Gloucester's Will James was sin-binned with six minutes to go and this proved beneficial to Northampton as Alex Waller and the forwards pack crossed the line with a rolling maul to drive the Saints over. Will Hooley then backed up the bonus point to seal the deal and take Northampton back up to the top of the table. But they definitely didn't make it easy for themselves.

The second half of this game eventually erupted into something very special. Even though Mike Tindall had an exceptional game, cutting through the defence on several occasions and running a great line at pace, Gloucester looked very tired in the last quarter and didn't fulfil their own expectations which in turn, played into Northampton's hands.

My Man of the Match was the Saints Academy player Tom Stephenson, who enjoyed an excellent 80 minute performance. Afterwards he told me that patience had been the key:

“In the first half we were trying to force the passes,” he said. “In the second half we were a lot more patient, kept the ball and took our chances.”

Jim Mallinder told me:

“The replacements did a really good job, looking after the ball and continuing to apply pressure. We're in a fortunate position. You need an experienced core of players and to then bring in some of the younger lads to play amongst that is the right thing to do.”

Gloucester definitely put up a fierce fight in the first-half and they looked like a well drilled and developed side compared to earlier this season. But when you head to Franklins Gardens, you can't expect anything less than a physical battle and they just couldn't manage to hold out.

A deserved win for Northampton but only just.

FT 39-13

2 mins try Ken Pisi conv. Stephen Myler 7-0

9 mins try Henry Trinder conv. Freddie Burns 7-7

20 mins penalty Myler 10-7

23 mins penalty Burns 10-10

40 mins penalty Myler 13-10

HT 13-10

47 mins penalty Burns 13-13

57 mins try Calum Clark conv. Myler 20-13

66 mins try Tom Stephenson conv. Myler 27-13

76 mins try Alex Waller conv. Myler 34-13

78 mins try Will Hooley 39-13

FT 39-13

Sarries Surge On as Bath's Bubble Bursts

By Shaun Wren

Bath 10 Saracens 23

David Strettle was celebrating his 100^th game for Saracens as he helped his side beat Bath at The Rec to move them to top of the table, for 24 hours that is.

The win also marked the end of Bath's 20 match unbeaten run at the Rec, a record started after losing to the London side 22-0 back in December 2012.

If you thought the Six Nations clash between England and Ireland was great for the neutral, then this game comes very close to beating it.

Before the game had even kicked off there was drama for Saracens as Charlie Hodgson pulled up in training. A late change saw Alex Goode move to fly-half and Duncan Taylor coming off the bench.

The first half was high tempo from the kick off and within five minutes George Ford missed the chance to give his side the lead after kicking his penalty wide of the posts.

The game became more frantic as both sides were showing great skill and teamwork between the forwards and backs. Both teams had the opportunity to score a try but the defensive lines were holding up and it took 18 minutes to get the first points on the board for Bath.

Ford was able to find his range to give the home side the lead but it lasted 90 seconds as Goode stepped up to draw the game level. However the West Country side looked to have scored the first try of the game as Matt Banahan's quick line out pass to Peter Stringer was ruled forward.

Then on the half hour mark, Saracens did score the first try, after Joel Tomkins broke away from Ford's tackle. Offloads from Tomkins and Taylor opened up space for Chris Wyles, whose great juggling did just enough to beat the Bath defence to go over the try line.

The game wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down, with Bath lock Dave Attwood pulling off two big hits on Sarries duo Steve Borthwick and Mako Vunipola.

Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to stop the away side from scoring before the break after Ollie Devoto was unable to collect a pass. Goode saw the opportunity and broke the Bath defensive line. Taylor hacked the ball down field and with Bath unable to regroup, Brad Barritt's superb cross field kick was easily picked up by Strettle who did the rest, with Goode adding the conversion.

Early on into the second half and Stringer was taken out by flanker Jacques Burger and it was that sort of night for the hosts who fell further behind after 54 minutes with Goode showing his kicking skill with a drop goal to extend his sides lead by 17 points.

But with Burger’s subsequent high tackle on Anthony Watson, the South African was sin binned to give Mike Fords troops a numerical advantage and they looked to have scored a try but Schalk Brits put his full body under the ball to hold it up.

Luckily, the hosts were awarded with a penalty try after Sarries forwards pack collapsed the scrum under their posts and Ford wasted no time kicking the conversion.

Goode killed any hope of Bath winning the game by kicking another penalty and then Wyles became the second Sarries player to be sin binned for an illegal tackle, well an American football tackle, on replacement wing Semesa Rokoduguni.

This game showed the gap in the table proving poignant between Bath and the Saracens. But if Bath take this defeat as motivation and try and win their next four games they will secure a play off place in the Aviva Premiership.