Friday
night's fixture was set to be a corker as social media had exploded
in the run up to the game. But as the Harlequins hosted the Saracens
at the Stoop, the Quins 'hype' was hastily hijacked and as Elvis once
said, “A
little less conversation, a little more action.” The Saracens were
undoubtedly setting a precedent with their defiant defence. Also
Charlie Hodgson secured 22 points alone and tries from David Strettle
and Chris Ashton also added to the tally. As they say in Eurovision,
it was ‘nil point’ for the Quins and it was a score I and maybe
everyone bar the Saracens was utterly shocked by, as they stormed to
a 39-0 thrashing over their London rivals. Sarries are sizzling but
let's hope Conor O'Shea and his team can turn it around...quickly.
The
Sale Sharks travelled down to Kingsholm Park in what could only be
described as a close encounter against the Cherry and Whites. Chips
from Danny Cipriani set up two terrific tries for Tom Arscott and
Chris Cusiter early on. A third came off a quick tap and go that
enabled Luke McLean to sprint down the wing, to score another for the
Sharks. Gloucester trailed at half-time but made a remarkable
comeback that stemmed from Jonny May's second-half try. He went on
to set up Rob Cook brilliantly for another and if that wasn't enough,
Gloucester were then awarded a penalty try. Kingsholm erupted in
elation and even though Sale retaliated with a late try from Danny
Cipriani, it wasn't enough to stop the Cherry and Whites from
securing a 34-27 victory. Great win Glaws but what a sterling
performance from Cips, a player on the losing side!
Bath
welcomed London Welsh to the Rec and what an opening start it was for
the home side and an ultimate try-fest. Chris Cook crossed the
white-wash early on but Pete Brown put Welsh back in contention
shortly after with their first try of the season. Semesa Rokoduguni
and Jonathan Joseph fired through the Welsh defence to score before
half time but Welsh were never far behind as Seb Stegmann scored to
take the newly reformed club into double figures. Leroy Houston
scored the bonus point try for Bath in the second half but Seb Jewell
broke away to touch down for London Welsh's third try. Rokoduguni
scored his second with ease and once again Welsh responded, this time
it was Lachlan McCaffrey who walloped over the line. Bath had the
final say as Rokoduguni and Joseph both scored their second taking
the full time score at the Rec to 53-26. Brilliant Bath and well
done London Welsh!
Leicester
Tigers travelled down to Sandy Park to face the Exeter Chiefs and it
didn't look rosy in camp for the Tigers with Niki Goneva yellow
carded early on for a high tackle on Haydn Thomas and a try from Dave
Ewers to set the scene. But tension subsided and Anthony Allen
crossed the line for the East Midlands side but scrum-half Haydn
Thomas pushed back to score as half-time approached. Leicester took
control in the second half to pick and go on several occasions with
Ben Youngs scoring and the boot of Owen Williams securing the 20-24
victory over the Chiefs. But it was close, and you can never
underestimate the Chiefs!
Newcastle
Falcons welcomed London Irish to Kingston Park and even though Joshua
Furno scored early on for the home side, the visitors took a narrow
one point lead going into half time with two penalty kicks from Shane
Geraghty. Second-half tries came from Andrew Fenby and Fergus
Mulchrone for Irish and two from Sinoti Sinoti for the Falcons but it
was the boot of Geraghty that just edged it for the visitors, taking
Irish to a narrow 18-20 away win. Another close match and maybe that
is how this premiership will pan out this year.
Sunday's
treat was the turn of the Champions Northampton Saints to take on the
Wasps at Adams Park. It was a game of two halves; the first on
penalties from the boot of Stephen Myler and Andy Goode and the
second of sheer willingness to win from the Wasps as they battered
and barricaded the Saints into the middle of the pitch. A moment of
magnificence came from an interception try from Ashley Johnson and
seconds later a terrific try came off the restart for Tom Varndell.
Ben Foden scored for Northampton late on but it came as nothing more
than a consolation prize of a losing bonus point and the Wasps
celebrate their first win over the Saints since October 2009. The
final score 20-16, a job well done. Another team laying down
markers. Way to go Wasps!