What a weekend of Aviva Premiership rugby we had as round 15
saw Northampton extend their lead while positions second to seventh are
separated by just FOUR POINTS. We also saw a curtain Exeter fly half come of
age.
It all started at Kingston Park with Elliot Daly giving
Stuart Lancaster more centre headaches as he was at hand in all of Wasps’ best
plays and this was highlighted fantastically with an assist and a try in the
space two minutes for the 22 year old.
However, Newcastle are a team to be worried about as the
Falcons were 13 – 8 behind at half time before fighting back to a 23 – 16 lead with
13 minutes left until Guy Thompson rescued two points for the visitors with the
match ending in a 23 – 23 draw.
This puts Dai Youngs’ men at a disadvantage as wins for Exeter,
Sale and Leicester means they all leap frog Wasps who dropped to seventh. One
of the teams who have gone above the Coventry side is Sale Sharks.
The Sharks moved up to fifth with a very impressive 14 – 10
victory over 2014 finalists Saracens as the visitors away form let them down
once again in a tightly fought match at the AJ Bell and this win caps off a
perfect week for the hosts with Danny Cipirani signing a two year deal.
Both Sam Tuitpou and Jonathan Mills crossed the whitewash in
the first half with Alex Goode getting the visitors’ only points before the
break which saw Jacques Burger and Richard Wigglesworth sin binned.
Richard Barrington was able to get a late try to secure a
losing bonus point for Mark McCalls men, but they remain without an away win in
the Aviva Premiership since September.
One team who has moved back into the playoffs is Exeter
Chiefs winning 32 – 21 against Harlequins. As their young fly half Henry Slade
gave Lancaster a reminded of what he could bring to England with fans wanting
to see the 21 year old in a red rose jersey.
Slade pulled out an all star performance against Quins
scoring 27 of the Chiefs 32 points with Ben White adding a try of his own.
While Conor O’Shea’s men have shown their recent struggles with only one win out
of their last six matches.
Quins could have won this game with Nick Evans getting 16
points of his own with Matt Hooper also crossing the whitewash, but they were
wasteful an they’re now 10 points off the playoffs.
The form of the Chiefs and Slade will worry their West
Country rivals Bath as they lost two big games on the bounce after last week's
defeat to Saracens they lost 21 - 13 to
champions Northampton at the Rec.
An early try from Olly Woodburn and penalty from Tom Homer
did give the hosts a 10 point lead, but
the Saints got themselves into the game and didn’t look back with James Wilson
and Mike Haywood crossing the try line to go into the break 12 – 10 up.
This match showed how inexperienced Mike Ford side is with
new signing Homer only getting six out of a possible 21 points while it also
seems Ford doesn’t have a Plan B when George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony
Watson are away.
Mike Ford also has terrible unleashing Sam Burgess’ potential,
meanwhile Jim Mallinder has the next up and coming winger in the Premiership in
Jamie Elliott. The 21 year old made instant impact in this game with a terrific
try saving tackle on Semesa Rokoduguni and brilliant line breaks throughout and
I don’t think it’ll be long until he’s in the England Saxon squad.
Elsewhere, Henry Purdy grabbed two second half tries for
Gloucester as they inflicted more embarrassment on London Welsh as the Cherry
and Whites ran out 48 – 10 victors.
Ross Moriarty, Charlie Sharples and Matt Kvesic all scored
in front of the Shed with James Hook kicking 18 points while Carl Kirwan’s try
and five points from Will Robinson got the points for Welsh. However, this
match had a down note as Henry Trinder – making his first start since September
– made a sharp break, but the centre damaged his left ankle in the tackle,
eventually leaving the pitch on a stretcher.
I do hope Trinder is ok because this is seriously unfair for
a talented centre who should be in the England squad.
The last match of the weekend see Leicester Tigers and
London Irish play out one of the dullest matches of the season with all the
points coming from the boot in a 12 – 6 victory for the Tigers.
With nine points from Freddie Burns and David Mele added a
penalty of his own with Shane Geraghty scoring two penalties for the Exiles and
even though they got the win the Tigers have gone over 300 MINUTES WITHOUT A
TRY!! And I’m not sorry by saying this it isn’t good enough to be even
considered to be in the playoff running.
With the Six Nations back from half term, let’s see how the
playoff teams go without key names and which sides can take advantage in round
16.
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