With Three Rounds To Go Who Will Be Left Standing

We are in the final stages of the Aviva Premiership and after round 19 the battle to secure a play off position is getting tighter and tighter. Expect it to get even more exciting as there are only three rounds to go. 

It began on Friday when Bath travelled to Kingston park to face Newcastle and the big talking point before the match was Sam Burgess moving from centre into the back row and it looked like this could be a position we see more of the rugby league convert in as the season finishes.

The game was exciting and this is what we are now expecting when teams travel to the North East to take on the Falcons and Mike Ford will be happy to have left with a bonus point 29 – 19 victory.

Man of the Match Ollie Devoto got the visitors their first try and was joined by Semesa Rokoduguni, Anthony Watson and Matt Banahan with George Ford kicking nine points.

Whilst Sinoti Sinoti scored a brilliant consolation try for Newcastle, even Rory Clegg scoring 12 points and replacement Tom Catterick's penalty wasn’t enough.

The bonus point win was much needed for Bath as Saracens continued the celebrations of beating Racing Metro last week to win 22 – 6 against Leicester at Allianz Park.

Sarries went into the break with a slim 7 – 6 lead thanks to Billy Vunipola crashing over before the half time whistle.

After the interval, the Wolfpack took advantage when Tom Youngs was sin binned for the Tigers as Marcelo Bosch and Chris Wyles scored in the space of eight minutes at the start of the second half.

Were was a great contest between Harlequins and Gloucester at the Stoop as the host gave hope of qualifying for next year’s Champions Cup clinching a 29 – 26 victory.

In a match which saw four sin bins, two for each team, and when the Cherry and Whites were down to 13 men, Ollie Lindsay – Hague scored the clinical try which gave Quins the win.

Marland Yarde and Charlie Walker also crossed the whitewash for the hosts with Nick Evans kicking 14 points.

Greg Laidlaw had a good day with the boot for Gloucester scoring 11 points and the fly half was joined on the scoresheet by Charlie Sharples, Bill Meakes and Dan Robson.

It was an action packed final day of round 19 as Tom Varndell grabbed a hat – trick against London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium as Wasps recorded their first Premiership away win of 2015.

However, despite being confirmed relegated last week, Welsh showed they’ve not lost any of their fight trailing the visitors by four points shortly after the interval.

But with Varndell scoring two tries in the first half, Wasps had too much class in the second half with Ashley Johnson crashing over as Varndell added his third before Sailosi Tagicakibau and Alapati Leiua got in on the action.

Despite going down to another defeat the Exiles can be proud of themselves with Opeti Fonua and Chris Elder going over in each half.

Elsewhere, Alex Lewington scored a double for London Irish as they dented Sale’s hopes of finishing in the top six of the Aviva Premiership in an electrifying 25 – 23 victory at the Madejski Stadium.

This game also had problems with discipline as four players were also sent to the sin bin, three of them coming from Irish but it didn’t stop them at the end.

Lewington wasn’t the only player scoring a double in this game as Tom Arscott also scored two tries for the Sharks and he was joined by fullback Mike Haley while Andrew Fenby grabbed a third try for Irish.

The difference in this game were the fly halves as Chris Noakes scored ten points compared to Danny Cipriani’s eight.

The big game of this round was at Sandy Park as Exeter welcomed Northampton and showcased a devastating display to record a Premiership double over the reigning champions winning 21 – 10.

In a game that saw poor discipline and handling from the Saints, as well as three players being sent to the sin bin, this was Northampton’s fourth defeat in the Premiership this season with two of those losses being against the impressive Chiefs.

In a highly entertaining game Phil Dollman scored the first try of the game before James Wilson scored a fantastic try to bring the visitors back into it. A penalty try in the second half all but secured Saints' fate before Henry Slade took control of the game with the boot but Jamie Elliot was able to score a last minute try for Northampton.

The win moved Chiefs ahead of Leicester with Rob Baxter’s men now sitting pretty in fourth place.