Harlequins managed to continue their fine form with their 10th victory in a row in all competitions against Bath at the Rec.
Newcastle vs. Worcester
After only seven matches in the Aviva Premiership this season this match was dubbed as a relegation dogfight. Kingston Park is a tough place to play and come away with points, but Richard Hill’s men were keen to come away with a win from the North of England. Worcester made the strongest start as Joe Carlisle knocked over a penalty from 40 metres out. However, Newcastle’s Jimmy Goppeth soon levelled the score with a penalty of his own. A series of penalties were exchanged as the battle between the two kickers continued. Worcester breathed life into the game as Carlisle managed to offload nearly to Shaun Perry who dived over in the corner to score the Warriors’ first try that was converted by Carlisle to make the half-time score 6-13 in Worcester’s favour. Goppeth closed the gap with another penalty soon after half time to give the Falcons a chance in the game. Worcester fans thought they had sealed the four points after replacement Andy Goode landed a long kick to restore their lead to seven points. Newcastle to their credit did not give up and a passionate crowd willed their team on to score in injury time. Michael Mayhew crashed over to give Goppeth the responsibility of earning the draw with the conversion. The ever-reliable Kiwi made no mistake under pressure and made the conversion with ease.
Final score: Newcastle 16 Worcester 16
Man of the match: Jimmy Goppeth, Newcastle rely on Goppeth for a reason, he is an accurate kicker who can cope well under pressure. In my preview of the Aviva Premiership season I mentioned that Goppeth would be the only man keeping the Falcons in the Premiership if they were lucky enough to stay up because Newcastle do not have the strength in depth or attacking nous to stretch teams elsewhere. Goppeth kept chipping away at the scoreboard and in the end he managed to secure a much needed draw when Newcastle looked to be leaving Kingston Park with nothing.
Exeter vs. Gloucester
Gloucester travelled to Sandy Park in search of their first away win of the season, however, Exeter made the stronger start as they put the Cherry and Whites under pressure and won a penalty that Gareth Steenson knocked over. Gloucester responded with an individual effort from fly-half Freddie Burns who somehow managed to barge his way to the line past two defenders to open the account for his team. He added the conversion from straight in front of the posts. Exeter once again put plenty of pressure on Gloucester and the New Zealander Hoani Tui crashed over for the Chiefs. Steenson missed the conversion, but he made amends with a successful penalty goal after 30 minutes. A patient attacking move from a turnover allowed Gloucester to put Akapusi Qera over for their 2nd try which Burns converted making it 11-14 at half-time. Gloucester made a strong start to the second-half as Burns put in a lovely miss-pass to Tom Voyce who drew the last defender to feed Olly Morgan for their third try, even though Morgan scored in the corner Burns managed to strike the conversion well from the touchline to add the extras. Ignacio Mieres and Burns traded penalties and Gloucester were looking for the bonus point try, however, the Cherry and Whites tried to force the fourth try and gave away an easily intercepted try that was finished off by Matt Jess. This allowed the Chiefs a losing bonus point.
Final score: Exeter 19 Gloucester 24
Man of the match: Freddie Burns, the Gloucester fly-half contributed 14 points to the team total with a well taken try and an excellent kicking display. Burns has been criticised for his game management this season, however, he took his chances well and allowed Gloucester to play in the right areas of the field.
Leicester vs. London Irish
The Tigers struggled during the World Cup period and now their World Cup stars have returned many expected Leicester to dominate proceedings against London Irish. Welford Road is not as impressive a fortress as it has been in recent years and Toby Booth’s men were not afraid to turn up and storm the Tigers’ lair. London Irish’s new signing Shontayne Hape opened the scoring with a try that Tom Homer converted. Leicester was awarded a penalty try after London Irish collapsed the scrum on their own 5 metre line when the Tigers were looking likely to score. Toby Flood converted the simple conversion following the penalty try and he added two more penalties to Leicester’s total. At half-time Leicester looked to be in a fairly comfortable 13-7 lead. After half-time Horatio Agulla managed to make his way over the try line to stretch Leicester’s lead to 17 points, however, London Irish managed to keep themselves in the game after the impressive run in from Adam Thompstone to score the Irish’s second try. Homer once again converted and the gap was back down to 10 points. Homer slotted an easy penalty attempt to worry the Tigers fans further and then London Irish chose to kick to touch from a penalty in search of a converted try that would draw the game. However, the plan did not quite go as it was intended, Leicester won the line-out and Jeremy Staunton looked to clear his lines, only to be charged down and for Matt Garvey to pounce on the loose ball in the corner. Homer showed his true class with the conversion to seal an unlikely draw at Welford Road. However, there was still time on the clock for Leicester to pull off a win, but Flood missed a drop-goal attempt at the end of the match.
Final score: Leicester 24 London Irish 24
Man of the match: Tom Homer, the London Irish full-back is the Aviva Premiership’s top point scorer at the moment with an impressive 126 points to his name. He showed maturity beyond his years with a kick right at the end of the match to earn a draw against last year’s runners up. English fans will be hoping to see Homer pushing for International honours over the next 18 months or so, he is definitely a talented player who has the composure that World Class players need.
Bath vs. Harlequins
Harlequins have had an outstanding start to the season and went to The Recreation Ground unbeaten in all competitions so far, Nicky Evans has guided the team with great composure and his kicking game has been fantastic. Bath have had a mixed season so far and will be looking forward to welcoming World Cup winning fly-half Stephen Donald to the side to give the team some much needed direction and flair.
Evans opened the scoring for Harlequins only for former Gloucester lock Dave Attwood to crash over in response for Bath. Sam Vesty converted the try from in front of the posts. The away side piled on the pressure in Bath’s 22 which resulted in Chris Robshaw going over from short range, Evans did not falter with the boot as he slotted the conversion and then he knocked over a long penalty attempt to make the half time score 7-13 in Harlequins’ favour. Evans and Vesty both scored two penalties each before a fantastic run from Mike Brown sealed the win for Harlequins. Brown managed to round several defenders before touching down to the right of the posts which made the conversion simple for Evans to convert which rounded off an excellent performance.
Final score: Bath 13 Harlequins 26
Man of the match: Nicky Evans, this weekend showed the vital importance of having an experienced fly half who can guide teams to victory. With ball in hand Evans distributed clean and effective possession to his backs and once again he was on fantastic form with the boot as he only missed one attempt at goal.
Wasps vs. Northampton
Wasps have had a mixed start to their season; however, they had high hopes that they could challenge a strong Northampton Saints side at home. The first half was a tight affair with goal kicking taking up the majority of the first 40 minutes. Ryan Lamb landed four penalties for Northampton and Nicky Robinson added a penalty to Wasps’ total. Wasps went in for a for a scrappy try after Chris Ashton was turned over by Tom Varndell and then the ball was spread out to Rickey Flutey who touched down in the corner. However, Robinson missed the tough conversion. Half time: Wasps 8 Northampton 12. The second half was more exciting with Northampton demonstrating their authority in the forwards, a forward pass was missed from Courtney Lawes, but Soane Tonga'uiha made his luck count as he barged his way over to score Northampton’s first try. Brian Mujati on the other side of the scrum also added in a try of his own to the proceedings after a strong drive through the heart of the Wasps defence. Wasps desperately tried to get themselves back in the game and Christian Wade; the league’s top try scorer nearly got himself on the score sheet. Finally, Wasps managed a consolation try with Ross Filipo making the try line for the home side. However, it was too little too late for Wasps, the score-line perhaps flattered the home side as Lamb had an off day with the boot and should have punished Wasps’ indiscipline more severely.
Final score: Wasps 13 Northampton 24
Man of the match: Soane Tonga'uiha, Tonga’uiha was outstanding in the loose and dominant in the scrum for Northampton which allowed the Saints to set up a platform for themselves. He also managed to make his way to the try-line showing his versatility on the rugby pitch.
Saracens vs. Sale
Charlie Hodgson faced his former club for the first time this season and started well against Sale, he made a crucial try-saving tackle on Will Addison. Last year’s Aviva Premiership champions won without getting out of third gear at home against Sale. Saracens built up a comfortable lead thanks to the boot of Farrell and tries from Matt Stephens and David Strettle. Saracens slowly edged towards a clear ten point to nothing lead at half-time. Sale did not get on the score sheet until 11 minutes from full time when they found some attacking possession which led to tries from Rob Miller and Mark Easter. Saracens should have pushed on to earn themselves a losing bonus-point, but they eased to their 7th victory of the season and will look forward to getting stuck into the Heineken Cup next week against Benetton Treviso. Sale have surprised many this season and they currently sit in 5th position just out of the play-off positions. The Sharks will hope to be in contention for Heineken Cup qualification this year as they look to push forward with a young and ambitious squad.
Full time: Saracens 23 Sale 10
Man of the Match: David Strettle, the agile winger picked and timed a beautiful run off Hodgson to score Saracens’ first try. Strettle is a dangerous counter-attacking player and each season he is always one of the top players in terms of the amount of defenders he has beaten each game. Currently, Strettle sits top of the table with an outstanding 45 defenders beaten this season.
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