Aviva Premiership Round-Up
Bath pulled off a brilliant 28-5 victory away at London Wasps
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After the highs, lows and heartbreaks of England’s November autumn internationals campaign, normal service was resumed this week as players returned to their respective teams and once again began to focus on the Aviva Premiership.
This weekend all teams were in action, as England’s top flight resumed on Friday night in Manchester….
Sale piled more pressure on winless Worcester as they claimed a 26-10 bonus-point win at AJ Bell Stadium on Friday night.
Mark Cueto, James Gaskell, captain Dan Braid and Tom Arscott were the try-scorers for Sale, who had lost their last two matches at home.
Ofa Fainga'anuku scored a consolation try for Worcester from a rolling maul but the result leaves the Warriors nine points adrift at the bottom of the Aviva Premiership table and still looking for their first league win of the season.
The first-half was a hard-fought affair, with tempers fraying as a possible try for Sale was turned down by television match official David Grasshoff.
Worcester took the lead early on with a penalty, but the home side fought back with record try scorer Cueto crossing the line.
The second half looked to be one-way traffic for the Manchester side, as they ran in a further two tries to Worcester’s one consolation.
Next weekend Sale travel to London and league leaders Saracens and Worcester face the difficult prospect of Northampton at home.
Northampton 18-0 Newcastle
Northampton maintained their unbeaten record at Franklin's Gardens this season with an 18-0 victory over Newcastle.
It was not until the 58th minute that James Wilson scored to add to two Stephen Myler penalties, the sum total of near constant home pressure. Luther Burrell added a second as Newcastle left empty-handed but with plenty of credit for a spirited display.
The Falcons were missing influential second row Dominic Barrow to a hamstring, while Saints were without captain Dylan Hartley, Alex Corbisiero and Tom Wood because of knocks they picked up with England. Samu Manoa was also absent as he was on international duty with USA.
With Wales wing George North joining those missing it may have been a part of the reason why Northampton struggled to penetrate the Newcastle line.
The victory saw Northampton retain their second position in the league, now just two points shy of leaders Saracens. They travel to Worcester next weekend.
Newcastle, still struggling this year, finish the weekend in ninth, just one point clear of Gloucester in tenth.
Leicester 20-11 London Irish
Toby Flood went past 1,000 Premiership points in Leicester Tigers' 20-11 victory over London Irish at Welford Road on Saturday afternoon.
Flood, on his return from England duty, landed two conversions and two penalties to become the 13th player in the competition's history to reach the milestone.
The Tigers captain, who reached 300 points for his country in the autumn internationals, converted a penalty try in each half as Tigers enjoyed plenty of success at scrum time.
Irish crossed for a consolation try through one of Talking Rugby Union’s ‘one’s to watch’ Fergus Mulchrone, late in the game, but Tigers had done enough for a first win in four games in the Aviva Premiership.
Tigers welcomed back four England internationals after the completion of the autumn series, including club captain Flood.
He returned to the starting line-up alongside Ben and Tom Youngs, while Dan Cole was named among the replacements. Fraser Balmain made his first league start of the season at tighthead and there was also a first Aviva Premiership start of the campaign for Matt Smith.
Irish were captained by former Tigers lock George Skivington and included ex-Academy hooker Jimmy Stevens on the bench.
Next week the Premiership Champions game against Gloucester has been postponed, but the Exiles return home and welcome local rivals Wasps.
Harlequins 27-19 Gloucester
Harlequins recorded their second home victory of the season to positively mark the 50th Anniversary of the first fixture played at The Twickenham Stoop.
The hosts played some exciting rugby at times, but they will be disappointed not to have recorded a bonus point victory as Gloucester were there for the taking early in the second half.
Three Harlequins tries were scored, all as a result of the tireless effort from the forward pack. Both Nick Easter and Luke Wallace dotted down from dominant rolling mauls while Danny Care, on his 150th appearance for the Club, completed a trade marking sniping score after the pack battered the Gloucester line.
It was after Wallace's score early in the second half that Harlequins began to lose shape. Despite the visitors being reduced to 13 men at one point, Jonny May and Billy Twelvetrees were able to score, but it wasn't enough to clinch a losing bonus point.
The result sees Harlequins push up to third position ahead of Bath Rugby who play against London Wasps on Sunday.
Quins travel to up North to Newcastle on Friday night and Gloucester – who sit tenth – have had their game with Leicester postponed.
Saracens battled their way to a 16-9 victory over Exeter at Sandy Park to stay top of the Aviva Premiership.
Ben Ransom's first-half try, together with kicks from Alex Goode and Marcelo Bosch, ensured Mark McCall's men picked up their sixth victory of the campaign.
Rob Baxter's Chiefs countered with three penalties of their own through Gareth Steenson (two) and Phil Dollman, and were twice denied potential tries - through Ian Whitten and Tom Johnson - by TV match official David Sainsbury.
Saracens lost fly-half Charlie Hodgson to a blow to the head early on and it was Exeter who looked to set the early tone in attack. Winger Jack Nowell's first real raid brought an early penalty chance for the home side, but Steenson was unable to land the lengthy kick.
However, the visitors soon made the most of this as Charlie Hodgson crossed the whitewash after a piercing run from Chris Ashton. Exeter, after shipping the ball from one wing to the other, looked to be right back in the hunt as Whitten crossed the line; however, the proposed try was deemed short of the line by the match official.
With a 10 point deficit facing them after the break, the home side had a mountain to climb against the league leaders; one which eventually proved too steep, as Saracens kicked their way to another victory.
In the final game of the weekend Bath moved into third spot in the Aviva Premiership table after extending their winning run to seven matches in all competitions with a convincing 28-5 victory against Wasps at Adams Park on Sunday.
Fijian winger Semesa Rokoduguni scored Bath's opening two tries while flanker Matt Garvey powered in for Bath's third try.
Fly-half George Ford landed 11 points from the boot thanks to two penalties, a conversion and a drop-goal in a one-sided encounter.
The visitors' powerful pack laid the foundation for the win as they outmuscled Wasps, forcing them to concede a succession of scrum penalties.
Right wing Jonah Holmes salvaged a late try for the hosts, who had won their previous two league matches.
Bath welcome Exeter to the Rec next weekend and Wasps travel to local rivals London Irish.
