Aviva Premiership Week 9 Round-Up

With the highs and lows of the QBE Autumn International series now no more than a distant memory, it is the Aviva Premiership that, once again, takes precedence for any rugby union fan.

As we travel into December, with just two rounds of fixtures left before Christmas, England’s top flight is now in full-swing.

Last weekend both Saracens and Northampton recorded important wins over Exeter 16-9 and Newcastle 18-0, respectively – as the battle for the league’s top-spot still rages on.

As ever, the round began on Friday night, under the Kingsholm floodlights, as reigning Champions Leicester travelled to Gloucester…

Gloucester 17-22 Leicester:

England fly-half Toby Flood steered his side to a 22-17 victory, with three last-quarter penalties brining Leicester from behind for an important victory.

The visitors came from behind twice on the way to victory, condemning Gloucester to a disappointing fifth successive defeat in the Premiership, leaving them tenth in the table – just one point clear of London Irish.

Despite outscoring their opponents two tries to one, Gloucester were undone by poor discipline, conceding 18 points from penalties which ultimately sealed their fate.

Leicester went into the game beset by no less than 15 injuries, and fell behind to a Freddie Burns try just eight minutes into the game. Toby Flood's pass was intercepted by Burns, who raced half the length of the field to atone for an earlier penalty miss, much to the annoyance of the England fly-half as the referee Greg Garner had only just shouted "advantage over" when he threw his pass.

However, Flood made amends and replied with two penalties before the experienced number 10 dummied, off-loaded and sent centre Dan Bowden through the line and over the whitewash for the visitors first try. Flood added the extras to give the visitors a 13-7 lead.

However, with the last play of the half, the Leicester contingent were stunned when winger Miles Benjamin’s pass was intercepted. Henry Trinder hoofed the ball up-field, deep into Leicester’s half for Jonny May to touch the ball down and take his side into the break a point ahead.

Having gone in 14-13 up, Cook missed an early penalty before Gloucester suffered another blow when Captain Tom Savage was forced to leave the field with a shoulder injury.

Cook then failed again, resulting in the choice of Twelvetrees to step up to the plate as his side's third kicker of the night and he made no mistake with his first opportunity.

Flood then narrowed the gap to a point as Leicester staged a late rally, before adding two more penalties to earn his side their fourth league win of the season.

It is three weeks before the Premiership continues, as Leicester travel to Saracens on the 21^st of December and Gloucester host bottom of the league Worcester on the 22^nd.

Northampton 33-10 Worcester:

Northampton kept their title hopes alive this weekend with a comfortable victory over the still winless Worcester.

Second-half tries from Samu Manoa, Tom Collins and Tom Wood boosted Northampton to a 33-10 win; leaving them just two points off Saracens and the top spot.

Despite controlling the first half, Northampton went into the interval 7-6 behind through Ignacio Mieres' try, while Stephen Myler kicked two penalties for the visitors.

Myler and Chris Pennell traded three-pointers in the second period before Samu Manoa, Tom Collins and Tom Wood all touched down to secure a comfortable victory.

Myler added two more penalties, as well as his three conversions, to finish with an 18-point individual haul.

Worcester are now 10 points adrift of London Irish at the bottom having picked up just two losing bonus points all season.

In the next round Northampton travel to London Wasps and Worcester go on the road to Gloucester, still in search of their first Premiership win.

Saracens 24-19 Sale:

After an impressive 26-10 victory over Worcester last week, the Sharks travelled to league leaders Saracens in high spirits and full of confidence.

However, after a brilliant game of rugby, Sale provided a tricky challenge for the league leaders, who eventually managed to come from behind to win the game 24-19 and retain their top spot.

The league leaders were left stunned at the break as Danny Cipriani inspired Sale to a 13-6 first-half advantage with a try, conversion and drop goal. But the home side found the right response in the second half with George Kruis' late try maintaining their position at the top of the Premiership table.

Former legendary Sharks fly-half Charlie Hodgson opened the scoring for the home side as he kicked the first points of the afternoon.

However, the visitors found themselves in the lead just a few minutes later when current fly-half, Danny Cipriani recovered a fumble and linked up with winger Charlie Ingall to score the opening try of the game.

After adding the extras Hodgson soon came back and reduced the gap to just one point with another penalty.

After dominating the set piece Saracens were not able to capitalise on this dominance and fell further behind after a long-distance penalty from full-back Rob Miller and a well taken drop-goal from Danny Cipriani took the visitors into the break with a 13-6 lead.

Saracens' rolling maul set up a good attacking position shortly after the re-start and winger Jack Wilson was able to cross for a try on his Premiership debut.

After another penalty for Cipriani and a further two for Hodgson, Kruis crossed the line for Saracens’ second try of the game and the lead.

After another Hodgson penalty the lead proved too great for Sale who managed to record a bonus point after a late Nick Macleoud penalty.

Saracens stay top of the league, just two points ahead of Northampton and Sale finish the weekend in eighth.

London Irish 12-19 Wasps:

An impressive late defensive performance from Wasps helped them overcome local rivals London Irish in a close-fought 19-12 victory.

London Irish’s poor season continued as they have only 12 points to their name and sit in a perilous eleventh position.

London Irish were determined to mark Topsy Ojo's 200th appearance with a win and end a five-match losing streak, and they started in the best possible fashion when James O'Connor kicked a second minute penalty.

O'Connor and Andy Goode traded three-pointers as defences remained on top before the Australian was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock on - an act which also saw Wasps awarded a penalty try - after a neat chip ahead by his opposite number.

Shane Geraghty pulled another three points back for the Irish as the sides went back into the changing rooms for the break.

With Irish still down to 14 men Goode extended Wasps' lead shortly after the re-start with his third penalty of the afternoon.

Irish upped the tempo when restored to their full quota of players and O'Connor nailed one of two attempts at goal to close the gap to four points.

But fittingly the final act came from the outstanding Goode, who made the game safe with a drop goal.

Bath 21-16 Exeter:

George Ford kicked all Bath's points in a 21-16 West Country derby win over Exeter to give them their eighth straight victory in all competitions.

At a sold-out Recreation Ground, the young fly-half did not miss a single kick, converting six penalties and also dropping a goal to cement Bath's third place in the Aviva Premiership.

The Chiefs pushed them all the way in a typically hard-fought affair, scoring two tries through locks Damian Welch and Dean Mumm, while fly-half Gareth Steenson kicked the rest of their points.

The visitors played plenty of positive rugby, but still they cannot find a way to beat their local rivals. Bath are the only Premiership club not to have lost to Exeter since the Devon club won promotion in 2010.

The visitors drew first blood after Talking Rugby Union’s spot-lighted one-to-watch Jack Nowell carved through from a slick move off a line-out. Mumm was in support but was tackled early by Matt Garvey and Steenson kicked a sixth-minute penalty.

Ford equalised with a 40-metre penalty five minutes later after prop Hoani Tui was caught offside by a ricochet.

However, the visitors then scored the first try of the game as Welch stormed past three Bath defenders and touched the ball down for a try in the corner.

Steenson's conversion was off-target and Ford cut the gap after a breathless passage of play and a third Ford kick - in the final action of the first half - gave his side the narrowest of half-time leads.

After the break Bath made a dominant start to the second half with a number of penalties gave the home side a solid base.

Ford stretched the lead to four points with another penalty; but Exeter hit back with a breakaway try of their own.

Finally, a further two penalties and drop-goal for Ford sealed the victory for the home side.

Newcastle 9-35 Harlequins:

In the final Premiership game of the weekend, Harlequins made the most of their long away trip to Newcastle, as they returned to the top four of the league standings with a dominant 35-9 bonus-point victory at Kingston Park on Sunday.

Tom Williams' try and eight points from the boot of Nick Evans gave Quins a 13-6 half-time lead, with the Falcons responding through two Phil Godman penalties.

Although Godman added a third three-pointer after the interval, the visitors dominated the second period as Sam Smith (twice) and Danny Care touched down to give them the bonus-point win.

Despite a difficult start to the campaign, Quins have re-found the form which has made them perennial Premiership challengers over the previous few years.

And versus a team which has won just three domestic games all season, the visitors got off to the perfect start.

This encounter marked Dean Richards' first match against his former club since the 'Bloodgate' affair. It was therefore ironic to see Williams, the man at the centre of the controversy, score the first try of the afternoon when he latched onto Dave Ward's off-load.

Richards, the Newcastle director of rugby told BBC Sport that he was "delighted for the lads I worked with at Quins, but there has been lot more work done there since I left. They have been together seven or eight years and there was a lot of quality youngsters there put in front of me and Conor has carried that on.

"As far as we're concerned we were competitive last week, but we missed a lot of opportunities today and we didn't perform. I don't know why.

"We didn't take our foot of the gas in training, but we couldn't adapt to their skill and a lot of our players are very disappointed.

"We need to just go out there and play and not be too worried about the outcome."