Gallagher Premiership Review: Round 5
Marcus Smith shone as Quins beat Gloucester away from home
©PA
Round Five provided another intriguing weekend in the Gallagher Premiership and Joe Harvey reviews all of the action for TRU.
Friday
Newcastle Falcons 22 – 23 Wasps
Another close game for Falcons as this week they fell to Wasps at Kingston Park. Falcons fans will have mixed feelings about their club’s season thus far.
Having won just the one game out of five this term, most clubs would be expecting a relegation fight, however Falcons haven’t been resoundingly defeated yet.
Wasps on the other hand haven’t been too convincing so far this season, but look much better since Lima Sopoaga was introduced to the team. They defeated Falcons on Friday night with a Sopoaga kick in the 71st minute.
It was a really competitive and combative game in which Falcons actually led at half-time. Behind early on to a Josh Bassett try following Sopoaga’s perfectly weighted kick through, Falcons equalised through a Mark Wilson score following Sinoti Sinoti’s mesmerising run through, another moment for the Samoan’s highlight reel.
A Sopoaga penalty in the 22nd minute nudged Wasps ahead, however Johnny Williams continued to impress the Falcons fans with another try. The former Exile sniped through following a burst from Toby Flood and a carry from Simon Hammersley.
Flood converted Williams’ try before adding a penalty to his tally. Wasps had the final say of the half when former Falcons man Marcus Watson got in the corner after a brilliantly worked set piece move in which Sopoaga basketball-passed the ball to Watson to score.
The second half was more conservative from both sides. Williams proved his intelligence again with another try, this time putting the ball onto the base of the posts to edge Falcons in front further. Flood scored the conversion, ending his sides scoring for that evening.
Wasps brought themselves back into contention with a Juan De Jongh try. The outside centre powered over the line, breaking several Falcons tackles to allow Sopoaga to bring the score to within two points.
The game was secured with a Sopoaga penalty with less than 10 minutes to go, sending Wasps home happy. It was probably the result that many expected, but some may have been pleasantly surprised by the Falcons who were competitive considering how physical their start to the season has been.
Saturday
Bristol Bears 40 – 45 Northampton Saints
Things went a bit try-crazy at Ashton Gate on Saturday. An 11-try display probably wasn’t the game to watch for the defensive purists in the world. This was certainly a surprise considering how close Bristol’s games have been so far this season.
Saints went in front with a Dan Biggar penalty in the fifth minute, but just moments later, Will Hurrell put the Bears in front with a converted try. Saints’ England U20 prop Ehren Painter then started a Northampton onslaught when he was driven over the line.
Early replacement Andrew Kellaway was the next to have a significant influence for Northampton, getting on the end of a Tom Collins offload to keep Northampton on the front foot. Just after a Bristol penalty, Harry Thacker showed impressive pace to score after a remarkable John Afoa burst.
Northampton weren’t on the back-foot for long. Flanker Lewis Ludlam bundled over the line to extend Saints’ lead further. All Bristol could respond with was a penalty on the brink of half time.
Saints began the second half on the front foot. Big Aussie winger Taqele Naiyaravoro scored a fantastic try, bumping off despairing Bristol defenders with ease, as he carried the ball in one hand. Another Aussie was on the scoresheet next as Luke Morahan leaped over the line to score and bring the game into close contention.
Co-captain for Northampton Alex Waller put his team further in front with a try shortly after another Bristol penalty. The victory was secured with a Mikey Haywood try that Harry Mallinder converted from the tee. Bristol did bring the game even closer when Alapati Leiua scored in extra time, but the Saints had done just enough.
Exeter Chiefs 28 – 11 Worcester Warriors
Worcester were unable to build on the previous week’s success, falling to Exeter at Sandy Park. Chris Pennell started the scoring with a penalty kick for the Warriors and then Jack Yeandle scored the first try of the afternoon following a trademark driving maul from the Chiefs.
Gareth Steenson converted and soon after, Dave Ewers scored his first try of the game, reaching over the line to extend Exeter’s lead. His second was scored on the verge of half-time in a remarkably similar fashion.
The second half started as the first did as a Pennell penalty doubled Worcester’s points tally and gave the Warriors renewed confidence.
Ted Hill scored his third try in two games from the base of the ruck following sustained pressure from Worcester in Exeter’s 22. The 19-year-old continued to impress after his heroics the previous weekend.
Chiefs’ victory was confirmed with a Harry Williams try with just eight minutes to go. Steenson converted yet again, maintaining Chiefs’ unbeaten start to the new season.
Gloucester Rugby 25 – 27 Harlequins
Well not too many would have seen this result coming. Harlequins winning away from the Stoop is somewhat of a collector’s item, so it was a very good day for the travelling team. Gloucester, on the other hand, were hindered by the loss of Billy Twelvetrees for this game.
Danny Cipriani got Gloucester off to the perfect start with a searing try, but the England fly-half missed the conversion as he returned to kicking duties. Nathan Earle looked sharp for Quins, an example being his first try of the game.
Benefitting from a spilled ball, the winger outpaced all of his opposition to draw the sides level. Earle was at the races again just minutes later, linking up with Joe Marchant and then having to battle through a tackle to extend the Quins lead.
Gloucester would go into half-time with in front though. A converted Charlie Sharples score came after two Cipriani penalties. The half was ended by a James Lang penalty and the second would start the same.
Lang was replaced on kicking duty by Marcus Smith, the teenager scoring two penalties before Sharples brought the game into close contention with just over 12 minutes to go.
Quins’ win was confirmed when Smith calmly kicked the ball through the sticks, giving the visiting team a much-needed boost going into next weekend’s game against Saracens.
Saracens 50 – 27 Bath Rugby
This was a resounding victory for Sarries as they continued their outstanding start to the season. Not having dropped a point yet, the Champions put Bath to the sword in this game at the Allianz.
Liam Williams continued to play well on his return from injury, scoring the first try of the game in the 11th minute. This score went unconverted but Alex Goode’s effort did see Owen Farrell add the extras in the 15th minute of the game. Jamie George was the next Saracens name on the scoresheet as his try went converted.
Bath were given a glimmer of hope by Chris Cook, but any thoughts of a comeback was wiped away when Nick Tompkins scored three minutes before half-time. Tom Homer scored for Bath as the half ended with Rhys Priestland converting again for the visitors.
Williams started the second half in fine form as he scored two tries in 12 minutes, with Owen Farrell converting just the one try. Bath hit back with just over an hour of the game played as Homer scored again, giving Freddie Burns his only two points of the game.
Sean Maitland scored for a second weekend in a row and French hooker Christopher Tolofua’s effort late on really sealed the five points for the champions. Farrell converted the score ending a torrid afternoon for Bath and Todd Blackadder.
Sunday
Leicester Tigers 19 – 15 Sale Sharks
Unfortunately, the best has not been saved until last in this weekend’s fixtures as Leicester Tigers returned to winning ways against the toothless Sale Sharks at Welford Road. Sharks started the brighter when Marland Yarde went over in the corner following some good play from Sale.
Will Cliff was unable to convert the try, but in fairness this would foreshadow the rest of his efforts from the tee. Leicester were in the ascendency eight minutes after Yarde’s score. Kyle Eastmond showed impressive power to score his try and George Ford proved reliable with the conversion.
It would be Ford’s boot that kept the scoreboard ticking over. Two penalties in the first half gave Leicester a 13-5 lead when the half-time whistle blew. It wouldn’t be until after the 60-minute mark that the next try was scored.
Rob Webber was pushed over the line for a Sale try, but not too long after George Ford slotted two penalties. Sale ended the game the stronger with a Curtis Langdon penalty that Byron McGuigan couldn’t convert.
This was a good reaction from Tigers who needed a win after their loss to Worcester the previous week. Sale on the other hand look rudderless. Injury to AJ MacGinty has left them seriously short at fly-half and Will Cliff looks unconvincing at nine. Interesting times ahead.
