Premiership Rugby Week 6 Round-Up

The top of the table battle between Northampton and Saracens dominated the headlines this weekend in the sixth round of the Premiership.

Northampton 41 v Saracens 20

Undefeated league leaders Saracens made the trip to Franklin’s Gardens and returned home bitterly disappointed after suffering a shock 41-20 hammering to Northampton.

The Saints, who are currently second in the league, closed the gap to just one place after recording the impressive bonus point victory.

The Saints scored six tries in total, with a brace from England full-back Ben Foden and further tries from Jamie Elliott, Samu Manoa, Luther Burrell and Ken Pisi.

The home side led from the off, with Elliot and Manoa scoring in the first half, to make it 17-6 at the break. Saracens could only reply with two penalties from Alex Goode.

It was a Foden brace shortly after the break that practically won the game for Northampton and sealed the four try bonus point.

Luther Burrell again extended the lead, before Ken Pisi completed proceedings. Saracens replied with tries from Duncan Taylor and Kelly Brown, but the gap was already far too big to regain.

Sarries director of rugby Mark McCall told the BBC that Northampton "were outstanding. When you come down here you have to get the foundations of your game right and their set piece was well on top.

"All the pressure they exerted came from there. Our set piece was poor and they scored too easily. We made a lot of individual areas which proved costly.

"This team hasn't lost two games in a row all that often, although it has happened in the last couple of years.

"The two performances have been very different - we could have won against Toulouse in a high standard performance in a close game.

"But we were beaten in every way by a Saints team that was red hot, although we didn't help ourselves. They were much better than us today."

The 41-20 loss was Saracens’ heaviest defeat in four and a half years and it has heated up the top of the Premiership table, with just six points between the top five teams.

Bath 15 v Gloucester 13

The first game of the round came on Friday night, when Gloucester made the short journey over to the Rec for the battle of the West.

The game was a real nail-biter which produced another change at the top of the league table.

Young fly half George Ford kicked all of Bath’s points in a 15-13 victory that sent the side to second in the league as we went into the weekend (only to be overtaken by Northampton on Saturday).

A very tight and hard-fought first half was dominated by penalties, with Ford kicking three to just the one reply from Gloucester’s Freddie Burns.

Bath stretched their lead after the break with a further Ford penalty, but the battle of the fly-halves continued as Burns replied with a try of his own and the following conversion to keep the visitors in the hunt.

Finally, Ford managed to seal the game with a final penalty, taking the sides and his own tally to 15 points.

Bath currently sit third in the table, four points behind Northampton and five behind leaders Saracens. On the other hand, however, Gloucester sit eleventh in the league on just ten points, eight above bottom of the league Worcester.

Exeter 40 v Worcester 6

Things moved from bad to worse for bottom of the table Worcester, as they went down by 40 points to 6 at Exeter on Saturday.

Worcester remained winless in this season’s premiership at the weekend, as Exeter cruised past them with six un-answered tries.

The first half was a much closer affair, as Exeter went into the break with just a 14-6 lead, after tries from Australians Ben White and Dean Mumm.

However, the second half was a different affair, as Exeter ran away with the game, scoring four tries in the second half, through Phil Dollman, Damian Welch, Haydn Thomas and a second for white.

The win moved Exeter into the last of the four Premiership playoff spots, just one point behind Bath in third, whereas Worcester stay firmly rooted to the bottom of the league, winless, with just two bonus points to their name.

Harlequins 24 v Sale 3

Harlequins ended their four-match losing run with a hard-fought victory over Manchester’s Sale Sharks at the Stoop on Saturday.

The win saw the London side leap-frog Sale in the standings.

Three Ben Botica penalties to Danny Cipriani's one saw Quins take a 9-3 lead into the interval before Luke Wallace's early second-half try extended their advantage.

Botica then added a further penalty, before Jack Clifford crossed the Sale whitewash, touched down and sealed a vital victory for his club.

The hosts went into the game decimated by a number of injuries and international call-ups while their opponents, who have started the season well, were close to full strength.

However, it was Quins that dominated the first half and the majority of the game.

The win sent the London side into sixth, whilst Sale dropped to seventh.

London Wasps 22 v Leicester 12

In a battle of former Champions it was Wasps’ Andy Goode that stole the show with a brilliant individual performance and 17 points against his former side that sent Wasps to a 22-12 victory.

Leicester came into the fixture wounded, however, missing an incredible 17 players due to injury and international call-up.

Having not won at Adams Park for six years, combined with the huge number of absences, the home side fancied their chances.

Christian Wade gave his side the lead with an early try, combined with two first half penalties from Goode.
The reigning champions hit back, though, with three penalties from Owen Williams.

Two drop goals and an incredible 62-metre penalty from Goode sealed the victory and moved his side from eleventh in the league to ninth; whilst Leicester stay fifth.

Newcastle 13 – London Irish 11

In the final game of the weekend London Irish made the long trip up north to face Newcastle at Kingston Park.

The home side managed to clinch a narrow 13-11 win over the fellow Premiership strugglers.

In a tight opening half, Ofisa Treviranus' touchdown and Ian Humphreys' penalty gave Irish an 8-6 lead at the break.

Two Rory Clegg penalties was the Falcons' response before the break, but they found themselves further behind in the second period with yet another Humphreys' kick.

But Powell was the hero when he crossed the whitewash. Phil Godman added the conversion which secured a vital win for Newcastle.

This was a match between two sides who were tipped to be near the bottom of the table at the end of the season.

However, both teams have made solid starts to the campaign having gone into the encounter with two wins each from their first five games.

The win sent Newcastle to eighth in the league, whilst London Irish are tenth, joint on ten points with Gloucester.

Next weekend’s fixtures:

Friday:
Worcester v Bath
Sale v Exeter

Saturday:
Gloucester v London Wasps
Leicester v Harlequins

Sunday:
London Irish v Northampton
Saracens v Newcastle