Aviva Premiership 2014/15 Round 10 Review

Round 10 was one of the most dramatic and intense weekends of rugby that we have enjoyed in recent seasons; from fortress Franklin’s Gardens to the Ricoh Arena and everywhere in between it delivered on all fronts and was outstanding to watch.

On Friday the action started on a wet and windy night in Manchester, where the Sale Sharks hosted the Exeter Chiefs. In less than perfect weather Sale squeezed the Chiefs and according to Rob Baxter the side facing his team got ‘important bits of the game right’. Those ‘important bits’ were the set-piece battle, territory and discipline. The territory was thanks, in the most part, to the sublime kicking game of Danny Cipriani who shone in front of a watching Stuart Lancaster. For the Chiefs Henry Slade was the stand out individual, Henry is maturing week on week with the amount of game time he is getting and he makes even the most challenging of situations look effortless. All in all it was a bump in the road for the Chiefs and the most impressive win of Sale’s season to date. Final Score Sale Sharks 18 - Exeter Chiefs 11

At The Stoop Harlequins were made to work extremely hard for their 4 points in a game that the Newcastle Falcons deserved to get much more from. For forty minutes it was all about Dean Richard’s side, they had all of the possession and all of the intent with Alex Tuilagi acting like a one man wrecking ball on the wing and the new half back partnership of Tom Catterick and Mike Blair proving to be effective. However it was their own handling errors that handed the hosts the game for throughout Harlequins looked lateral in attack and struggling to consistently pentane the Falcons’ defence and the gain line. Tim Sweil’s boot delivered the home side with the points that they needed but in 6 days time Harlequins must delivered a hell of a lot more against the Northampton Saints at Twickenham. Final Score Harlequins 15 - Newcastle Falcons 7

Saturday 20th December will long be remembered in the history of the Northampton Saints for triumphing over the Leicester Tigers with 14 men for 60 minutes doesn’t happen all the time does it!? Did Dylan Hartley deserve a red card or would a yellow have been sufficient? That is a question that will be talked about for weeks to come and one that will divide the country however what will be unanimously agree upon is the fact that the card was a catalyst for the Saints to showcase their very best rugby. Northampton’s balance of beautiful attacking flair mixed with bruising defensive intensity was sublime to watch. Luther Burrell, in particular, did everything that was asked of him and more and to a man Mallinder’s side deserved their victory. The Leicester Tigers exploited their numerical advantage for Niki Geneva’s two tries however as Cockers highlighted post game in the second half their defence went a little AWOL. I could continue and provide a blow by blow account but I won’t, instead I’ll say this; in my eyes it was one of the best Aviva Premiership games that we have seen this season. Final Score Northampton Saints 23 - Leicester Tigers 19

At Allianz Park Saracens were ruthless and showed no mercy as they ran in 11 tries against a hurting London Welsh. As the 78-7 scoreline suggests Saracens were dominant in absolutely every single aspect of the game and didn’t take their foot off the gas for a second, from a Welsh perspective it was very difficult to watch. One Saracen in particular should be called out for his input in the end result and that is Owen Farrell, who put in a superb day at the office and ignited his team with his all around game. Fellow England International Mako Vunipola also looked sharp and for Saracens it was a timely match to re-ignite their confidence and belief. For London Welsh the Premiership journey continues to be extremely testing and hurtful. Final Score Saracens 78 - London Welsh 7

The second Derby of the day was at Kingsholm where Gloucester Rugby hosted Bath Rugby. The last meeting between these two was the famous 5 card debacle and thankfully this match had a little more structure to it! Bath put in a master class of how to defend, they were resolute and at many times in the game absolutely impenetrable. George Ford’s contributions were notable and stunning slotting five penalties in the first half and 3 conversions and a penalty in the second half. The Gloucester pack had a tough day at the office conceding more penalties than Director of Rugby David Humphrey’s and indeed fans would like and their penetration in attack needs to be reviewed. These are both areas the Cherry and Whites are capable of changing and they'll want to do so before Wasps arrive in town next week; Bath will march confidently on to host Exeter next weekend. Final Score Gloucester Rugby 19 - Bath Rugby 39

In the final match of the weekend Wasps welcomed London Irish to their brand new home; The Ricoh Arena. In front of 28,254 people, Wasps hosted the perfect house warming for their fans as a phenomenal second half performance delivered a bonus point, 48-16, win. It was the stuff that dreams are made of for fly half Andy Goode as he had one of his best day’s at the office ever, providing 33 of Wasps’ 48 points. At first it looked like Irish were going to spoil the party, Blair Cowen was exerting his dominance across the park and for forty minutes Wasps looked nervous with the ball in hand. However Dai Young’s men considerably upped their game in the second thanks to the feet of Christian Wade who showcased great form and the efforts in particular of Elliot Daly and Joe Simpson. It was a historic afternoon for the players and indeed all of the individuals at Wasps that have worked tirelessly for months to secure its future, they couldn’t have asked for anything more than starting life in the Midlands with a bonus point victory. Final Score Wasps 43 London Irish 16