Aviva Premiership: Week 9 Review

Sale 23-30 Exeter

Ignacio Mieres bagged a last-minute try as Exeter Chiefs fought back from 20 points down to beat Sale Sharks at Edgeley Park on Friday night.

The hosts came out of the traps quickly and led 13-0 with just nine minutes on the clock; Nick MacLeod hit two early penalties before prop Henry Thomas barged over following good work from full-back Rob Miller.

Sale looked to be in control even further when centre Sam Tuitupou got onto the end of Dwayne Peel's kick through and dotted down. By the time MacLeod had added the extras, the home side were 20-0 in front, with the visitors looking stunned.

Exeter did hit back swiftly and got their first try when a superb pass from Gonzalo Camacho sent flanker Richard Baxter over, Gareth Steenson adding the extras. Sale still looked comfortable at this stage and MacLeod's third penalty of the night sent them to the interval with a 23-7 advantage.

Steenson kicked another penalty for the away side before he was replaced by Mieres, a change which was to prove vital. The Argentine added a penalty of his own before the Chiefs were awarded a penalty try as the Sale defence crumbled on their own line. Mieres converted to bring the score back to 23-20 in favour of the Sharks.

Another Mieres penalty tied the scores but just as the game looked to be heading for a draw, the same man broke through the Sale line to score and give his side a wonderful away win.

 

Worcester 16-7 Bath

Worcester Warriors edged a tight and nervy encounter against Bath at Sixways, giving them their first Aviva Premiership win for nearly two months.

The home side were the first to show and Joe Carlisle's penalty after 10 minutes handed them the lead. That appeared to be the only score of the first half but on the stroke of half-time, Warriors winger Miles Benjamin went over and with Carlisle adding the extras, the hosts had a 10-0 lead at the break.

Carlisle's second penalty increased the lead after the interval before Bath finally got themselves on the scoreboard through a converted try from prop Charlie Beech. The damage had already been done for the visitors and replacement Andy Goode put the finishing touches on the Worcester win, as well as denying Bath a losing bonus point, with a drop-goal five minutes from time.

 

Gloucester 14-19 Leicester

Fortress Kingsholm seems to be crumbling as Gloucester fell to their third successive home defeat, this time at the hands of Leicester Tigers.

Leicester's Toby Flood and Gloucester's Freddie Burns swapped penalties early on before the latter's second successful kick gave the home side a 6-3 lead at the half-time interval.

The pattern continued into the second half as the two fly-halves struck another penalty each within the opening ten minutes. Flood stepped it up a gear though and despite having one try disallowed, he then dived over to score and put the Tigers 11-9 in front.

Gloucester were then gifted a score when Leicester's Ben Youngs threw a high-risk pass out wide and Luke Narraway intercepted before running and scoring in the corner from 40 yards out. Leicester were visibly stung and Alesana Tuilagi then charged down Charlie Sharples' kick and crossed to put the visitors back in front by 16 points to 14.

The Cherry and Whites fought hard to get the score they needed to take the win but were unable to break the Leicester defence. Flood then secured the win for the Tigers two minutes from the end with his third penalty of the afternoon.

 

London Irish 21-17 Wasps

Tom Homer kicked seven successful penalties as London Irish saw off London Wasps in an uninspiring contest at the Madejski Stadium.

The first half was fairly uneventful with both sides struggling to put together any meaningful and dangerous passages of play. Homer kicked three penalties whilst Wasps' Nick Robinson grabbed two of his own meaning that Irish had a 9-6 advantage at the half-time break.

Robinson levelled the scores soon after the restart before Homer added another three penalties to put the home side into a commanding 18-9 lead. The Wasps fly-half replied with his fourth successful kick before Homer added his seventh, putting Irish 21-12 up going into the final few minutes.

The visitors, to their credit, did salvage a losing bonus point when winger Christian Wade went over in the final minute for the first try of the game but Homer's boot had long since taken the game from them.

 

Northampton 30-8 Saracens

Northampton Saints put their Heineken Cup disappointment behind them as they recorded a thumping victory over Saracens at Franklins' Gardens.

The hosts looked like a team who wanted to bounce back and their first try arrived on nine minutes, scrum-half Lee Dickson rounding off a wonderful team move by diving over from five yards out. Saracens replied through an Owen Farrell penalty before Northampton took complete control before half-time.

A penalty and a drop-goal from Ryan Lamb were joined by converted scores from centre George Pisi and flanker Phil Dowson as the Saints romped to the interval leading by 27 points to 3.

The second half was a bit of a non-event as Saracens looked for damage limitation and Northampton struggled to find the bonus point try they wanted. Lamb's second penalty took the score to 30-3 before Ernst Joubert grabbed a late consolation try for the visitors. Northampton climb into fourth place and now sit just eight points behind Sarries.

 

Harlequins 39-8 Newcastle

Harlequins made it nine wins from nine in the Aviva Premiership with a six-try demolition of Newcastle Falcons at the Stoop.

The home side took the lead through a Nick Evans penalty and a converted try from winger Seb Stegmann as they hit the Falcons hard during the opening half-hour of the game. Newcastle put themselves on the board with an unconverted score from full-back Jeremy Manning, before Quins extended the lead to 15-5 with an unconverted try from scrum-half Danny Care.

Newcastle had Chris Pilgrim sent to the sin-bin early in the second half and the hosts took advantage, with Luke Wallace grabbing their third try of the afternoon. Jimmy Gopperth brought the score back to 22-8 with a penalty for the visitors but Quins were rampant, scoring three tries in the final quarter of the match.

Unconverted scores from Mike Brown and James Johnston as well as another converted effort from Stegmann, left Harlequins with a comfortable 39-8 win which puts them nine points clear at the top of the table and leaves Newcastle adrift at the bottom by the same amount.