Premiership Review: Round 22
Bath secured a place in Europe's top competition after a win over London Irish
©PA
As the regular season drew to a close, there were only two battles left to compete for in the Aviva Premiership as the race for Champions Cup rugby and the fight for third between Newcastle and Wasps went to the wire.
Bath vs London Irish
In what was Matt Banahan’s final appearance for Bath following 12 years at the club, this game appropriately became the Matt Banahan show. The utility back scored a superb hat-trick for the Somerset side, as well as being the best player on the pitch by a mile.
Banahan’s final game ended with the side securing Champions Cup rugby for next season. London Irish left the Premiership with a whimper, as Bath ran out 63-19 winners.
Cooper Vuna continued his impressive form and Freddie Burns carried on being mercurial from the bench. Greig Tonks was by far Irish’s standout player at fullback. The Scottish international was superior in the closing stages of the match, when Irish scored the majority of their points.
Harlequins vs Exeter Chiefs
John Kingston’s last game for Harlequins was another one to forget for the Stoop’s faithful. Starting quicker than their visitors, Quins were on the scoresheet first when Marcus Smith scored early on. However, it wasn’t too long until Exeter were back on top.
Another young fly-half, Joe Simmonds, also scored a try this game. The brother of Sam Simmonds has impressed in every game that he has played this season, quickly becoming a Premiership favourite. Chiefs eventually tired the Quins players out in sunny London.
This 41-17 result ensured that Exeter finished in pole position for the playoffs which is the first time that they have ever done so in the top flight.
Newcastle Falcons vs Wasps
In front of a sell-out crowd at Kingston Park, Wasps outshone their opponents on their home patch as they ran out 39-22 winners. Danny Cipriani was in full flight before injury forced the fly-half off. A worrying thought for Wasps’ fans ahead of the playoffs.
Josh Matavesi played at 10 for Falcons for the first time this season. In the opening 40, he was at fault for Tom Cruse’s try and wasn’t as effective as a playmaker. When moved back out to inside centre, with Craig Willis’ return from injury, Matavesi looked much more comfortable. He scored a brilliant interception try, before producing an impressive cross-field kick for Zach Kibirige to score a try as the Falcons battled back.
What was most noticeable in this game was the difference in squad strength. Falcons seemed to be giving the players who had recently been injured some game time and the fringe players a chance to impress. Wasps, however, went all guns blazing and may have paid a price with the likes of Cipriani and Tommy Taylor retiring early through injury.
Northampton Saints vs Worcester Warriors
Both sides had nothing to play for as Saints and Warriors met at Franklins Gardens. Saints had a lot of farewells to make as Stephen Myler, Ben Foden and George North all made their final appearances for the club.
Foden was sinbinned just one minute into the game, just before Warriors youngster Will Butler scored a brace of tries. When Foden returned to the pitch, Saints began to get a foothold in the game as they scored a converted try and a penalty before halftime.
Worcester lost Butler to injury before the second half, as well as Francois Hougaard, but continued to put pressure on Saints which resulted in a try for Ben Te’o. The Warriors couldn’t maintain their good form as Foden scored for the Saints who began to pull away from their visitors to win 32-24.
Sale Sharks vs Leicester Tigers
Leicester also secured Champions Cup rugby for next season, travelling away to the AJ Bell where they won comfortably against a lacklustre Sale Sharks side. The first half was relatively uneventful with only Jonah Holmes’ converted try and two AJ MacGinty penalties the highlights of the first 40 minutes.
In the second half, George Ford began to run the show as he scored the first 13 points of the second half. Marland Yarde then scored following very loose Leicester play, but that would be Sale’s only contribution of the second half.
The game ended with a Ford drop-goal, another Holmes try and Logovi’i Mulipola missing a conversion as the Tigers won 35-13. It was a positive way for Leicester to end the season after the disappointment of not making the playoffs.
Saracens vs Gloucester
In what was an exciting day for the rugby neutral, Gloucester fans would have been disappointed to see their side lose 62-12 at Allianz Park. Gloucester opened the scoring early on, but Sarries hit back with a converted score and Coventry-bound David Halaifonua dotted down on his final appearance for Gloucester.
Liam Williams and Owen Farrell also scored tries that put their side ahead at the interval. The second half saw Sarries really put Gloucester to the sword, scoring 40 unanswered points in the second half.
Maro Ijoje, Chris Wyles and Ben Spencer were amongst the try-scorers as Sarries impressed massively ahead of their playoff game against Wasps.
In the playoffs; Newcastle will visit Exeter Chiefs and Saracens will host Wasps.
