English Premiership Round 4 wrap-up

Felix McCabe reports on a top-of-the-table clash that didn’t deliver as well as an upset or two…

Kicking things off this weekend, the Sharks welcomed London Welsh to the Salford City Stadium; again looking for their first win of the season. This wouldn’t come though as Welsh were, for the second week, dominant. Flying out of the blocks after a Gordon Ross penalty, Jonathon Mills would cross at close range for Welsh’s first try. Sale were allowed into the game after some indiscipline resulted in a series of penalties; Cipriani flawless with three from three. But on the 21^st minute disaster struck for the home side again as Ed Jackson made it two tries in two games for Welsh and it seemed like they might run away with this one. The second half mirrored the first in many respects; Welsh started strong, Sharks made some un-forced errors and ultimately Welsh won out the half (and the game). But Sale did manage to cross the whitewash on one occasion when winger, Tom Brady, broke through a tackle and touched down. Cipriani’s replacement, Nick Macleod, converting and adding a penalty at full time. A disastrous start to the season continues for Sale and this has been reflected in the management giving forwards coach, Steve Scott, the boot.

Bath and Irish played out an exciting romp on Saturday afternoon at the Madejski stadium. Both teams were up for this contest as The Exiles hoped to jump higher than their bottom of the table slot. But it wouldn’t come easy; Bath taking the lead early with a well worked try that saw Kyle Eastmond ground the ball after some smart play from Nick Abendanon which saw the Irish defence stretched too thin. Irish would respond minutes from the half when newcomer Halani ‘Aulika, with the help of the Irish pack, drove over the line. The second half produced more kicking opportunities for the fantastic Olly Barkley and he did not disappoint; maintaining his 100% kicking record. Perhaps the finest piece of rugby played all weekend came from Tomás O’Leary; proving instrumental in Irish’s second try. A quick one/two with his colleague allowed him to get the ball out wide to Yarde who charged through the midfield and fed Joseph for the try. Barkley & Shingler exchanged penalties for the rest of the afternoon, but it was Irish who would hang on and claim their first victory of the season. This saw Sale relegated to bottom of the table.

A game of twenty minutes at Franklin’s Gardens this weekend. Northampton for twenty and Worcester for twenty. The oppening twenty minutes belonged to the Saints who blind-sided Worcester through the attacking prowess of one Luther Burrell. The strong centre taking names and ticking all the boxes on his way over the line – twice. Stephen Myler converting the two. The Saints would add further tries through Vasily Artmyev, Courtney Lawes and Mike Haywood before taking their foot off the gas. Something Jim Mallinder wasn’t too happy with come full-time. The Warriors gave up chasing shadows when they kicked off their second half resurgence: enter their twenty minutes. Northampton caught napping when Jonny Arr, fresh off the bench, grounded the ball and a minute later Josh Matavesi, also just off the bench, followed suit. The bench would continue scoring tries when winger, Josh Drauniniu, and hooker, Ollie Hayes, scored to secure the bonus point for Worcester. Now that’s what I call impact substitution. It will be interesting to see who starts the next game for the Warriors after that performance.

Gloucester and Wasps played out a standard enough affair on Saturday afternoon; the Cherry & Reds securing their first win of the season. The most notable passage of play in the game came early on through James Simspon-Daniel. His solo efforts saw his breeze through the Wasps defence and touchdown with finesse in the Wasps’ goal area. The other notable feature in the game was the complete lack of the Wasps’ wings. The formidable duo of Christian Wade and Tom Varndell were nowhere to be seen, at least not in the capacity that we have grown accustomed to over the past few weeks. A series of penalties from the boot of Freddie Burns, someone Stuart Lancaster has to be looking at for the English setup, saw out the game and brought Gloucester their first and well-deserved win. Pressure is now on the London Wasps having only one win in their last four contests.

The Premiership finale rematch promised so much but delivered so little this weekend. Saturday’s evening game saw Harlequins meet old-rivals Leicester at Welford Road. The first half showed some Quins indiscipline and some good play from the Tigers; but nothing they could convert into tries. Toby Flood kicked two penalties to answer one from Nick Evans, but of course it was Tom Williams who would produce the goods for Quins on the quarter-mark. He ran in, unopposed, off a shift pass from George Robson; standard enough. Danny Care landed a nice dropgoal but that was it as far as excitement went for this game. It finished 22 points to 9 and Harlequins remain top of the table. The one good thing you can take from this match is Quins’ efforts with regard to open, expansive rugby. Something I expect to see from England in the upcoming Autumn internationals.

Saracens knocked off their perch this week when a red card reduced them to 14 men and saw them lose their first match by a slight margin of two points. That’s right, Exeter overcame Sarries on a day when playing conditons could only be described as...wet. It took a few minutes for both sides to adjust to the slippery ball but once they did, we had a contest. Kelly Brown found himself in the bin and the resulting penalty put The Chiefs in front for the first time in the game; leading 9-6. But the turning factor in the game came when hot-head Chris Ashton was sent off for a shoulder charge on James Phillips. The red seemed a bit harsh, but the RFU have been making a stand against that kind of behaviour, so referee Sean Davey had no choice. With Ashton off, Exeter took advantage of the extra man and Matt Jess sent centre, Naqelevuki over the line for the game’s only try. It finished 14-12 at Sandy Park; Exeter only delighted with the win.

Results

Sale Sharks 19-29 London Welsh

London Irish 29-22 Bath Rugby

Northampton Saints 37-31 Worcester Warriors

Gloucester Rugby 29-22 London Wasps

Leicester Tigers 9-22 Harlequins

Exeter Chiefs 14-12 Saracens

Next Round

Friday, 28 September 2012

Northampton v Wasps, 19:45

Worcester v London Irish, 20:00

Saturday, 29 September 2012

Bath v Sale, 14:15

Leicester v Exeter, 14:15

Sunday, 30 September 2012

Harlequins v Saracens, 14:00

London Welsh v Gloucester, 15:00

Felix (@lightningrust): Blogger, eternal student of business & law, sunshine rugby player with a passion for music and fitness. Coffee is essential. Leinster fan and Irish proud.