There were some interesting scores to say the least in the first round of the Premiership – Felix McCabe has the story…
And we’re back and with a bang this season as our London double-header didn’t fail to impress. London Wasps were hungry; proving they meant business with a Christian Wade try very early on. This was followed a well-worked Varndell try and a brace from Wade, only answered by one try from Quins’ Tom Williams. The score at half time 28-13 and it looked as if Wasps would run away with it. After the break lock, Marco Wentzel, and prop, Tim Payne, added to the Wasps try tally and widening the gap to 27 points. Conor O’Shea’s men needed something magical here. A number of substitutions saw Karl Dickson and Tom Guest introduced to the game and things started to fall in favour of Harlequins. Guest immediately made an impact touching down for Quins; this would then be followed up by a couple of tries for Mike Brown, with Nick Evans adding seven points himself to bring Quins within kicking distance of a victory. This opportunity came with three minutes to go and Evans slotted home the penalty to seal an astonishing comeback on his 100th premiership appearance.
This game also trialled the new TMO jurisdiction rules when a Tom Varndell try was deemed to come as a result of a forward pass earlier in the play and was subsequently disallowed. Quins go on to play London Welsh in Round 2 whilst London Wasps will hope to get their first win when they meet Bath.
My favourites, Sale Sharks, disappointingly were no match for an Exeter Chief’s outfit that crossed the whitewash six times. Winger, Matt Jess scored twice whilst additional tries came from Al Muldowney, Ignacio Mieres, Tom Johnson and Chris Budgen. Sale seemed to suffer on an individual level with too many errors coming from players as opposed to the collective. Danny Cipriani came on in the first half to replace Sam Tuitupou but couldn’t spur his team on as they lost heavily 43-6.
Northampton were lucky to walk away with a victory when they had two players sin-binned in the space of five minutes at the game’s death. During this time, Gloucester were awarded a penalty try which Freddie Burns converted to make it a five point game. The Saints managed to hang onto their lead despite the absence of Gerrit-Jan van Velze and Paul Doran Jones. George Pisi’s early tries as well as one from, captain, Dylan Hartley were enough for the crowd at Franklin’s Gardens to walk away happy. They will need to be less sloppy when they meet the Chiefs next weekend. Gloucester battle the Exiles in the next round where both teams will have to prove that they’re in to win this season.
Bath narrowly edged ahead of Worcester to win 24-23 at Sixways. The boot of Olly Barkley scoring all of his side’s points added to the Englishman’s impressive kicking record. Bath trailed The Warriors for most of the game, even holding a 15-6 lead at the half all from the boot of Andy Goode. A second half try from lock, James Percival put Worcester ahead again in the game but Barkley’s kicking prowess sealed the deal for Bath. Worcester have to take on a tough Leicester Tigers team next weekend.
The final game on Saturday saw Saracen’s demolish London Irish 40 points to 3 in the other London double-header. Chris Ashton: hero and villain on the day. He spent ten minutes in the bin during the first half but came back to score two tries in the second. The game also saw Saracens’ Charlie Hodgson become the first Premiership player to pass 2,000 points. Fellow England player, Brad Barritt and replacement Nils Mordt also scored tries on the day. The Exiles had a try disallowed as a result of the new TMO jurisdiction rules which saw a late tackle and a sin-binning for Samoan Ofisa Treviranus. A Tom Homer penalty the only score for Irish.
There was one game in the Premiership on Sunday as Leicester Tigers took on a Henson-less London Welsh. Two tries from Thomas Waldrom helped the Tigers dominate a game which saw further Tiger tries from Geoff Parling, Julian Salvi and Niki Goneva. Fullback, Tom Arscott and centre, Hudson Tonga’uiha, scored for the home side, but Welsh were chasing shadows. An inability to hang onto the possession cost them the game but nothing can be taken away from a Tigers team who were clinical and took their chances when they came. It finished 38-13 at the Kassam Stadium.
And there you have it; we’re back and with a bang. 32 tries this weekend and exercise of the new rules proved critical. What a weekend of rugby it was – I’m already excited for next weekend!
Results
London Wasps 40-42 Harlequins
Exeter Chiefs 43-6 Sale Sharks
Gloucester Rugby 19-24 Northampton Saints
Worcester Warriors 23-24 Bath Rugby
Saracens 40-3 London Irish
London Welsh 13-38 Leicester Tigers
Next Round
Harlequins v London Welsh
Bath Rugby v London Wasps
Leceister Tigers v Worcester Warriors
London Irish v Gloucester Rugby
Sale Sharks v Saracens
Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs
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.
