Premiership–Round 19

It has been a bad few Premiership weeks for Quins & London Welsh to say the least, writes Felix McCabe…

Usually when you hear three in a row and Harlequins put together it’s through the lens of an awesome winning streak. However, this week we have to talk about the ever-slipping grasp Quins rugby has on their Premiership trophy. It was supposed to play out so that the champions would regain their top spot on the table, but Gloucester had other ideas. Quins dominated the early exchanges with tries coming from Rob Buchanan and Sam Smith; the former scoring his first try for Harlequins on his first start. But the Cherry & Whites were right back in it when Charlie Sharples broke the gainline from a counter-attack. Good ball retention sent Johnny May over in the corner and Freddie Burns converted to reduce the deficit to two points - it was game on. Penalties were exchanged as the intensity grew and finally Akapusi Qera managed to touch down for the homeside after a powerful Gloucester scrum. Burns added the conversion and saw the homeside clinch it by two. After the game Nigel Davies emphasised that ‘it is an important result in terms of our season and our challenge, not only from the performance and the result, but the springboard it might allow us for our remaining games’. Quins’ boss, Conor ‘Shea, could only say he was ‘devastated’ by the result. Harlequins are now off-form heading into their European clash with Munster, who themselves suffered a heavy 51-24 defeat at the hand of Glasgow at the weekend. We’ll have to wait and see how that one turns out, but I’d predict a Quins victory, at home, next weekend.

The relegation battle between Sale Sharks and London Welsh has developed further after this weekend’s action. Welsh were dealt a bad hand when their appeal failed; seeing the side’s five point reduction and €15,000 fine remain in place. They then had to travel to the Recreational Ground and come away with a victory to improve their survival chances. This would prove to be an impossible task. Winger, Semesa Rokodungi, was in flying form running in a try from fifty metres and doing all the ground work for Horacio Agulla’s try. Bath managed three other tries on a weekend when their New Zealand-born kicker, Stephen Donald, announced he’s to leave the club for Japanese side Mitsubishi Dynaboars. Scrum-half, Alex Davies, was formidable with the boot, but a five to one try margin was too much for the Londoners. Lyn Jones conceded that his side will have ‘to take things down to the wire on May 4^th’.

The Sharks had better fortunes when they met the London Irish at the Madjeski on Sunday. A good start saw them lead at the break by 22 points to 20. A nice piece of egg carrying from Sam Tuitupou and Cameron Shepherd brought the ball into the Exiles’ 22 and Mark Cueto went over for his 77^th Premiership try. James Gaskall crossed for the visitors just after the half and that should have seen Sale see out the game. Typical of Sharks rugby this season – finding it difficult to close out a game – prop, Max Lahiff, burrowed over close to the posts. It went to the TMO and was awarded. Tom Homer converted and added two more penalties to see Irish regain the lead and set up what looked like a steal. Sale somehow managed a last minute penalty from the boot of Nick MacLeod to seal a draw. Cueto was in a state of disbelief after the match, thankful that ‘it just opened up’ for his side. Commenting on the table he said ‘mathematically we’re still not safe’ although with eight points clear of Welsh, it would take a massive performance against the Saints to turn things around. Brian Smith of Irish said it was ‘embarrassing’ to lose their late advantage but admitted that his side got themselves ‘in trouble just before half time’ which cost them dearly.

For a number of years now there has been talk of an Anglo-Welsh Cup that would see a combination of English clubs and the four prominent Welsh teams; Llanelli Scarlets, Newport Gwent Dragons, Ospreys and the Cardiff Blues. One senior Welsh official has been quoted as saying ‘it’d be brilliant if it happened’, but hopes of this potential competition have since been thwarted as Premiership CEO, Mark McCafferty, has labelled the move as ‘pretty unlikely’. This raises further questions regarding the future of English rugby abroad. At the end of next season, the English clubs will be out of contract with the ERC and talks for further involvement in the Heineken and Amlin Cups have been ‘hugely unsuccessful’. McCafferty has had a lot on his plate this weather with allegations of ‘cartel’-style funding within the Premiership from MP, Gareth Thomas. The MP has urged the competition commission to investigate the funding of teams in the Premiership, in which established teams receive almost twice as much funding as newly promoted clubs. It’s early days yet, but the findings of this investigation might change the entire structure of the Premiership in future seasons.

The rest of the weekend’s action saw the London Wasps lose out to Sarries at home by 13-22. That result sees them drop to 7^th as Bath move up to 6^th. The Leicester Tigers managed a comprehensive victory away to Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens (8-36), whilst Worcester were unable to keep the Exeter Chiefs at bay; losing 18-24. Next weekend will see the return of Heineken and Amlin Cup action. It’s quarter-final time and there are six Premiership sides in action. Harlequins (v Munster); Saracens (v Ulster); Leicester Tigers (v Toulon); London Wasps (v Leinster); Gloucester (v Biarritz); and Bath (v Stade Francais). I’ll be back in two weeks when the Premiership continues it countdown to May 25^th.

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