You put a Welsh man in, take Welsh men out…it’s the Premiership hokey-kokey, writes Felix McCabe
This week we wave good bye to the gallant London Welsh at HarpinOnRugby2. After suffering their 10th successive defeat, the Oxford side have succumbed to relegation. Welsh suffered an early injury to Seb Jewell, this left the centre channel significantly weaker and Northampton smelt blood. May & Burrell registered a brace of tries each which was too much for the home side, despite a great try from Nick Scott. London Welsh are in further trouble with the announcement of the withdrawal of their majority shareholder and biggest financial backer. Kelvin Bryon, has decided enough is enough and will leave the club in the coming weeks. ‘I've had enough of the RFU’, Bryon proclaimed. He vocally stated that ‘If [Welsh] had £3.5m like everyone else [they]'d be flying’. The Tyson Keats decision hasn't helped the club either; the final nail in the relegation coffin.
On the other hand, Northampton announced they signed Welsh international, George North, for next season. The 21 year old winger, who leaves Llanelli Scarlets for Franklin's Gardens is ‘delighted to have made the decision’ and can now ‘just focus on the rugby’. North's move has been critically received in his homeland with local press claiming Scarlets put him on a plate for the highest bid. A lucrative offer is thought to have been received by the club from France, but North is happy with the Saints move. His aim is to ‘help them push on and win some silverware’.
Saracens extended their win and booked their home semi-final place this weekend. A convincing performance against Worcester produced 6 tries for the home side, that's 16 tries at home since switching to Allianz Park. The first 3 tries came from English international, David Strettle, who now holds the record for the fastest hat-trick (3 tries in 22 minutes). Scottish flank, Kelly Brown was instrumental in the set-up of Strettle's 3rd try and firmly raised his hand for Warren Gatland. Gatland is expected to announce his Lions team in the next week or so. Jacques Burger also made an appearance after 18 months on the sidelines with a knee injury as Saracens finished out the game 47-17 in a standard enough affair.
Leicester Tigers roared into their play-off place beating a dejected Wasps side 35-16. The London outfit looked a shadow of the team that played Leinster in the Amlin quarter-final the week previous. They now drop to 8th in the table with a play-off place very unlikely. Elsewhere, Sale all but secured their place in the Premiership for next season. A fantastic performance at the Salford City Stadium against a tough Gloucester side, coupled with London Welsh's misfortune, should now be enough to keep them up. Gloucester meanwhile are stuck in a 5th place rut, unable to break into the play-off spots. Director of Rugby, Nigel Davies, has admitted that ‘we're relying on other results around us but we will just have to wait and see’. Steve Diamond of Sale is delighted with his team perseverance over the past few weeks stating that ‘keeping the team in the Premiership is a great achievement and the players take a lot of credit’. Sale move ahead of London Irish—to 10th place—who lost to the Exeter Chiefs (27-6) as well this weekend.
Finally, we can report that Harlequins are back to winning ways. It took a trade mark, Danny Care try and a Ugo Moyne follow up, but they did it. 23 points to 9, helped majorly by Ben Botica's superb boot in what Conor O'Shea described as a ‘big mental test’ for the team. The LV=Cup champions know they have a bit of work ahead of them to guarantee a play-off place, but you'd always imagine them making it with the last spot being contested between Gloucester and Saints, maybe the Chiefs if everything goes well for them.
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.
