Falcons and Tigers secure comeback wins at the death
The loss to Saracens last weekend could have initiated a downturn in results for Newcastle, but they showed such impressive mettle in the manner of their victory against Bath that we can now start looking at them as serious contenders. A slow start by the hosts in the West Country allowed Newcastle to build a 19-0 lead within the opening quarter. However, 32 points without response – including tries for Matt Banahan, Semesa Rokoduguni, Charlie Ewels and Jonathan Joseph – seemed to have put the game out of reach of the Falcons. With the clock dying down, Chris Harris went over for a converted score, then Joel Hodgson added the extras to Mark Wilson’s for a famous 33-32 victory.
It wasn’t the only match with last-minute entertainment just before 5pm on Saturday. Harlequins were trying to back up their memorable defeat of Wasps last week, but were undone by George Ford’s boot. Leicester came from behind twice in the second half to battle to a 31-28 win in a hugely entertaining fixture. The effervescent Telusa Veainu got the only try of the first period, with Tigers leading 11-9. Two successive Harlequins tries allowed them to take the lead, before Tigers smashed back with two of their own. Alofa Alofa regained the lead for the Londoners, but Ford was nerveless as he levelled and then won it from the tee.
There was almost another late revival at Kingsholm, as Gloucester allowed Worcester back into their fixture far too easily. They had built a seemingly unassailable 24-6 lead, but just about held on as the Warriors took it to 24-19. Wasps were not at the races in their first fixture against Exeter since last season’s final. Chiefs took the game by the scruff of the neck from the off and were dominant in a 31-17 victory, which puts them top. There were also big wins for Saracens over Sale, 41-13, and Saints over London Irish, 40-25.
Glasgow stop their Munster struggles
Four times Glasgow met Munster last season. Four losses they suffered. How they put those demons to bed. Finn Russell orchestrated the victory with a perfect kicking display, whilst his team were ruthless when they got their tails up. A brutally physical start gave way when Leonardo Sarto and Lee Jones went over to help the Scots to a 20-5 half-time lead. Nick Grigg and Scott Cummings extended that lead, giving Glasgow a 37-10 win and a cushion at the top of Pool A in the Pro14.
A red card to Michele Rizzo undermined Edinburgh’s efforts in their trip to Scarlets. The Welsh side had built a solid 14-3 lead after tries from Rhys Patchell and Gareth Davies, before Edinburgh hit back with one from Jason Harries. The Italian then shoulder charged the head of Davies and the game was suddenly well out of reach as the Welsh cruised to a 28-8 bonus-point win.
Ulster, meanwhile, ran riot against the Dragons. The Northern Irishmen maintained their winning start as they scored eight tries in a 52-25 demolition job. Two tries from the brilliantly named Willis Halaholo gave Cardiff Blues their first victory of the season away in Connacht; they edged it 17-15.
The Italian sides continued their steady improvements, with Zebre putting in an eye-catching 43-17 win against Southern Kings in South Africa, whilst Treviso heaped misery on Ospreys with their own impressive 16-6 victory. Cheetahs secured back-to-back victories, in-so-doing they ended Leinster’s winning start 38-19.
Abendanon helps Clermont to tense victory
Nick Abendanon’s try aided Clermont in a vital 23-21 victory against fellow big-guns Racing 92. Montpellier were handed their first defeat of the season in brutal fashion by Bordeaux 47-17, which allowed La Rochelle to bridge the gap as they beat Oyonnax 57-12. Pau and Toulouse were victors in tight away encounters against Agen (20-14) and Brive (22-19) respectively. In Sunday’s games, Lyon beat a struggling Castres 31-12 and Toulon kept Stade in trouble with a 19-15 win.
Hero of the week
A fair few options, owing to the amount of late drama. So, I shall give it to the late winners across the board: George Ford, Willis Halaholo and Mark Wilson.
Villain of the week
Michele Rizzo’s reckless shoulder charge into Gareth Davies’ head makes him a hands-down claimant of the award this week. As a side note, do those of you who play/follow amateur rugby feel that dangerous tackles are being refereed as stringently when the cameras aren’t on? Based on a game I was involved in at the weekend, I am entirely unconvinced.
Try of the week
When they get going, Glasgow are one of the best sides to watch in Europe. The try from Lee Jones for them at the weekend showed exactly why: pace, composure, and a willingness to go from anywhere.
Discussion points
– Where has the intensity gone from Wasps?
– Which players have made a case for international inclusion in the opening weeks?
– What will success look like for the Italian teams in the Pro14 this season?
by Joe Large
Where has Wasps’ intensity gone? Into the injury room for now, especially in the forwards. Against Exeter they looked tired and sluggish in the backs, so maybe the Quins game took too much out of them? Both Exeter and Wasps had key players out, so clearly Exeter have much better depth of like for like players, and better coaching of the same ethos and methodology than Wasps have. Exeter showed what a quality outfit they are, under Rob Baxter. Hard to see them not retaining the crown this year.
“do those of you who play/follow amateur rugby feel that dangerous tackles are being refereed as stringently when the cameras aren’t on?”
Until about a year ago, I don’t think I’d ever been penalised for high tackles. In the past year I’m afraid I’ve given away three high-tackle penalties, and earned my first ever yellow card.
Clearly I’m a slower learner than I had thought I was!
Tut tut, naughty naughty. I have to agree though; this year there has been more emphasis on high tackles, with nearly all contact with the head being penalised with at least a penalty.
Wasps intensity hindered by the best team in the league? I think its more a reflection of who they are up against personally. Whilst Wasps seem more reliant on their star-studded backline, Exeter can depend on their clinical execution of the basics. The first 10/15 minutes highlighted this where Exeter kept possession and went through 30+ phases. It doesn’t matter who you have in your backline because you wont have the ball to utilise them.
Add to that Exeter’s defensive line speed, which saw Wasps stopped behind the gain-line phase after phase.
I am still trying to figure out the England training camp squad, what has the selection been based on. I don’t think many of the backs have had good starts to the season, with the exception of May. I cant imagine Woodburn is in contention but he has been playing well, along with Collins. Would like to see more from Daly, who has been pretty quiet imo.
I think one thing we have to consider with some of these players is that some of them have barely had any break at all. Guys like Watson, Daly and Nowell all toured with the Lions, so are not as likely to be performing at their normal high level?
I guess every coach runs a ‘credit in the bank’-type policy. A lot of selections appear to be based on just that, and not current form. Woodburn has been one of the most consistently competent wingers over the last season and the start of the current one. By that I mean he’s defensively and positionally astute as well as a potent finisher. Would love to see him given a go over May.
I think Try of the Week was in the Glasgow V Munster game, but I would’ve picked Cummings’ try, as it was set up by Leonardo Sarto brilliantly! Injured for most of the game, he carried on, and made an incredible run dodging about five tackles before giving it to Cummings to finish it off.
Jake, current form is only part of the criteria I would say.
Several of the players (Nowell, Daly, Brown?) may not have had great starts, but they do have (cliché alert!) credit in the bank.
Woodburn and Roko have clearly had fine start sto the season, but have any of the incumbents been so short of form that they should be dropped?
Even yarde seems to have found some form. Slade too I think.
Despite the cliché ;) I do agree with you. Past experience/reputation should count for something, though sometimes i think it is held in too high a regard.
But players like JJ, Kruis and Sinkler have also been left out, which I think is more confusing. Though as previously mentioned by others this could be due to fatigue/warning from EJ.
Yes, I guess that Jones sees stuff that is not altogether apparent to us mere mortals (or me, at least).
I can guess that Kruis seemed to lack the power and intensity of some others on the Lions tour. Sinckler, quite clearly could control himself a little better, both on tour and this season.
Joseph though, in my opinion, can feel a little hard done by. Against popular opinion, I thought he did ok on the Lions tour.
I have only seen highlights of the Exeter Wasps, but it looked as though key players and basics were the main difference. Players like Launchbury and Haskell should be leading the team on the pitch, but I didn’t see either of them rise to that task?
I did see the Sarries vs Sale game though and, as a lot of us suspected, Solomona is pretty woeful in defence. When Williams scored all he could do was stand still and put his hands up in the air looking bewildered. Shouldn’t be anywhere near an England squad until he can sort out his positioning in defence.
Itoje was in fine form as was Farrell and Spencer.
Real shame about Billy and I see that Eddie has called up Jack Clifford to cover. I was hoping we might see Sam Simmonds get called up as he is in great form for the Chiefs.
Yep Solomona was a wasted cap on tour to Argentina. he might have scored a wonder try but he cost us two in the other direction. i would much rather have seen Wade.
I think people are getting ahead of themselves with Sam Simmonds he has had a great start to the season but it is only 4 games old. happy for him to get some experience with the setup but too early to be shoehorning him into the starting lineup
The same can be said of Marcus Smith. He’s currently being talked up as The Second Coming of The Messiah – J.Wilkinson.
Agree here.
He is still very young and has plenty of time to grow/develop into a world class player. But the hyperbole surrounding him is a bit much. He shows glimpses of class but still needs to work on different facets of his game. Learning from Evans at Quins and Ford/Farrell at England will no doubt help, but its all too much too soon.
Haskell was quiet although I suspect the Chiefs had identified ways to nullify him pretty well – Launchbury on the other hand was a constant pest, and was definitely one of the better performers and as always leading by example, imo. Wasps were just unable to deal with an Exeter side in ruthless mood to monopolise and throttle – the one breakout try showed that Wasps weren’t lacking for desire, and can still play as we know – it is more to Exeter’s credit that Wasps only got about 2 real chances to get any running going at all!
Would definitely hope Simmonds gets a call-up soon, providing his injury proves minimal; big ups to Hughes for his response after the hit that took Simmonds off, merits a mention in the hero of the week section in my books, exemplary.
Exeter looking good after the rustiness at Gloucester…
Agree with you about Haskell Dazza. He seems ponderous this season, and I wonder if he has ever really got back to his best since his toe injury. Launchbury, on the other hand, was a single tower of resistance in a badly beaten pack, making a huge number of tackles, winning a couple of turnovers and covering every blade of grass. He hardly ever has a bad game, and leads by example. On this occasion, nobody seemed to be following. He would be one of the first names on my sheet for a first choice England team at present. Even as a Quins supporter I don´t understand Clifford being in front of Armand in the back row queue. Simmonds seemed to pick up a nasty bang on the head at the weekend which presumably rules him out, and the Currys are nowhere near ready yet.
Tad hard to criticize a fella Big Joe who made 27! tackles Exe squeeze teams & Pests tight game still not good enough to cope.
Anyway you should be an Exiles fan worrying as we do how we keep our noses in front of Wuss?!
Lewington continues to impress me for Exiles. Seems to consistently be able to make space from nothing and a great eye for the line. In a different team I feel he would have an England cap by now
Also wanted to say i think we are starting to see glimmers of the old George North coming through this season. Perhaps not getting selected for the Lions tests has given him the kick up the bum he needs to start knuckling down on his club form and stop relying on his (patchy) International form to put him at the front of the queue
Wasps’ intensity has gone to hospital.
Player for international inclusion? Don Armand.
Alas, success for the Italian teams in Pro14 will look like the same as last yr, i.e. zip.