Tigers seize fourth spot, whilst Bath drop out
After what has been yet another tumultuous week in the season of Leicester Tigers, Aaron Mauger received the perfect send-off, winning a thrilling East-Midlands derby to propel his side back into the playoffs. Whatever your opinion on the matter of Leicester’s head-coach situation, it is difficult not to feel sorry for the affable man who won their first silverware in years (albeit minor) and has built up a steady head of steam going into the closing stages of the season.
It was also increasingly prominent as they effectively ended their great rival’s chance of making the top four in a highly entertaining game, which showed an abundance of the grit and determination associated with Tigers, and incorporated some flair play to boot. Northampton now look to not only have an uphill task for playoffs, but may be struggling to qualify for Europe. In the game, both sides showed some fantastic attacking structures, with Saints particularly putting in their most dangerously potent performance of the season. They had scored three tries to Tigers’ one at the break, with Louis Picamoles running riot creating and scoring. Only Freddie Burns’ boot had kept Tigers in touching distance, but after the break they took some control through a Ben Youngs try and the kicking of Owen Williams. Five points down, Leicester then had a man sent to the bin and looked to have thrown the game away. Bizarrely, they scored a stunner of a try in that time and came out with a lead they never relinquished, with Williams kicking a couple of penalties to seal a 36-31 victory in Franklin’s Gardens.
The result left Bath needing to beat Saracens at Allianz Park to retake their spot in the playoffs. With Leicester-bound George Ford squaring up against England team-mate Owen Farrell, it promised to be a tense encounter. It wasn’t. Bath were never really at the races. Saracens came out of the blocks with intent and scored two early tries through Jamie George and a sublime Alex Goode score. Bath rallied somewhat, with Ford kicking a penalty and Anthony Watson gliding over, but allowed Sarries to extend their lead with a Sean Maitland try before the break. Afterwards, just when they should have been putting up a fight, Bath went to pot. They shipped a further five tries and lost 53-10. The Londoners have all but secured a playoff spot, and now just need to carry on winning to climb back into the top two. Next up for Bath? Tigers at Twickenham……….,,
Quins rout Falcons, Wade breaks Warriors
Harelquins moved Ito the European qualification spots with a resounding 53-17 win over Newcastle. It also seems to have dented the Northerners’ own hopes of making it. The Londoners bounced back after conceding an early try, replying with three of their own. On the resumption, they continued where they had left off, motoring forward and scoring from everywhere. Their home form may have saved their blushes this season, but with home form like this, they are fully deserving of their standing.
What was expected to be the most one sided match this weekend turned into an absolute stonker. Worcester Warriors went to the Ricoh with ideas very different to being rolled over. The first half witnessed both sides going hammer and tong, going in level with three tries apiece. It seemed Bryce Heem’s red card early in the second period would be the nail in the coffin for Worcester, and Wasps did pull away, but they never let up and another couple of tries meant they got a double bonus point in their 40-33 loss.
Bristol staring down the barrel, Exeter resist Sale
Nine points adrift, four games to go, and three barely look winnable. Things do not seem good for Bristol. They essentially put their own nail in the coffin as they failed to give Gloucester a game, just when they should have been targeting a confidence boosting win. The cherry and whites scored four tries to the hosts’ one in a disappointing 32-14 loss.
Exeter made tough work of Sale Sharks, but ultimately got the maximum five points from the game. Denny Solomona scored yet another try, with Sharks leading 19-12 at the break and extended it to 25-12 soon after, but Chiefs’ winning mentality came to the fore as they grabbed another couple of tries and eighteen unanswered points to win 30-25.
Ospreys slip, Glasgow stars give timely boost
Ospreys should have finished this weekend in second place, beating Treviso with a bonus point. They rested their front-line players and failed dramatically. The win also means Treviso have Dragons and Edinburgh in their sights as they aim to fight their way out of the bottom two. Treviso’s defence was solid and forced the Welsh into a number of mistakes throughout the game. Alberto Sgarbi gave the Italians the lead with a converted try, with Keelan Giles going over for an unconverted on just before the break. A couple of penalties after secured the victory,13-5. Not the prettiest game, but certainly a meaningful one.
Glasgow’s punishment of a slide down the table, simply for producing international quality players, came to a halt now that the Six Nations has finished. They were incredibly lucky to only be 15-13 down at the break to Connacht, having had 17% possession, but conversion of opportunity to points is something they excel at. They added three more tries to their first half one, including a Sean Lamont one, to stay within ten points of Ulster in fourth after the 35-24 win.
Leaders Leinster nearly stumbled against Cardiff Blues. The Welsh scored three converted tries as they were just edged 22-21. The other Italians in the competition were somewhat less fortunate, coming up against an inspired Munster, who put seven past them on their way to a comfortable 50-14 win. Scarlets and Ulster both recorded victories, with the latter beating Newport 27-17 and the former Edinburgh 26-10.
La Rochelle continue their charge
The surprise of the French season, La Rochelle, extended their advantage at the top. They won away to Pau 23-13, which, combined with Racing’s defeat of Clermont, puts them odds-on to finish top. Auvergne will be incredibly disappointed to have allowed that to happen, as they slipped 27-24 to last year’s champions, albeit in Paris. Grenoble caused a big upset as they sneaked past Castres 21-20. Lyon destroyed Bayonne 52-7 and Bordeaux saw off Toulouse in the South-West derby 20-11. Sunday’s games saw wins for Brive 28-25 over Montpellier and struggling Stade 17-11 at home to Toulon.
Highlanders and Waratahs claim rare wins
It hasn’t been the easiest start to the Super Rugby season for recent champions Highlanders and Waratahs. The weekend did provide some welcome respite, with both picking up vital victories. The New Zealanders came away from Canberra with an 18-13 win over the Brumbies. Meanwhile, New South Wales won an Australian derby 32-25 over Rebels. Los Jaguares continued to win, this time against Reds 22-8. Crusaders also maintained dominance with an easy 45-17 result over Force. Sunwolves fought hard, but missed out yet again as they lost 44-31 to Stormers, whilst fellow South Africans Bulls lost 38-14 to Blues. Lions beat Kings 42-19 and Sharks were 38-30 victors over Cheetahs.
Hero of the week
Maybe it is sentiment talking (as a Leicester fan), but I am going for Aaron Mauger. He has shown immense dignity this week and prepared his team exceptionally well to win an East Midlands derby whilst knowing he was out of a job at the end of the week. All this after having won a trophy and set the team up for yet another a tilt at the title in two and a half months.
Villain of the week
It could have gone to Bryce Heem for a red card that could have derailed a brilliant Worcester performance. But Worcester weren’t derailed in the slightest. So, given that they rested so many first choice players and lost to Treviso, it has to be the Ospreys. They should be winning against that opposition comfortably, yet they’ve slipped up in their fight for a home playoff.
Try of the week
The Premiership was absolutely bursting at the seams with quality scores this week. Lachlan McCaffrey’s beauty for Tigers was a contender, as was Cristian Wade’s stunner for Wasps. However, for a cracking team effort and making the right decisions at the right times, whilst showing incisive running and clinical passing, it has to be Alex Goode’s for Saracens.
Discussion points
– Were Tigers right to let Mauger go at this stage in the season?
– How have Bath let it slide so dramatically?
– Will Ulster hold on for fourth?
– When the season is rearranged, what will work best for the leagues? The stop start nature can’t be good.
– Who are the most improved Super Rugby team this year?
By Joe Large
Bath competed well for most of the first half, but the strength of Saracens bench was too much.
Silly mistakes gifted Saracens penalties, which in turn handed them good field position. They capitalised on these chances whereas Bath did not.
Bath win a penalty from a scrum on Sarries 5m and we chose to…go for the posts. The one area our pack could compete and we took a shot at goal…which we then missed. Add to that a (dubious) obstruction on the ensuing 22 drop out and another penalty and Sarries go in at half time with a lead instead of being behind.
I felt there was far too much kicking off 2nd or 3rd phase ball, kicks which were too inaccurate, gifting Sarries the ball back.
It will be tough to make the playoffs from here for Bath.
After the first half I thought the second would be tighter. There did seem to be some confusion and miscommunication between the Bath backs at times. Ford seemed to be trying to do too much by himself but then found himself isolated.
The (dubious?) obstruction was caused by Charteris trying to block the Saracens chasers and as a result being pushed into the catching player (Roko I think) as he started running with the ball.
I think you’re right about the Sarries bench though. Much like the England finishers the Sarries bench made a big impact. Brits, Conlon, Duncan Taylor and Lozowski all played particularly well off the bench.
I think the gameplan was to try and make Saracens play out of their own half, but with the windy conditions too many kicks were going out on the full or too deep.
I would call it dubious because the contact with Charteris did not prevent any Sarries player from tackling Roko (none were with a metre). Was Charteris shoved in the back, causing the contact with Roko? I would also say that Charteris is entitled to run back to the ball if he doesn’t divert course to block and chaser – ironically something Saracens do particularly well themselves ;).
Baths starting backline was better (imo) but that alone cannot be enough to win, especially against Sarries.
I think the fact that Charteris was close enough to be gently pushed into Roko was enough. I think it was the fact that as Roko started to run he ran straight into Charteris.
I think all teams are very clever about shielding players on restarts. If you get too close though there is always a danger of this happening.
Not sure the Bath starting backline was better man for man? Each players has their own pros and cons but Maitland is definitely better than Banahan. Also the starting backline are only as good as the ball they’re getting from the pack. Aside from Louw I think the Sarries pack had the upper hand.
After re-reading my comments I think I may have come across wrong. I didn’t mean to imply that Saracens always tracked back illegally, merely that they are very good at following the kick back, usually within the law.
I would still argue the players in Baths backline are better (again imo), but I also said that this can not be enough for Bath, partly referring to the need for good ball for said backline to be effective. When looking at the team sheets my first thought was “Damn, Sarries pack is strong”, followed by “Im liking Bath’s backline” (As forwards are listed first on the app I use). I didn’t mean to imply that a backline should be enough to win a game (being a back myself this is contrary to what I sometimes think).
I also felt Bath had the better set of backs man for man, but they can’t match Sarries for game management and execution.
Bosch always stands out for me as a guy that doesn’t match the rest of that team’s quality. I must be missing something.
Bath are tricky to evaluate given the steady rise, sudden fall of last year and improvement again this. Oddly, I think the final divorce from the Ford family and return of Freddy Burns could focus their direction next year, as good as George is. A full season of Faletau won’t hurt either, and I’m keen to see what Freuan can (eventually) do.
Bosch is a bit of an enigma. He always seems to have more time on the ball than he should get, and can sometimes provide the killer pass to finish off a move. He is great in defence though!
But I often feel that he is the weak link in attack. He doesn’t offer the same aggression with ball in hand that Taylor or Tomkins give us. Personally I would rather we played Tomkins more often as I think he is a great player with England caps ahead of him if he got the chance. Tomkins at 12 with Marchant at 13 would be great to see for England.
I definitely think that Bosch paired with Barritt is a bit blunt.
Is Tomkins more of a 12 or 13? I’ve always seen him play 12 and he’s looked really good there, I wonder if he’ll get much of a chance a Sarries though with Barritt so well regarded.
It makes two weeks time against Tigers pretty much a must win! Run ins after that are against pretty similar opposition so it is quite likley that will decide the final play-off spot I feel.
I agree and would say that has been much of Bath’s problem for most of the season, not making the correct decision and/or finishing off chances at crucial times. In response to Joe’s discussion points rather than directly in response to you Jake, I would say that it isn’t so much that Bath are letting it slide dramatically rather that they have been riding their luck quite a bit for much of the season and not so sure if the play-offs is quite a fair reflection of the current potential/achievement. Somewhat being found out as it were in the business end of the season…
Ospreys must qualify for the mugs of the year award.
Any of the naysayers see Brown’s performance for quins? Clearly asked to play in a different manner to how he plays for England – line breaks, defenders beaten, great assists and scoring.
Sure Newcastle weren’t all that but you can only beat what’s in front of you
I did see that Pablito, I just hope that Eddie was taking notes!! I bumped into Eddie at the Sarries game, but I didn’t see Brown’s performance until I watched highlights on Sunday night, otherwise I would have had a word!! Lol
He did have a very good game, and I think he’s a very good player. I’m probably not going to change my mind that I think Daly and Watson could offer more from back there but he’ll always be a safe option.