Best of the weekend: Saints go marching on, upsets rule in PRO12

Saints and Falcons serve up an exhibition, as Tigers get their revenge over Bath

The New Year got off with a bang in the East Midlands as both Northampton and Leicester came out with hard-fought wins – although fans at Franklin’s Gardens may have been expecting a bit of an easier ride against a Newcastle side that went into the weekend second from bottom in the table. Facing a Saints side riding high following two strong wins, the men from the north were scripted to provide no more than token resistance against the Saints juggernaut – but instead they contributed fully to an entertaining, end-to-end spectacle which was stuffed full of top-quality tries and ended with a deserved try bonus point for both sides, as well as a 39 – 31 win for Saints. Once again, the Saints looked unplayable going forward – but they are still shipping plenty of points, which will annoy Jim Mallinder. Credit to the Falcons’ attack though – last season they couldn’t finish a Sunday Roast, but this year Dean Richards’ side have shown sufficient pace, invention and variety to worry the Premiership’s best.

Up the road in Leicester it was a case of revenge being served (very) cold in a bad-tempered affair as the Tigers avenged their drubbing at the Rec with a 17 – 8 over Bath win at a packed-out Welford Road. Unsurprisingly, expansive and free-flowing rugby was at a premium, but there was plenty of niggle (particularly between the front rows) and some brutal defence from both sides.

There was also the matter of a certain Sam Burgess making his first start in the 13 jersey for Bath but, although he played the full 80 minutes and contributed with some decent carries, he was largely a spectator as the Tigers pack bossed their counterparts for the large swathes of the game. The men from the West Country should have at least returned with a bonus point but George Ford was enduring an off-day from the tee, scuffing a last minute conversion to Ross Batty’s try, but Bath fans will probably be thankful that the Tigers weren’t out of sight by half time, with just a Tom Youngs try to show for their dominance in the opening 40.

Moving slightly West to the midlands’ newest residents, Wasps continued their fine start to life in Coventry as they hammered Sale 41 – 16 at the Ricoh Arena, with Joe Simpson reminding Stuart Lancaster that he still has plenty to offer in the nine shirt, grabbing two top-class scores in a display where, once again, Andy Goode was imperious from fly-half. All this talk about Ford and Cipriani is great, but right now the form 10 in the Premiership is the perennially unsexy Goode.

Another side to impress at the weekend were Gloucester, who picked up a win at Sandy Park against the out-of-sorts Chiefs in a display the Cherry and White fans will hope is a watershed moment in their underperforming season. After a dour first half, the second 40 was the polar opposite and saw the visitors walk away with 26 – 25 win, with Exeter playmaker Gareth Steenson missing a crucial conversion late on. Elsewhere, Saracens also picked up a home win against London Irish but may regret not picking up a full five-point haul, while Quins picked up the obligatory bonus point win against London Welsh – although it was a little closer than they would have liked.

Aviva Premiership Star Man: Stephen Myler

Surprises galore during derby weekend in PRO12

A weekend packed with surprises started with a New Year’s Day celebration in Galway, as Connacht produced a superb second half display to come back from 13 points down to beat Munster 24 – 16. The visitors had taken the lead through a Peter O’Mahony try, as the men in green looked to be suffering a hangover from some sneaky exertions the night before. But Connacht fought back strongly, scoring three tries on their way to securing their first win over Munster since 2008 and only their second in 42 attempts. In the other Irish derby, Leinster cruised to a surprisingly comfortable win over Ulster, with Ian Madigan scoring 19 points in a 24 – 11 victory at the RDS arena.

There was also an impressive scalp taken in Saturday’s Welsh derby between the Scarlets and the Ospreys at Parc y Scarlets as the hosts prevailed 22-10 in a feisty encounter, their first victory over the Swansea outfit in over three years. Liam Williams and John Barclay were the men to see the Scarlets on their way, with the boot of Rhys Priestland – rumoured to be heading over the Severn to Bath – doing the rest of the damage in a fine win over the Pro 12’s leading side. However, things were more predictable in Newport as the Blues overcame the Dragons 11 – 9 in a scrappy game, with a first half score from Cory Allen and an impressive display from Gareth Anscombe proving to be the difference.

There was silverware up for grabs this weekend as well, as Edinburgh claimed the 1872 Trophy with a fine 20 – 8 win over Glasgow at Murrayfield, avenging their 16 – 6 defeat the week before. Tim Visser, somewhat the forgotten man of Scottish rugby, claimed a brace to see the hosts on their way, with a score from Nikola Matawalu keeping Glasgow in touching distance but, with their pack outplayed, there was no way back. The two Italian sides also did battle with Treviso downing Zebre 17 – 15 to move above their rivals in the league standings.

PRO12 Star Man: Dave Denton

Clermont down Toulouse as Toulon and Stade slip

Clermont took advantage of surprising slip ups by Toulon and Stade, who lost to Montpellier and Lyon respectively, to move to the summit of the Top 14. Aurelien Rougerie put in an impressive display once again, crossing for a try just before half time before Wesley Fofana sealed a 19 – 6 win with a score in the 77th minute. Stade were undone 12 – 9 against Lyon, largely due to the fact that their fly half, South African international Morne Steyn, was shown a red card for an apparent kick on Mosese Ratovou, with the Lyon man crossing for both of his side’s tries. Toulon, meanwhile, could blame the ‘Jake White’ factor as his Montpellier side claimed a prized scalp in his first game in charge of the French outfit, overcoming the champions 16 – 12 with Alex Tulou scoring the only try of the game.

Elsewhere, there were comfortable victories for Castres, Grenoble and Brive over La Rochelle, Oyannax and Bayonne respecitively, with Racing Metro squeaking past Bordeaux-Begles 12 – 9 thanks to two late penalties from Maxime Machenaud.

Top 14 Star Man: Julien Bonnaire

Hero of the Week: Fraser Balmain. This might be a bit of an obscure choice, but Dan Cole’s absence led many to write off the Tigers’ chances this weekend, especially given the way Balmain was marched all over the park by Paul James in the Rec fixture. Instead, the young tighthead put in a monumental shift at the coalface to give his side the foundations for the win.

Villain of the Week: I have to confess I haven’t seen the incident, but if it’s as bad as it sounds then Morne Steyn is surely the villain of the week for kicking an opponent when playing against Lyon, costing his side the game in the process as he was given his marching orders after just 30 minutes.

Try of the Week: It has to go Stephen Myler for Saints’ opener against the Falcons. Wonderful stuff from the fly-half and some slick hands and movement from the Pisi brothers and Ben Foden too.

By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images