The talk of the weekend centred around Bath’s bullish and brilliant performance against the Leicester Tigers in front of a record crowd of 12,817 at the Rec.
Wherever you witnessed this 45-0 thrashing, it certainly will go down in history as the first time the Tigers have been nilled in the Premiership. Bath jumped on the treadmill and didn’t get off. Five exquisite tries in total were initiated by Semesa Rokoduguni early on and then Jonathan Joseph and Kyle Eastmond followed suit. Not to mention Olly Woodburn and Peter Stringer, whose tries were set up from Bath’s defensive play, metres from their own try line!
It was like musical chairs for all the supporters, up and down like a yo-yo applauding this phenomenal performance. And how could I not mention George Ford who had an outstanding game and was awarded Man of the Match! Drop Goal George and his teammates are on fire and still unbeaten.
Saracens are the only other team to maintain a 100% success rate. They travelled to the Madejski Stadium to take on London Irish but it wasn’t plain sailing for the North London side. Even though Tim Streather scored in the first minute of the game, London Irish reacted and it was try time for Blair Cowan. That didn’t stop Richard Wigglesworth from a ‘show and go’ try but once again, the Exiles counteracted as Alex Lewington leapt over the line for not one but two tries in the first half and then he confirmed his hat-trick in the opening of the second.
Had the Irish done enough? Sadly not. Within the dying moments of the match a rolling maul lead by none other than Billy Vunipola nudged the Saracens over the line and disbelief was felt by the Mad Stad faithful. The Sarries had clung on and clinched a 32-36 win. As for London Irish…what a ferocious performance. Watch out next week Leicester Tigers!
On Friday night, Exeter knew it wouldn’t be easy travelling to Kingsholm to face a grilling from Gloucester. Gareth Steenson’s kicking was answered by two initial tries from the home side’s Jonny May and Dan Murphy who drove over the line whilst Ian Whitten sat in the sin bin for endangering Charlie Sharples. The visitors responded and it was again the superb boot of Steenson who slotted the penalty perfectly.
Then came devilish drives from the likes of Dave Ewers that concluded with Ben White burrowing over the line. It all looked too familiar for the Cherry and Whites as Matt Kvesic was then yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Thomas Waldrom and Henry Slade landed the three points with ease, but Gloucester reacted and Sione Kalamafoni edged over the white-wash to put the Cherry and Whites within grasp. The Chiefs were penalised for not-releasing and James Hook converted the late penalty, 22-25 but it just wasn’t enough to fend off exuberant Exeter.
Never underestimate the Chiefs.
It’s fair to say the Harlequins had a point to prove this weekend as they took on the testing Wasps at the Stoop. Guy Thompson touched down early doors for the visitors but Chris Robshaw responded with what looked like the softest try I’ve ever seen. Subsequently a penalty try was awarded to the Harlequins and the Stoop erupted.
Had Quins finally found their feet? Well quite possibly after Danny Care’s successful drop goal put them13 points clear. But the Wasps came back fighting with Joe Simpson setting Tom Varndell up for a beautiful try in the corner and then it was Thomas Young who closed the gap, but it just wasn’t enough for the visitors who succumbed to a marginal 26-23 defeat. Well done Wasps and welcome back Quins!
Sale Sharks welcomed London Welsh to the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday and it was trusty Tom Arscott who scored the opening try for the sizzling Sharks. Sale followed form with Vadim Cobilas bagging the second try of the game and the precious boot of Danny Cipriani kicked twelve points alone in the first half.
London Welsh bounced back and Nic Reynolds grounded the ball for the Exiles, but Arscott scored his second and then the game unravelled, with Tom Brady crossing the white-wash to steal the bonus point try on home turf. Accomplished Arscott scored his hat-trick of the afternoon and Luke McLean added the icing on the cake to take the final score to 46-8. With London Welsh conceding 151 points in three games, it’s a tough reality pill to swallow. But it’s onwards and upwards for the Sharks, marking their first victory of the season. Simply sensational.
Northampton made the long journey up to Newcastle on Sunday to face the Falcons. A champion’s first-half performance saw the Saints take a comfortable 3-28 lead into half time with tries from Will Hooley, Alex Waller and Ken Pisi but they looked a little unsettled in the second-half and after 39 minutes Newcastle’s Noah Cato finally strolled over the try line to put the first points of the second-half on the board. Were the Saints a little lack-lustre I wonder? George North did reciprocate though, sealing the bonus point win but the Saints didn’t make life easy for themselves. Yes they came away with a 10-35 win but they’ll have to pull their socks up if they’re looking to beat Bath next week.
Aviva Premiership Round 3 Results:
Gloucester 22-25 Exeter Chiefs
Bath 45-0 Leicester Tigers
London Irish 32-36 Saracens
Harlequins 26-23 London Wasps
Sale Sharks 46-8 London Welsh
Newcaslte Falcons 10-35 Northampton Saints
Aviva Premiership Table | ||||||
Pos | Team | Won | Drawn | Lost | BP | Points |
1 | Bath | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
2 | Saracens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
3 | Northampton Saints | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
4 | Exeter Chiefs | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
5 | Leicester Tigers | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
6 | Harlequins | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
7 | Sale Sharks | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
8 | London Irish | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
9 | London Wasps | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
10 | Gloucester | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
11 | Newcastle Falcons | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
12 | London Welsh | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
By Rhiannon Chandler-Day
You can see more from Rhiannon at: http://rhiannonsrugbyunionblog.blogspot.co.uk
