The second round of the Aviva A League featured some fascinating results.
The A league always seems to produce lots of thrills and tries, but last night’s round seemed particularly unusual, with a couple of very strong wins in a league that is usually fairly tight, despite the tries.
Bath United 3-40 Exeter Braves
One such strong win was that of Exeter Braves over Bath United. Exeter fielded a more experienced side, but the Bath United side was packed with young talent and would have hoped for much more from the game.
Exeter were dominant though, scoring five tries through Ben White, Chrysander Botha, Sam Simmonds, Ollie Atkins and Matt Jess, with fly half Will Hooley and replacement Joe Simmonds scoring the remaining fifteen points between them. A solitary penalty from Millfield leaver Adam Hastings gave Bath their only points, and the lead at the time.
Harlequins A 30-21 Bristol United
Harlequins secured a second win in a row in an exciting game against Bristol United. The hosts led 22-7 at half time thanks to tries from Ross Chisholm, Tim Swiel, and Ben Botica, plus seven points from Swiel’s boot, against a solitary try from Bristol’s George Watkins.
Loughborough University student Victor Keunen then extended the home side’s lead from a driven lineout, before Bristol narrowed the gap to just six points through tries from Max Crumpton and Elias Caven.
It was then left to last year’s NatWest Cup winning Bromsgrove captain, Luke White, to stretch Quins’ lead out beyond a converted try, which he did with a penalty.
Leicester Tigers A 9-7 Sale Jets
A tense and tight game at Welford Road was won in the most dramatic of circumstances by Leicester full back George Worth, who landed a last minute penalty to secure it for Leicester.
They had trailed 7-3 at half time, with a Jacob Umaga penalty to their name, while Sale had scored through winger Charlie Ingall, who capitalised on the good work of his forwards before darting over. Tom Morton converted.
Umaga then added a penalty for Tigers after the half time break, and the game then went into stalemate before that late, dramatic, intervention from Worth.
Newcastle Falcons A 75-22 Worcester Cavaliers
Newcastle Falcons scored a quite brilliant eleven tries as they beat Worcester Cavaliers 75-22, in a game that oddly enough saw Worcester score three tries of their own.
Indeed at half time things looked close, both sides had scored lots of tries, and the score stood at 28-22 in Newcastle’s favour after Ruki Tipuna, Belisario Agulla, Zach Kibirigie, and Dan Temm had secured the bonus point, along with four Craig Willis conversions.
It all went mad in the second half though, Worcester did not score a single point, while Newcastle scored a further seven tries. Agulla, Kibirige, and Temm secured their second tries, while Richard Mayhew collected a second half brace, with Glen Young and Tom Penny also scoring.
The really worrying thing for Worcester though was that with sixty minutes gone, the score was 40-22. They conceded thirty-five points in the last twenty minutes. For Newcastle though, it was a Monday night to savour.
Northampton Wanderers 6-12 Gloucester United
A tough game in tricky conditions at Franklin’s Gardens, saw this game become a real test of strength up front, and a kick battle between the two side’s former England U20 fly halves, Sam Olver for Northampton, and Billy Burns for Gloucester.
Burns gave Gloucester a 6-0 lead at the break through his boot, but in the second half the spoils were even for them, with Olver landing two kicks, and Burns adding another two of his own to give Gloucester the 12-6 win on a dreary night in Northampton.
Saracens Storm 36-5 London Irish A
A League champions Saracens Storm continued their good start to this year’s A league campaign with an excellent 36-5 win over London Irish at Allianz Park.
They secured a 21-5 half time lead with tries through World U20 Champions winning due, Nathan Earle and Hayden Thompson-Stringer, playing at loosehead for the first time, and eleven points from the boot of fly half Baden Kerr. Adam Sinclair scored for London Irish.
Saracens then secured their bonus point in the second half with a second try in two games for the former Millfield star, Tom Whiteley, and a try for replacement prop Ralph Adams-Hale, with Kerr adding a further five points from the tee.
A League Results:
Bath United 3-40 Exeter Braves
Harlequins A 30-21 Bristol United
Leicester Tigers A 9-7 Sale Jets
Newcastle Falcons A 75-22 Worcester Cavaliers
Northampton Wanderers 6-12 Gloucester United
Saracens Storm 36-5 London Irish A
Teams:
Bath United v Exeter Braves
Bath United
15 Rory Jennings, 14 Darren Atkins, 13 Max Clark, 12 Brett Herron, 11 Jeff Williams, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Jonathan Evans, 1 Beno Obano, 2 Dan Frost, 3 David Wilson, 4 Charlie Ewels (c), 5 Marcus Garrett, 6 Levi Douglas, 7 Guy Mercer, 8 Zach Mercer.
Replacements: 16 Luke Stratford, 17 Jack Edmondson, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Pat Jenkinson, 20 James Catlin, 21 Will Homer, 22 Owen Waters, 23 Dom McKenzie.
Exeter Braves
15 Chrysander Botha 14 Michele Campagnaro 13 Max Bodily 12 Josh Jones 11 Byron McGuigan 10 Will Hooley 9 Haydn Thomas 1 Carl Rimmer 2 Jack Innard 3 Alex Brown 4 Ollie Atkins 5 Jonny Hill 6 Sam Simmonds 7 Ben White 8 Kai Horstmann (c).
Replacements: 16 Paul Davis 17 Jake Woolmore 18 Brett Sturgess 19 Ed Holmes 20 Jerry Sexton 21 Jack Maunder 22 Joe Simmonds 23 Matt Jess.
Harlequins A v Bristol United
Harlequins A
1 Owen Evans, 2 Seb Adeniran-Olule (Academy), 3 Will Collier, 4 George Merrick, 5 Kieran Treadwell (Academy), 6 Stan South (Academy), 7 Victor Keunen, 8 Archie White (Academy), 9 Tito Tebaldi, 10 Ben Botica, 11 Ross Chisholm, 12 Winston Stanley, 13 Matt Hopper (c), 14 Henry Cheeseman (Academy), 15 Tim Swiel.
Replacements: 16 Theo Buffini, 17 Mofe Wilkey (Academy), 18 Matt Shields, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Dino Lamb-Cona, 21 Calum Waters (Academy), 22 Luke White (Academy), 23 Sam Aspland-Robinson (Academy).
Bristol United
15 Auguy Slowik; 14 Ryan Edwards, 13 George Watkins, 12 Tommaso Benvenuti, 11 Charlie Amesbury; 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Ross McMillan (c), 3 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 4 John Hawkins, 5 Max Cresswell, 6 Josh Ovens, 7 Max Crumpton, 8 Jack Davies (Bath Uni).
Replacements: 16 Ben Gompels (Clifton RFC), 17 Jordan Brodley (Clifton RFC), 18 Louis Wolf (Clifton RFC), 19 John Humphrys (Cardiff Met Uni), 20 Rich Stephens (Old Reds), 21 Darren Hudson, 22 Elias Caven.
Leicester Tigers A v Sale Jets
Leicester Tigers A
15 George Worth, 14 Sam Yawayawa, 13 Jack Roberts, 12 Oli Bryant, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Jono Kitto (c), 1 Riccardo Brugnara, 2 Harry Thacker, 3 Tiziano Pasquali, 4 Joe Maksymiw, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 6 Will Owen, 7 Will Evans, 8 Laurence Pearce.
Replacements: 16 Jake Farnworth, 17 Aniseko Sio, 18 Dan Hogan, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Fred Tuilagi, 21 George Tresidder, 22 Matt Riddington, 23 Lewis Winterbottom.
Sale Jets
15. Tim Jeffers, 14. John O’Donnell, 13. Phil Mackenzie, 12. Mark Jennings, 11. Tom Brady, 10. Tom Morton, 9. James Mitchell, 1. James Flynn, 2. Cameron Neild, 3. Ciaran Parker, 4. George Nott, 5. Matt Postlethwaite, 6. Andy Hughes (c), 7. Liam Parfitt, 8. Matt Rogerson,
Replacements: 16. Jake Pope, 17. Neil Briggs, 18. Shaun Strudwick, 19. Tom Sanders, 20. Brendan Barry, 21. Conor Dever, 22. Connor Wilkinson, 23. Charlie Ingall.
Newcastle Falcons A v Worcester Cavaliers
Newcastle Falcons A
15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Belisario Agulla, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Anitelea Tuilagi, 11 Zach Kibirige, 10 Craig Willis, 9 Ruki Tipuna, 1 Alex Rogers, 2 Scott Lawson, 3 Taione Vea, 4 Glen Young, 5 Sebastian Ferreira, 6 Richard Mayhew, 7 Daniel Temm, 8 Todd Clever (c).
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Paddy Ryan, 19, Joe Craggs, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Dan Marshall.
Worcester Cavaliers
15 Perry Humphreys, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Max Stelling, 12 Ravai Fatiaki, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 JB Bruzulier (c), 1 Ryan Bower, 2 Jack Singleton, 3 Gareth Milasinovich, 4 Andrew Kitchener, 5 Darren O’Shea, 6 Mat Gilbert , 7 Sam Ripper-Smith, 8 Huw Taylor.
Replacements: 16 Ben Sowrey, 17 Derrick Appiah, 18 Joe Sproston (Doncaster Knights), 19 James Page, 20 Charlie Hewitt, 21 Justin Clegg, 22 Will Butler (Hereford Cathedral School), 23 Ollie Allsopp (Malvern College).
Northampton Wanderers v Gloucester United
Northampton Wanderers
15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Jamie Elliott, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Sam Olver, 9 Tom Kessell, 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, 2 Matti Williams, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Jordan Onojaife, 5 Alex Woolford (c), 6 Reece Marshall, 7 Will Allman, 8 Sion Bennett.
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Ricky Stout, 18 Adam Parkins, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Tim Cardall, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Luke Eves, 23 Howard Packman.
Gloucester United
15 Steve McColl, 14 David Halaifonua, 13 Henry Trinder (c), 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Callum Braley, 1 Dan Murphy, 2 Tom Lindsay, 3 Nicky Thomas, 4 Joe Latta, 5 Tom Hicks, 6 Elliott Stooke, 7 Dan Thomas, 8 Lewis Ludlow.
Replacements: 16 Jack Spencer, 17 James Gibbons, 18 Josh McNulty, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Joe Mullis, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mat Protheroe, 23 Ollie Thorley.
Saracens Storm v London Irish A
Saracens Storm
15 Catalin Fercu; 14 Matt Gallagher, 13 Tim Streather, 12 Nils Mordt (c), 11 Nathan Earle; 10 Baden Kerr, 9 Henry Taylor; 1 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 2 Jared Saunders, 3 Titi Lamositele, 4 Jack Tredrea, 5 Nick Isiekwe; 6 Jack Nay, 7 Jacques Burger, 8 Anthony Maka.
Replacements: 16 Tyrone Moran, 17 Ralph Adams-Hale, 18 Biyi Alo, 19 Danny Cutmore, 20 Kennett Sharples, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Dominic Morris, 23 Max Malins.
London Irish A
15. Andrew Fenby; 14. Matt Williams; 13. Dom Waldouck; 12. Ross Neal; 11. Joe Cokanasiga; 10. Christian Lewis-Pratt; 9. Connor Murphy; 1. Johnny Harris; 2. Jimmy Stevens; 3. Geoff Cross; 4. Adam Sinclair; 5. Stephen Gardiner; 6. Luke Frost; 7. Conor Gilsenan; 8. Sentiki Nayoko.
Replacements: 16. Curtis Langdon; 17. Thomas Gregory; 18. Joe Tarrant; 19. Gavin Bilton; 20. Jarod Leat; 21. Connor Hayhow; 22. Tom Parton; 23. Rory Brand.
