Just
when we think it cannot get any more dramatic or emotional we have another Round with an even larger talking point than the last. Following the outstanding scenes at The Rec, 'Why have a shower when you can have a Bath?' was the pertinent question of the weekend and elsewhere the action was pretty tasty too! Here is the full, Out On The Full, Aviva Premiership Round 3 review;
It was another
emotional and frenetic night at Kingsholm; over the course of 80 minutes the
match twisted and turned as momentum swung back and forth
between the home side and the Exeter Chiefs. Gloucester will know
that it was a one that got away whilst Exeter, in spite of some scrappy
moments, will be pleased to have closed such a game out. The home side started
with the bit between their teeth and after taking full advantage of a period
with an extra man found themselves 12-6 ahead. However slowly but surely the
Chiefs felt their way into the match as during the first forty we saw them
relax into their game and start to execute their wonderfully pacy game plan
stretching to a 25-12 point lead. After the break both sides grappled for
dominance, the Cherry and Whites, in spite of their scrum still creaking
slightly looked to be turning the screw. Both sets of fans were extremely
stressed it went down to the wire however for the first and hopefully not the
last time this season Exeter held onto to their lead and finished the job.
Individuals on both sides stood out; Johnny May looked sharper than ever with
his solo try showcasing his talents well and Aleki Lutui made a real impact
during his time on the field. Exeter’s stars came in the form of two men with
killer boots; Gareth Steenson, who thoroughly deserved his MOM for pulling the
strings so beautifully at 10 and Henry Slade for his all-around skill and
physicality. More to work on for Gloucester before they head to London Welsh
and a pleasing win for the Chiefs who head home to take on Harlequins.
In South West
London Harlequins and Wasps had another of their classic
battles; the last four matches between the two sides in the Aviva Premiership
have been decided by two points or less and Saturday's game was almost as
tight. It was an arm-wrestle however not of the beautiful variety as Harlequins
were fired by emotion and Wasps looked a little scrappy throughout. As at
Kingsholm the momentum shifted back and forth throughout and it was
a feisty affair with Charlie Matthews, who delivered a strong
positional performance, also carrying most of the handbags!! Chris Robshaw had
an almighty shift, he punched holes whenever he had the ball, set the tempo and
worked like a Trojan, and it was a performance to turn heads. Wasps' 'key
men were quiet; Christian Wade hardly had the ball going forwards and you could
see that Leuia hadn't played rugby in a while, though we had glimpses of his
star potential. Two individual errors from Wasps handed Harlequins their tries,
in fact Dai Young's side scored more (three) during the eighty minutes however
as their Director of Rugby said Wasps looked 'tired and a little bit messy' and
on the day weren't good enough. Conor O'Shea, like all the Quins fans at The Stoop,
breathed a sigh of relief when JP Doyle below the final whistle because their
side bounced back and reacted with passion. In Round 3 the Falcons await Wasps
whilst Harlequins head to Sandy Park.
The euphoric Rec
witnessed a match it only dared dream of at the start of the weekend as Bath Rugby scored 45 points and held the Leicester Tigers to nil. As much as it was Bath's
greatest domestic hour in recent years it was Leicester's worst, they were squeezed at
scrum time and run ragged out of it. It was a testing day for Cockerill and his men as
they were totally and utterly dominated, how often do we say
that? Injuries have ravaged through the side and prior to kick off
Manu Tuilagi and Anthony Allen joined the hospital wing, two critical men
and what a difference they could have made had they been there? On the
other hand Mike Ford's side were mesmeric from one to fifteen, singling
out individuals out feels almost cruel however it must be done. George Ford's empathic
run of form continued, Kyle Eastmond took the pressure off his fly half
brilliantly and Jonathan Joseph again reminded us all of the talent
he has with his stunning contributions. Bath's line speed was quicker than
ever, their hands were beautiful and it was simply a sublime day for all at The
Rec as they sent the Tigers packing. In Round 3 Bath must take the momentum
into their game against Saints whilst the Tigers must seek redemption at
Welford Road against London Irish. 
Steve Diamond's Sale Sharks finally got off the board with a bonus
point win over London Welsh;
in the end it was comfortable however that was only thanks to four
tries in the final fifteen minutes. At the break the scoreline was much more
respectable for London Welsh, 15-3 down, however defensively once again it was
difficult viewing, porous most apt description of it. Sale's key men
were their wingers; Tom Arscott and Tom Brady that scored four tries between
them however the Sharks weren't wholly clinical as their Director of Rugby highlighted;
'it wasn't a great performance by us, to be
honest. We were scrappy in some areas.' I really don't wish to sound like a
broken record however London Welsh didn't progress on from last weekend,
defensively it was still under par and there were moments that can only be
described as 'chaotic'. It doesn't get any easier for either side; Welsh have a short turn around to host Gloucester on Friday whilst the Sharks
head to Allianz Park to face Saracens. 
London Irish came so close to recording another victory over Saracens, it was left to a last
minute try from Billy Vunipola as Brad Barritt took the the bold decision to
kick to touch as opposed to take the points that would have drawn the game.
Mark McCall naturally had kittens on the side line and said after that 'we
always have a policy that the players on the field match the decision. Would I
have done the same? Probably not.' Many believed it would be an easy victory
for Saracens, Tim Streather's score after one minute and the resulting 20-12
lead after 30 minutes also pointed to it however the Exiles had other ideas.
Young Alex Lewington, was the man of the hour and with his hat-trick he showed
a full box of tricks; pace, a side step Jason Robinson would be proud of and
lethal finishing. Both Mark McCall and Brian Smith phrased Irish's tactics and
game plan to stifle Saracens' line speed. Saracen Jacques Burger summed it up
perfectly when he said 'well that wasn't pretty, got the win the ugly ones too
though...' Hugely promising for London Irish who a proving to be Saracens
'bogey' team, Irish head to face a humiliated Tigers outfit whilst Saracens go
home to welcome Sale Sharks. 
At Kingston Park the Newcastle Falcons were looking for their first win in 18 games however it was not to be as the Northampton Saints bulldozed their way into town and left with 5 points. For the first forty minutes Newcastle kicked aimlessly to Northampton Saints and with men like Ben Foden on the pitch it really wasn't a sensible game play. However after half time Dean Richards' men raised their tempo and enjoyed a much better and more composed run of play. The result was that they kept Saints off the scoreboard and scored a try of their own thanks to speedster Noah Cato. Simon Hammersley must be praised for his individual determination and work rate for the full eighty minutes and when things started to stick for Falcons it looked as good as it has done for a long time. For the visitors young Will Hooley had a distinguished day at the office as he looked as composed in the Number 10 shirt as his mentor Stephen Myler however Saints will rue letting the Newcastle Falcons back into a game that started with them scoring a point a minute. Frustration will be the over-riding Saints emotion, in spite securing the bonus point with a couple of minutes to go, it could and should have been more clinical. All credit to Newcastle for fighting it out until the bitter end however they will head to Adams Park in search of that win! 