Finishing with a flourish, that is how I would describe the Aviva Premiership Round 6 as we waved goodbye to the first block of domestic fixtures with a bang. Across the country we witnessed brutal physicality, blistering pace and some outstanding individual and team performances, so without any further introduction here is the full Round 6 review;
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The
action started at Welford Road where the great British weather meant that it
was a match largely dictated by the conditions. After a tough few weeks and
continued injury pressures Leicester weren’t too worried about looking
beautiful, it was, as Richard Cockerill highlighted before the game, all about
the result and gaining that win. Harlequins were without Danny Care who was on
Daddy duty in London after his fiancé gave birth and he was missed by a Harlequins side that found the conditions difficult to take. Leicester
welcomed back two notable men; Manu Tuilagi and Marcos Ayerza and as expected
Manu’s sheer presence gave them confidence. After less than 5 minutes Blaine
Scully’s score put their noses ahead and from then on they didn’t allowed Harlequins
to wrestle the game back from their grasp. Tigers’ second row; Thorn, Kitchener and Gibson were
outstanding and Williams boot, although not totally accurate, proved to be a weapon from anywhere inside his own half. Astoundingly Harlequins only entered Leicester’s 22 once in the
full eighty minutes and from that visit they scored however with Brown’s off day out
back and a collective difficulty in playing the conditions meant it was
Tigers’ that ended the evening smiling and victorious.
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At the Kassam London Welsh were
beaten by their closest rivals the Newcastle Falcons. It was a difficult
watch for the Welsh fans in the crowd as their side played with a huge amount of
desire, heart and intent but lacked the ability to really penetrate Falcons’
line. London Welsh enjoyed much of the possession, particularly in the second
half, however the visitors defence held strong, something Dean Richards was
extremely pleased about because by his own assessment ‘normally our defence is out biggest weakness’. The sparkles were added in the form of three tries
from Mark Wilson, Riki Tipuna and Adam Powell in what was a
satisfying day at the office for a side that continues it's upwards
performance trajectory. For London Welsh Chris Hala’ufia, Tom May, and Seb
Jewell in particular put in strong shifts, however collectively
hearts were broken following the defeat.
The Exeter Chiefs’ Round 5 loss to the Newcastle Falcons was unexpected and their 5 try romp over London Irish showed that it was simply
a blip on their otherwise extremely strong Premiership radar. London Irish were struck down by an
illness that ravaged the side as much as the scoreline suggested hitting at
least five of their players and whether it was the impact of the illness or simply the quality of
their opponents, Exeter put in a superior display across the park as they played with urgency and excitement. Henry Slade again gave a timely reminder of his
all around game and it was great to see Jack Nowell looking so sharp following his time out with injury. London Irish did come back into the game as they scored two of the final three tries and individually Blair Cowen continued to impress with his work rate, physicality and professionalism however really it was a day that was all about the home side.
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At Franklin’s Gardens Jim
Mallinder’s Northampton Saints brushed aside the Sale Sharks with ease, no doubt inspired by their match
day mascot Georgia Ghaut, the sister of the late Luis Ghuat the courageous young man whose determination and bravery touched so many hearts. Club Captain Dylan Hartley’s post match tweet summed the match up perfectly “Good day at the office. Survived shark week.
Eyes on Europe now. Enjoy your evenings.” It was with that efficiency and poise
that his side brushed aside the Sale Sharks, a Sharks side that were described by many journalists
in the Sunday papers as ‘toothless’. On an individual note Samu Manoa’s hat-trick
was to be applauded whilst the Pisi brothers showed that it runs in the family
with a try each and a Man of the Match award for younger brother Ken. In spite
of a strong first quarter and pockets of pressure Sale didn’t match or wholly
challenge the Saints. Unsurprisingly they weren’t a happy side following the
game, Steve Diamond didn’t comment on the loss and the 114 mile journey home
must have seemed extremely long.
The final Saturday game was at
Allianz Park where Gloucester pushed Saracens and showed that their development
continues to tick along nicely as their new management and players find their
feet. It was an Englishman that stole all of the headlines today; Brad Barritt,
a man that is fast becoming the super glue for all things polished and poised and Captain Al Hargreaves had what can only be described as a stormer. Saracens didn’t have it all
their own way indeed on 20 minutes the scoreline displayed 13-3 to the visitors
however the difference was that the home side had another gear to shift into
when needed. Gloucester’s Matt Kvesic carried hard and Greig Laidlaw continued
to marshal his troops with efficiency and confidence however as a side they’ll
rue some of their errors.
The final game of Round 6 was at
Adams Park where Wasps hosted Bath Rugby and I’m sure that many of you will
agree with me when I say that they saved the best until last, for it was a cracker
of a game. Wasps started with huge intensity, no doubt fired by the emotions of
the week and a need to prove themselves following a less than perfect performance
in Round 5 and their 29-0 lead was nothing less than they deserved. Bath’s
never say die attitude was to be hugely applauded, as George Ford kicked them
into all of the right places it made for a breathtaking final half and hour. If
Semesa Rokoduguni isn’t in Stuart Lancaster’s EPS squad in just over a week’s
time I will eat the only hat that I own for along with Kyle Eastmond he ignited
the show when he had the ball. Up front the physicality of both sides was
brutal however it was Wasps’ back row that were the most impressive with James
Haskell developing further like the great Wasp Lawrence Dallaglio by the day
through his outstanding leadership and contribution to the side. In short, Bath
were good however Wasps were better, the result topped quite the week for Derek
Richardson’s club.
