Throwback Thursday is now a firm part of the social media calendar and each week it manifests itself across all platforms and showcases memories of moments and years gone by.
Out On The Full has been delivering Throwback Thursday tweets for the past few seasons and will now be adding a weekly Throwback Thursday article to this. This first Out On The Full TBT looks at a memorable London Double Header match, last season's clashes between the Northampton Saints and Gloucester Rugby and the meetings between the Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby.
The London Double Header has been part of our Aviva Premiership calendar since 2004 and has treated us to some epic encounters. One of the most dramatic was back in 2012 when Wasps narrowly lost by 40 - 42 against Harlequins. Early tries from Tom Varndell and Christian Wade pushed Wasps into a 20 - 0 lead after just twelve minutes and although Harlequin Tom Williams crossed for a try Wasps had notched up a sizeable 40 - 13 lead by the early part of the second half. At that moment most individuals would say that it was game over for O’Shea’s side however the South West London outfit were inspired in their comeback. Nick Evans notched up four conversions, three penalties and scored a try of his own to help deliver the 29 points required to win the game.
On Friday night the Northampton Saints will meet Gloucester Rugby for the first time this Aviva Premiership. Their opening dual last season was a harsh reality check for the Cherry and Whites as they went down by 53 - 6 and their very short pre-season together was exposed. The return fixture in March highlighted Gloucester’s progression as it was an enthralling 33 - 33 draw that the Cherry and Whites should have taken. Stephen Myler converted a late Samu Manoa try to salvage the draw however the home side had romped to a 23 - 9 lead. This year Gloucester have started with much great purpose and the Saints are just starting to find their groove after two European victories. Both sides are showcasing some new talent this weekend with Jeremy Thrush gaining his first start and Victor Matfield being named on the bench for the home side.
Two other sides that will be meeting in the Aviva Premiership this weekend are the Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby. In the 2014/15 season they met three times in the Premiership with Bath Rugby taking two victories to Tigers' one. The two matches held at The Recreation Ground were, in my book, Bath's strongest domestic performances of season and the semi-final was one of their strongest in recent years.
In that semi-final it was Bath’s clinical finishing that pushed them to victory, they visited Leicester’s twenty two 8 times and scored off 7 of those visits however we haven’t seen that level of accuracy yet this Aviva Premiership season. As we all know the Tigers have already found a spot of creativity in attack under Aaron Major and are a completely different prospect to the one Bath Rugby faced last season. The Tigers have won their last nine Aviva Premiership Rugby matches at
Welford Road and actually unbeaten in their last eleven there. Needless to say this weekend’s Sunday service is expected to be a much closer encounter than their previous meetings and without question the Leicester Tigers will believe that the balance of power is swinging in their favour going into the game.
