Hair Pulling, Stitches and The Sublime – Aviva Premiership Round 4

'Friday Night Lights' are a fantastic way to finish a gruelling work week... wherever they are in the country the atmosphere is truly special and it was no different on Friday at Franklin’s Gardens. Sale Sharks arrived with the intention to be competitive and play some running rugby however despite their best efforts they were out-classed. It was a strong display from the Saints who provided Stephen Myler with the perfect result for his 200th appearance for the club. 4 games in and yet to add any points to his Northampton name, George North was extremely happy with his ‘gift of a try’ from Jamie Elliott. Let’s hope that Stuart Lancaster was watching carefully from the stands as Lee Dickson & Luther Burrell both put in noteworthy performances. For Sale Sharks it isn’t all doom and gloom (do I sound like a broken record yet), Cipriani continued to show his talents and Mark Cueto continued to defy his years as he scored again adding to his tally of 81 Premiership tries! Despite Sale’s resilience ultimately the night belonged to the Northampton Saints and they continue marching on (sorry it really had to be done) at a blistering pace!

If you have heard anything about the Bath vs. London Irish fixture then you will know that one man made a huge impression on Saturday afternoon… Mr George Ford. Many questioned his move to Bath saying that leaving Leicester Tigers would be a huge mistake and that he was only doing it to be ‘favoured’ by Mike Ford… well clearly that isn't the case. George was sublime throughout, his individual try was the stuff that dreams are made of and he was cool beyond his years. The match itself was one of two halves... Bath stormed the first with 4 tries and 3 conversions and Irish simply weren't there. However in the second Bath failed to score any points at all and Irish woke up. It won't go down in history as the best match that The Rec has ever seen but if Bath had put together 80 minutes like their first 40 then it might have been but their second half slumber dampened the 'brilliance'. For London Irish another week goes by where they didn't perform to their full capability and Brian Smith will again feel frustrated and annoyed that his team didn't show their worth... especially given the opposition. 

Next, to Adams Park for London Wasps vs. Worcester Warriors and two teams who were both desperate to get their first win of the season. After 10 Premiership defeats in a row Wasps certainly had a point to prove and Worcester wanted to show that they will not be battling relegation again this season. Pre-match the feeling was that home advantage would see Wasps through and true to form it did. Joe Launchbury rose like a phoenix from the ashes showing the blistering skills that we all know that he is capable of and Ashley Johnson behaved himself this weekend to put in a sterling 80 minutes... including a wonder break that I'm sure he will enjoying watching back again and again! For Worcester it is almost time to worry with the rounds ticking by and the Dean Ryan effect still not producing any points. 

I have never seen or heard The Stoop more up for a game than it was on Saturday for Harlequins vs. Saracens. The noise was electric and the intensity that the Quins’ players showed on the pitched matched it… however Saracens were just too good and ultimately brushed them aside like an annoying fly. It was a feisty affair with Maurie Fa'asavalu sin binned for pulling Burger's hair, Goode sin binned for his block and Joe Marler sin binned for pulling down, it certainly wasn't short of fire power. Saracens ultimately won due to their epic set piece and ability to move into whole other gear when needed. The Vunipola brothers were huge (in every sense of the word), Farrell was cool and calm with his delicious boot (15 points) and Jacques Burger, the Man of the Match, just dominated, gaining 5 stitches again in the process. I could continue naming the Saracens players that were extremely strong but it would just get boring...! Quins should be praised for their performance, as normal their key men, Brown, Care, Robshaw and Easter, all worked tirelessly and Ugo Monye was the sprightliest that we have seen him in a long time, however it just wasn’t enough. When the only thing you can fault about a team is the colour of their kit, (seemingly the grey and blue stripes of the Saracens away kit are not popular) then you know that they are performing extremely well.

Sandy Park welcomed Leicester Tigers with open arms and with Tigers' ever growing injury list you might have thought that their starting line up would be 'weaker' than normal... don't be silly, they still had 11 Internationals in their starting 15. For the majority of the first half it was all about the Tigers with the Chiefs' line out misfiring and their distinct lack of ball putting them in a little bit of a hole. After half time the Chiefs showed much more fire power, led by Steenson at 10 they had more ball and slowly but surely got themselves back into the game. Tom James continued his superb run of form however it was the experience of Leicester that ultimately provided them with the win. Goneva continued to be a sterling substitute for Manu and Ben Youngs was as nippy as ever. Ultimately Leicester Tigers are Premiership Champions for a reason, they know exactly how grind out a win, even if they are not firing on all 4 cylinders. 

Kingston Park was the venue for the final fixture of Round 4 with the Cherry and Whites the visitors. The match certainly started with a bang... a try after less than a minute for the Newcastle Falcons (their first of the 2013/14 season) and this set the platform for a strong performance. After half an hour all that Gloucester had to show for their afternoon's work was 3 points and it looked like the Falcons were going to nick another win. It was the ever reliable boot of Freddie Burns and the penalty count against the Falcons that brought Gloucester right back in it in the second half and ultimately it was a tense affair right until the final whistle. With breaks from both sides right up to the wire the game was anyone's for the taking however it was Gloucester who ultimately came away with the spoils. 

As we sit back and relax after a hugely energetic weekend of rugby there will certainly be some very sore bodies after the bruising encounters of Round 4. This weekend saw stellar performances from George Ford, Jacques Burger, Tom James and Lee Dickson to name but a few and with no huge injuries, as far as I am aware, we move straight on to the preparations for next weekend. 

Spend the week clearing your diaries because Round 5 is set to be a big one. Without a doubt the pick of the bunch is Leicester Tigers vs. Northampton Saints at Welford Road on Saturday... just thinking about the match ups it is a superb prospect. Get ready for the sparks to fly!! Let's not forget the other fixtures though... Friday Night Lights at Sale against Bath, the London derby Irish vs. Quins at the Madjeski, Sarries welcoming Wasps, Worcester scrapping it out with Falcons and Kingsholm hosting the Chiefs... well hello Round 5, I can't wait for you to start already!!!

Let's Get Ready To Rumble - Aviva Premiership Round 4 Preview

Round 4, the point when teams can no longer blame rustiness for a poor performance, or palm off a defeat as 'getting back up to speed'. With 240 minutes of competitive rugby behind them every single one of our 12 Aviva Premiership teams should be entering this weekend at full pace... showing us, and each other exactly what they can do. The schedule of matches is as tantalising as ever, so let's have a little look at what is in store for us this weekend. 

This week’s Friday Night Lights are at Franklin’s Gardens where Northampton Saints host an in form Sale Sharks. Both teams enter the fixture from unusual positions and both teams have equally strong points to prove; Sale arrive off the back of a win against Wasps and wanting to show that they are not a ‘one hit wonder’ and Northampton arrive off the back of that defeat against Gloucester and want to show that their loss was a minor black mark on their report card. Without a doubt it will be tough one for Sale… with Northampton’s North clearly getting into his stride, Foden proving his value at 15 and Burrell looking to show Stuart Lancaster that he could be the answer to all of his injury prayers I think that Northampton will come out with all guns blazing. Sale, well Sale need Steve Diamond & Bryan Redpath to put their faith back into Danny Cirprani and start him, because if anyone can ignite some fire power and add numerous points onto the score board then it is him and after all we all know that points mean prizes in this business. 

Steven Myler 200th appearance @SaintsRugby on Sat

Let’s begin at The Rec for the Saturday fixtures; Bath vs. London Irish. This will be the first time that these two teams have met since the mass exodus down the M4 of the London Irish ‘one’s to watch’; Matt Garvey, David Sisi, Anthony Watson and Jonathon Joseph. Ex-team mates playing against each other always provides a little extra fire power to a match and couple that with ex-coaches and we have ourselves a truly tasty fixture. The talent on display from both teams including, Tomas O’Leary, Marland Yarde, Gavin Henson and George Ford will mean that the rugby is fast paced and of the champagne variety. Let’s all pray for a dry afternoon to ensure that this fixture lives up to it’s onto paper billing.  

Ford a critical part of Saturday's Fixture at The Rec

Next, off to Adams Park for Wasps vs. Worcester – the battle of the bottom of the table! With Wade and Varndell the first names on the Wasps' team sheet, few would have predicted them to be 11th at the start of Round 4. Despite this poor position Dai Youngs is confident that a trip back home will help kick start a ‘great run of form’ for his men and boost them up the table. Worcester’s lack of wins certainly isn’t viewed as negatively as Wasps'… in fact many can see promise in their play and aren’t too worried. The Dean Ryan effect is slowly building and new Dad, Chris Pennell is turning heads at 15. One question though, how long will it be until the Dean Ryan effect translates into ‘meaningful points’? 

Now to South West London, Harlequins vs. Saracens… billed by most as the pick of the weekend’s fixtures with the most exciting clashes of personnel. The Stoop will see the likes of Vunipola, Burger, Joubert match up against Fa’asavalu, Robshaw and Guest... add in Tom Williams making his 200th appearance, Alex Goode vs. Mike Brown, Chris Ashton coming back into form and Owen Farrell vs. Nick Evans, and you have yourself what I believe is called a right humdinger of a fixture!!    

Elsewhere the Exeter Chiefs host Leicester Tigers… back home at their Sandy Park Fortress Exeter will need to step up big time to avoid being walked all over by the Champions. They showed glimpses against the Exiles last weekend but this fixture will require about a million percent more, if they want to take anything away from it. The news of Manu’s injury this week is a huge blow to the Tigers (and England) but with most of their Lions now back and firing on all four cylinders I think that their power and strength will out muscle the Chiefs. Watch out for Dan Bowden who seems to be loving life in the Midlands showing some serious rugby skills! 

 The finale of the weekend is at Kingston Park for Newcastle vs. Gloucester. After a hard 80 minutes last weekend being re-acquainted with the Premiership Champions the Newcastle Falcons run out again at home hoping to deliver the ‘shock of the weekend’. Gloucester will be looking for something a little more comfortable than their fixture vs. Saints and certainly will be hoping to need a little less reliance on the referee. Burns, Sharples, Trinder and the England ‘declining’ Simpson-Daniel will all need to put in big displays to secure a comfortable win and Newcastle will be hoping that the feet of Noah Cato and boot of Rory Clegg will steer them to another shock victory. 

With work more day of the working week left it now is the time to man up and power through because it soon will be rugby time... and that is definitely worth working for! 

Penalties, Flying Stevens & That Man North! - Aviva Premiership Round 3

Clearly the off field dramas that dominated the news last week did not distract our Aviva Premiership players whatsoever as we enjoyed another blistering weekend of rugby across the country. With so many clubs now having injury lists almost as long as their match day team-sheets you might have predicted a quieter weekend, with debutants and young guns showing a few nerves, however that was certainly not the case. Round 3 provided us with some of the best tries and moments of the 2013/14 campaign to date!

Friday Night Lights were reserved for Sixways and the AJ Bell Stadium. Worcester were keen to give their loyal home fans something to cheer about and Sale wanted to show their supporters that they are a whole new team, with a whole lot of fire power. Harlequins, the visitors at Sixways, arrived with a big point to prove (collectively and individually) and the other visitors Wasps, well Wasps needed to actually win a game.  Let’s look to Sixways first and despite Worcester’s best efforts the class and skill of the Harlequins ‘old boys’ was far, far too powerful. Nick Easter rolled back his 35 years to put in an outstanding performance that I’m sure even Stuart Lancaster would tip his hat to!! Chris Robshaw was outrageous; I think that his sterling performance was dedicated to those who have written him off from ever playing for England again, let alone being Captain in the autumn. The match will give Conor O’Shea’s men a great platform to take on the dominating Sarries at home next weekend and Chris a strong platform to regain his captaincy.

For Sale Sharks it was all about their “some people love him, some people hate him” Number 10 Mr Danny Ciprani; 1 try, 2 conversions and 4 penalties off the bench, not a bad tally for his first appearance of the season… imagine what he could do when he starts!!! Yes it wasn’t a walk over, 4 points is tight, however it was a huge win for Sale in terms of confidence and table position (5^th is certainly the highest they’ve been in a very long time). On the other hand Wasps are yet to record a victory this season… in fairness the losses have been all marginal; a point down against Quins, 4 points against the Chiefs and another 4 against Sale however it certainly isn’t ideal to have 0 from 3. Hopefully a return to Adams Park to take on Worcester next weekend will provide a little more excitement and a better result.

For Leicester Tigers it was ‘job done’ in the most efficient manner. With their Lions returning from injuries and Manu needing to redeem himself post Bunny Gate you always knew that sparks were going to fly at Welford Road against the newly promoted Falcons. Bonus point… tick, Manu charging through in a Lomu-esque manner… tick, Welford Road remains a fortress… tick! As everyone knows Cockers is never happy and I suspect he will have wanted his men to turn the corkscrew even more on Falcons in the second half... however the 19,000 or so Tigers fans there will be more than happy with that result.

Rugby finally returned to the Madjeski Stadium, after hosting their first home game of the season at Twickenham Brian Smith’s men were keen to start off as they meant to go on at the Mad Stad. The Exeter Chiefs on the other hand, arrived with confidence on the back of their win against Wasps, hungry for more and raring to go. Although Tom James continued the blistering form that he showed last weekend it was London Irish who could have had the victory if they’d kept their intensity for a full 80 minutes. They were confident and in control in the first half, however they let things slip after half time and the pressure from the Chiefs was too much in the end. Understandably the overriding feeling in Reading was disappointment however there was equally a fair anount of positivity, after all last season in the first 3 games they did concede at least 40 points against them per game, a narrow loss is a big improvement!

The final match on Saturday was between Gloucester and Northampton and it provided the most talking points of the weekend…  ‘questionable’ refereeing and that man George North were at the heart of it.  For those of you who haven’t seen this yet just sit back and enjoy the deliciousness of this man’s ability here. Gloucester were extremely lucky, The Shed wouldn’t have been a forgiving place if the result had been the other way round and luckily Billy Twelvetrees is as cool as a cucumber when it comes to last minute penalties. As it was Jim Mallinder was the one who was angry... taking it out on an advertising board wasn’t potentially the best move however we all know that he does wear his heart on his sleeve.  Just one question for you; if it was Cockers who did that, do you think he would have got a ban?!?! 

Sunday,  cue Henson Gate… Saracens vs. Bath… pre-match predictions had this one down as quite a close one with Bath showing the brilliance of their new signings last weekend. The cheeky little marketing side plot had everyone talking however Bath refused to play into Sarries hands not letting Gavin take a single penalty, even in front of the posts!  On the day Sarries were just too good and they had the bonus point wrapped up by half time. With a stronger second half from Bath it is not all doom and gloom for Black, Blue and White faithful however it just goes to show again how important the full 80 is! Saracens continue to look extremely dangerous, the on form team of the Prem were boosted by the return of Alex Goode, a constantly brilliant Jacques Burger and a flying Matt Stevens who seems to be loving life post Lions. Bath will be relishing their home fixture against London Irish next weekend, with so many ex London Irish players there the rivalry will be fierce and weather permitting some great running rugby will be on display. Sarries take the short journey to Quins driven by momentum and confidence.

              

Matt Stevens flying over the try line

With Round 3 done and dusted the Premiership Table is looking a little different to usual with Wasps propping up the bottom and Sale riding high(ish)! Let’s hope that this week is a slightly quieter one than last in terms of off the field antics… I don’t think that there is anything in the diary that could cause too much controversy but nowadays you never know. With the Autumn Internationals creeping up on us already the speculation has begun regarding squad places and the captaincy… this will only intensify and I’ll bring you all my thoughts (for what they are worth) shortly!

Images, Offers & Previews - Aviva Premiership Round 3

Yes it is that time again… the start of another round of Aviva Premiership Rugby; Round 3 and boy do we have another superb weekend of rugby ahead of us. By now  you all should be back into the swing of things, with shirts already washed, ironed and hung up ready to go, tickets/season tickets out in a prominent place and your BT Sport set to record every piece of action possible over the course of the next few days. 

With bonus point tries, shock defeats, last minute match winning penalties, yellow cards and red cards we’ve seen quite a lot of action already this season and we are only 2 weekends in.

With so much action going on off the pitch this week it would be remiss of me not to have a little discussion about a few ‘key points’ before looking towards Round 3. Henson Gate… Bunny Gate… O’Connor Gate… where should I go first!?! Let’s do them in the order they broke shall we!? Manu and those bunny ears, his ‘practical joke’ made headline news and polarised opinion across Twitter, I’m pretty sure that he wasn’t expecting such a reaction. Appropriate or inappropriate, funny or not, the opinions have been flying all week. Matt Dawson certainly wasn't afraid to share his thoughts; “My view on Tuilagi/PM. I'm utterly embarrassed. When will some learn, there's a time and a place. #dontpoohonthePMsdoorstep #BTSportRugby”. Others took a more light-hearted view; “Manu Tuilagi incident grabbing the headlines. Not my type of thing. Slightly cringeworthy. Don't stone him for it.” – Will Greenwood. If I’m honest I’m inclined to agree with Will, it’s not my thing, and I think that Manu should have had more respect for the image of the PM and the Lions however don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. David Cameron is a grown man and actually he didn’t take any offence as the exchanges between himself and Manu on Twitter show, so let’s lay the bunny ears to rest and move on!

Still friends - Manu & D.C  Image @manutuilagi

Henson Gate – "A Full Refund for Bath Fans if Gavin scores a point at Allianz on Saturday". You don’t need to work in marketing to understand the objective of this one… drive ticket sales and awareness through 'slight' controversy. Again whether you agree or disagree with the initiative it has everyone talking about the Saracens vs. Bath game at the weekend, more so than any other fixture in Round 3. Surely that is one objective achieved already and the question of tickets sales... well we will have to wait until Sunday to find out about that one! Personally I think they could have employed a different initiative, I don’t think it is respectful to single out a player and given the history between Gavin Henson and Saracens I think it is off the mark. One other question that I do have is what initiative will be next for the London Wasps home game?? Money back if Goode hits the post again or if Ashley Johnson gets another yellow card?? 

Respect gone out the window? Or a piece of marketing excellence? @saracens image

Finally we head Down Under... it appears that it isn’t just the Northern Hemisphere that are having some ‘image problems’. This week James O’Connor, the golden boy of Australian rugby was thrown out of Perth airport for drunkenness. Whilst James wasn’t on ‘work business’, he was flying to Bali with his girlfriend, the fact that he wasn’t allowed to board his plane due to his behaviour isn’t great!!! Again it puts into question the respect that some players have for their image and the image of the game… adding this onto his ‘Burger Gate’ scandal during the Lions and I think James needs to be a little bit more careful about his actions off the field in the future!

Right, now that is all of the ‘gates’ covered, let’s move onto the more serious business of the Aviva Premiership Round 3 fixtures. On Friday Night Worcester Warriors host Harlequins at Sixways… both teams arrive with a point to prove, Worcester that they can see out and win a match at Home and Harlequins that they can power through despite their ever growing injury list. Worcester will need to tighten their discipline if they are to come away with anything from the game and Quins will need to pray for better weather than last Friday night and a stronger kicking performance from Nick Evans to seal the deal.

Friday Night Lights also arrive at the AJ Bell Stadium where Sale Sharks host London Wasps… at the beginning of the season I’m sure we all had this down as an easy win for Wasps however given Sale’s unexpectedly strong start it could be a little bit tighter than first thought. Wasps have made a few changes to last weekend’s team - Ben Jacobs and Charlie Davies start in the back line and Carlo Festuccia and Kearnan Myall boosting the forwards. Sale pile on the changes too however Steve Diamond has stuck with Nick Macleod at 10, although Mr Cipriani finally makes an appearance on the bench, clearly Steve believes that he has come out of his mourning period for Miss Brook now!!!! Sorry I really couldn’t resist that one!!

Friday Night Lights hopefully will be more fruitful for Wasps @waspsrugby image

On Saturday Welford Road, the Madjeski Stadium and Kingsholm host the 3 matches… Leicester despite their huge injury list and lack of Cockers’ should comfortably beat Newcastle Falcons and bounce back from their defeat to Bath last weekend. London Irish against Exeter Chiefs will be a cracker; Irish will fancy this match, at home for the first time this season and looking to build on a hard fought away win at Sixways last weekend. Rob Baxter wants his Chiefs to move forward from the ‘little launch pad’ they created last weekend against Wasps and gain a crucial away win. Finally Kingsholm welcome Northampton Saints and from what I saw last weekend at The Stoop the Shed is not going to be a happy place come 5.30pm on Saturday afternoon as I think North, Hartley, Corbs, Dickson, Myler and Co will be far too strong for Gloucester.

Last but not least Saracens host Bath at Allianz… with the quality of the backs in both teams this is set to be a fast paced, lung busting match on the 4G surface. Watson, Joseph, Banahan, Henson and Ford vs. Ashton, Tomkins, Strettle, Farrell and Wigglesworth, personally I’m very tempted to hop in the car and get myself to Allianz to watch this one play out!

So as the team news continues to fly in let’s get ready to enjoy talking about some action on the pitch as opposed to all of the controversy off it shall we!!? Round 3, let’s be having you!!!

Topsy Ojo's Testimonial Year - The Launch Party

Last night Topsy Ojo celebrated the launch of his testimonial year at London Irish, it is hard to believe that such a young guy is celebrating a testimonial but it is true, Topsy joined the London Irish academy at the age of 18 in 2003 with a couple of other well-known names - Nick Kennedy and Declan Danaher. With so much promiscuity of players moving between clubs, 3 years is now considered to be long service, let alone 5 or even 10... therefore a full year of celebrations is definitely justified!!

In the 10 years that Topsy has been at London Irish he has experienced more than his fair share of highs and lows… from the dizzy heights of the 2009 Aviva Premiership Final to the fight for relegation last season it certainly hasn’t been a quiet 10 years. He has made 192 appearances and scored 305 points to date and I’ve no doubt that by the end of this season he will be tipping 350 points easily... with his try scoring ability and outrageous feet 9 or 10 tries in a season is more than achievable!!

As well as honouring the man himself Topsy’s Testimonial Year is in aid of 3 outstanding charities Restart (the Rugby Players’ Benevolent Fund), VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) and The African Child Trust. There is also a truly fantastic mix of supporters; Nandos, a stable in any rugby players diet (Nando’s Black Cards all around I hope), Dot Comms for everything digital and marketing wise, Whey Hey the delightful protein ice-cream, One Piece for epic onesies and finally New Era Caps, Topsy’s personal favourite and our hosts for the evening.

New Era's HQ is in Shoreditch... and many of you may know that I don't normally venture too much further East than Liverpool Street and before you all jump to conclusions this is not due to snobbery, it is actually due to the fact I am totally and utterly not cool enough for Shoreditch. I am not creative and cannot put amazingly clashing prints together and rock the ‘random’ look; I just end up looking like I’ve raided the school lost property box so Shoreditch is usually a “no” for me!! Therefore an adventure East for something that I do know about and love, rugby, was a perfect excuse to try and fit in for once!!! 

The format of the night was simple… to celebrate all things Topsy! Having been to a few events like this before it was great to see the huge amount support that Topsy received from his team-mates. From the more established players to the newbies they were out in force - Declan Danaher, Tomas O’Leary, Ian Humphreys, Marland Yarde and  Sailosi Tagicakibau, to name but a few. 

As with all good events there was an auction which yours truly couldn’t help but get actively involved with, much to the horror of my friends I’d taken with me. I’m sure you will all understand that this was a part of the night that I wanted to excel in… with prizes like a Corporate Box at the Madjeski and Autumn International Tickets my competitive side did come out! I started bidding hard however sadly for me I lost out to men with bigger wallets who didn't offer to share their prizes with me!!!

For those of you who haven't met Topsy off the field before he is one of the nicest men in rugby... a quiet, down-to-earth guy who is extremely personable and fiercely loyal to the club that gave him his big break. Despite being London Irish's top try scorer there is no bravado or ego; Topsy is just an extremely talented rugby player and genuinely nice guy. As Dec Danaher rightly pointed out Topsy still smashes all the fitness tests, keeping the young guns on their toes and setting the bar very high for them to try and reach. Having someone like Dec talk about the respect he has for Topsy on and off the field speaks volumes for the person and player that Topsy is and I really couldn't think of two better senior players for a club to have  than Dec and Topsy. This season is one of the most important in London Irish's history and with players like Topsy and Dec leading the way for Irish I've no doubt that they will prove all of the doubters wrong and have a stormer. 

Last night was just the start of the celebratory journey; with the Testimonial Gala Dinner and The Golf Day still to come (for all tickets contact Dominie Bradshaw) it is set to be a fabulous year of celebrations to honour a true London Irish legend.