Round 5, what a huge, huge round... we really did enjoy some stunning rugby, nail biting finishes and big shock results this weekend. So let's get straight into it shall we with the review of Round 5?
On Friday night Bath showed that they are still very much a work in progress, whilst Sale are looking stronger and stronger as the weeks go by. With 2 wins on the bounce at home the foundations are being laid to make the AJ Bell Stadium the fortress that it was always hoped that it would become. Sale's win was started by their forwards and finished by Mr Danny Cipriani. 'Classy Cipriani' was a headline on Saturday morning and it is great to see that for once it wasn't written in irony! His performance on Friday night was controlled and consistent and lead his team to victory. His opposing fly half George Ford had an iffy day at the office and Bath will certainly need to improve before their derby game against Gloucester in Round 6.
At the Madjeski Stadium London Irish stunned everyone by pulling off the shock of the weekend by beating their old rivals Harlequins. Irish were full of heart and their win was set up by the muscle of their forwards. Blair Cowen put in a huge performance on his debut and the ever reliable Shane Geraghty pulled the strings beautifully from 10. Quins, for the second week in a row weren't firing on all 4 cylinders, and worryingly Chris Robshaw took a blow to the head and was taken off mid way through the second half. Danny Care's try was typically opportunistic from the England favourite but ultimately London Irish wanted it more. For Conor O'Shea it is time to re-group and fast, with the Scarlets arriving at The Stoop in just 5 days time I would suspect that there will be a huge week of training ahead at the Surrey Sports Park.
Leicester vs. Northampton was the thriller that we all knew that it would be... 19-19 says it all really! Northampton got off to a quicker start and refused to be intimated by the roaring Tigers home crowd, or the multiple Richard Cockerill masks in the guard of honour. The man himself was serving the last game in his lengthy ban and watched from a special soundproof 'Cockers Pen’ in the far corner of Welford Road. On the pitch Leicester had dominance at the scrum, with Mulipola getting the upper hand over Mercy and Cole and Corbs have a good old ding dong in the middle of it. Northampton, well boy were they up for it, Dickinson had another blinder and Luther Burrell continued to give Stuart Lancaster something to think about for the autumn. Stephen Myler was cool and calm, he has definitely shaken off the 'Mr Inconsistent' label that he wore for much of last season and for most of the game it looked as if Northampton would secure the victory. However Toby Flood had other ideas, stepping up with 15 minutes to go and showing exactly why he has 57 England caps to his name to claw back the draw. It was a superb finish at Welford Road and up there as one of the best ever Derby Days.
At Allianz Park it was a very different Saracens team than the one that faced Harlequins last weekend. By now we are all familiar with Saracens rotational policy however you did get the feeling that 11 changes maybe was a little too many. With only 3 points to their name at half time McCall reverted back to the tried and tested format and it immediately paid dividends. With a bench of containing Schalk Brits, Mako Vunipola, Kelly Brown, Owen Farrell and Richard Wigglesworth it is no wonder that their 100% record remains intact. It was great to see Will Fraser back on the pitch after a lengthy spell off with injury and I am sure that he will only get better and better as he settles back into Premiership life. For Wasps Chris Bell pulled out a big captain's performance scoring both of his team's tries and the usual suspects of Ashley Johnson, Joe Launchbury and Christian Wade all stepped up however ultimately Saracens just had too much.
The bottom of table clash rubbed salt into an already open Worcester Warriors shaped wound. Dean Ryan summed it up perfectly after the match saying that his team can't buy a win at the moment and sadly for all involved at Worcester it is true. With the whistle of Martin Fox against them once again the Monday morning review session will make for tough viewing. Newcastle Falcons will be pleased to get their second win of the season especially after having Worcester camped on their line right until the very end. Newcastle will look towards the Amlin Cup to provide them with a couple of wins on the bounce to help settle the nerves whilst Worcester will continue to pray for a minor miracle!
Gloucester vs. Exeter was the final game of the weekend - another big derby, it is always a huge match in the fixture list and often an extremely tight one being decided by a point or two. Well not this time, the Chiefs meant business and really didn't let Gloucester play much rugby. The usually exciting Gloucester back line stuttered throughout and struggled to find any real momentum forwards, couple this with their forwards being steamrolled off the park by Exeter and you have the ingredients for a loss and a grumpy Shed. Kingsholm so far this season is not the fortress that it once was and Gloucester fans might be a little worried going into the Heineken Cup on the back of such a defeat. Exeter on the other hand will be filled with confidence heading into Europe with their key men Tom Johnson, Dave Ewers and Tom James all continuing their great form.
We couldn't have ended this first part the Aviva Premiership in a better way... 6 huge matches with some big individual and team performances, it really was a great round. As we go our respective ways into Europe some of our Aviva Premiership teams will be looking to continue their strong form whilst others will be hoping to gain a few wins and some confidence before the return of the Aviva Premiership. All in all it has been a great start to the season that has provided us with some superb tries, huge hits and outstanding rugby and I can't wait for more Premiership Rugby in two weeks time when Round 6 kicks off with Friday Night Lights at The Rec.
