It is hard to believe that only two weeks have
passed since the end of the Aviva Premiership Round 5, so much has happened it
really does feel like a very long time ago that I was in the BT Sport Studio reviewing Gloucester vs. Exeter. Since that game our Aviva Premiership
Teams have played in 12 Heineken Cup and 11 Amlin
Challenge Cup Matches, they have scored 119 Heineken Cup Points and 399 in the Amlin. For some the European
Competition was a time to try to rediscover their form and generate some
confidence whilst for others it was business as usual and a chance to grab some
critical early wins. The results make for interesting reading and will be
hugely influential moving back into the Aviva Premiership Round 6, but more
about them later.
The other small matter that happened during the break was Stuart Lancaster’s announcement of his England squad for the QBE Autumn Internationals. Luther Burrell, Joel Tomkins, Henry Trinder and Tom Johnson are the new members of the EPS with Sam Dickinson coming into the Saxons… all are extremely strong additions and I’ve no doubt that they will thrive in the England set up. The squad are now in camp preparing for the huge tests that are coming their way in the form of Australia, Argentina and the All Blacks. Obviously this impacts on the Aviva Premiership as big teams are 'depleted', International Season is a time where the likes of London Irish, Sale, Exeter and Newcastle Falcons rub their hands in glee as they have the chance to turnover some of the bigger boys who are without their stars.
So without further introduction let’s have a little look at matches coming up in the Aviva Premiership Round 6…
Bath vs. Gloucester
The West Country Derby is a huge game in the fixture list of both teams… we have seen some epic encounters over the years and
the last time that these two met at The Rec Bath came away with the spoils. You
only have to look at the ‘interesting’ selection from Nigel Davies on Saturday for
Gloucester’s final Heineken Cup game to realise how important this fixture is
to the Cherry and Whites, they mean business. It is just as well that they have
found a little bit of form since that humiliating loss to Exeter in Round 5, a last gasp win against Perpignan and a gutsy away performance at Thomond Park means that it should be a
competitive game at The Rec. For Bath, I think that it is fair to say that
their season has been mixed to date… we have seen moments/minutes/halves of
brilliance and then things a little less inspiring. Since their
loss to Sale in Round 5 they’ve enjoyed two good wins in the Amlin and hopefully now we will see the likes
of Joseph, Biggs and Ford really opening up and playing to their full potential.
Exeter Chiefs vs. Worcester Warriors
Exeter Chiefs, the team of the moment, after that game against Cardiff Blues in
which they comprehensively outplayed the Welsh Giants for 40 minutes and made a
team with 5 Lions and 13 Internationals look like amateurs. Sir Ian McGeechan described it as the best rugby that he has seen from a Premiership
team in a long time, that is high praise indeed and after a narrow defeat
against Glasgow they will be more than ready to get their teeth into Worcester.
Worcester, well they will be worried, the Amlin
didn’t provide them with the wins that they so desperately needed, and instead
they drew against Oyonnax and lost to
Sale. It could be a very long 80 minutes for Dean Ryan’s men at Sandy Park if Exeter play like they did in their first half
against the Blues, but let’s hope for Worcester’s sake that the Chiefs are
slightly less formidable.
Harlequins vs. Sale Sharks
Harlequins finished Round 5 of the Aviva Premiership in turmoil after losing to their South West London rivals London Irish. Their woes were compounded even more by a home loss to the Scarlets in Round 1 of the Heineken Cup and the addition of Maurie Fa'asavalu to their extremely long injury list. Therefore it wasn’t really the best timing for a trip to Clermont Auvergne and the fortress that is the Par des Sports Marcel Michelin now was it!? However they shocked everyone and recorded a losing bonus point showing a huge amount of heart and courage out on the field in France. Conor O’Shea will hope now that their ‘season horrible’ is over and they can get back to winning ways at home. Sale Sharks finished Round 5 in empathic form after clinically disposing of Bath under the Friday Night Lights at the AJ Bell Stadium. It is great to see that they are finally playing up to their full potential and the addition of two more wins against Biarritz and Worcester simply added to their momentum and winning mentality.
Northampton Saints vs. Saracens
On paper this is undoubtedly the fixture of the weekend… between them Northampton and Saracens have scored 285 Aviva Premiership points and have provided us with some of the best rugby that we have seen in the first 5 rounds of domestic competition. Northampton Saints’ last Aviva Premiership outing was that epic draw at Welford Road and then they went on the road. A frustrating and narrow loss at Castres set up a huge encounter against Ospreys at Franklin’s Gardens as it is well documented that no team has ever progressed through to the latter stages of the Heineken Cup if they have lost their first two games. Saints were simply outstanding steamrollering a gutsy Ospreys and showing just how strong they can be. Saracens' Round 5 performance against Wasps was one of their quieter displays but they did the job and recorded the win. A gutsy and controlled away win at Connacht set them up for ‘The Battle of the Giants’ against Toulouse at Wembley. It was as bruising and epic as we all imagined that it would be and the painful manner in which Sarries lost will hurt and fuel them for weeks ahead.
London Wasps’ match against Saracens in Round 5 put them in a good position going into their Amlin Challenge Cup Fixtures. They enjoyed a try fest against Viadana scoring 90 points and then were tested slightly more against their Amlin foes Bayonne. With James Haskell back from injury and a little belief coming back into the squad, the mood will be quietly optimistic at Adams Park. Leicester Tigers went into Europe all fired up off the back of their Welford Road Derby Day and were greeted by a ferocious Ulster at Ravenhill. The Tigers put in a superb shift and secured a losing bonus point thanks to the boot of young Owen Williams. Carelessly they managed to leave their A game in Belfast and their performance against Treviso was uncharacteristically scrappy however they did what Champions do and won ugly.
Newcastle Falcons vs. London Irish
This is a match that will have been highlighted by both as a winnable fixture and you suspect that it will be a fierce competition at Kingston Park. In recent matches the Newcastle Falcons have started to find some form and build a platform to work from. A hard fought win away at Bucharest and a narrow defeat to Brive means that their European Competition had its ups and downs. London Irish, despite a slow start, are starting to prove that they are not the pushover that everyone thought that they would be. A huge home win against Harlequins was the shock of Round 5 and it set them up nicely for their Amlin Challenge Cup matches. 2 wins and 127 points later they will be looking to press on in the Aviva Premiership and continue to prove their doubters wrong.
As you can see a lot has happened over the past 2 weeks and I have just scratched the surface, the intricacies of individual form, injuries and the Aviva Premiership team selection during ‘International Season’ could be discussed for hours and will be, don’t worry, but I will save that for another day! For now it is time to look forward to a huge weekend of domestic rugby, starting with the West Country Derby, as we happily welcome back into our lives the Aviva Premiership.
