Round 16 really did start with a
bang as we witnessed one of the most physically brutal games that we have seen
in this year’s Aviva Premiership campaign. Underneath the beautiful Friday
Night Lights at the The Rec two immense teams went head to head and battered
each other. Going into the match Bath
had a game plan, in fact they had a two according to Mike Ford, however neither
came off, instead they were dominated by a Saracens XV who raised their game to
another level despite having to make a radical personnel re-shuffle just before kick-off.
Saracens played with assurance and confidence throughout; they slowed the
breakdown and put in an almighty defensive shift, all in all they were in a
different class to their opponents. As Nick Mullins said during the match Saracens
really did want to put Bath back in their box and they did so in some style. However it
isn’t all doom and gloom for Bath, whilst they will be bitterly disappointed to
have lost the game they did show endeavour themselves, their back row looked
menacing as did Dave Attwood and against any other side in the Premiership (maybe
Northampton excluded) they might have got more from the game. Both remain firm
favourites to be in the playoff mix in a few rounds time and if Bath are
serious about winning the Aviva Premiership then they will need to go back to
the drawing board to work out just how to beat their nemesis team.
Wasps had yet another difficult day
at the office as they slipped to their fourth straight Aviva Premiership defeat
against Sale at home on Saturday afternoon. It was a closely contested game from minute one to minute eighty and
like the match at The Rec was filled with outrageously hard hits. Wasps will be ruing
kicking away so much possession, Mark Cueto’s years of experience showed as he
took the high balls all day long and made something of almost every single one. Danny Cipriani came on extremely early in the game due to a Nick Macleod injury and he certainly stamped his authority on the match, pulling the strings at 10 with a great deal of assurance and maturity. For Wasps the intensity was
there, the players worked themselves into the ground, however they needed to be
more clinical and hold on to the ball. Dai Youngs will need to go
back to the drawing board in order to turn around this mid-season slump whilst his opposite DOR Steve Diamond will be a much happier
man and will simply want his men to keep on building and quietly going about their
business.
The game at Sandy Park certainly
wouldn’t win the award for ‘Thriller Of The Season’ but that won’t
worry Rob Baxter whose only concern was gaining that all important win after
losing their last five Aviva Premiership matches. His team actually made quite
light work of London Irish and pleasingly for Stuart Lancaster Tom Johnson had another really solid match reminding us all exactly why he is in the England mix. For London Irish it wasn't a performance to write home about, they spent the majority of the eighty minutes chasing the game and will want to push their
first ever nil score-sheet firmly out of their minds.
Harlequins dealt Worcester with
yet another bitter blow as they ‘did a Leicester’ and won ugly at The Stoop. Dean
Ryan’s men raced to a 13-3 lead and for other teams that probably would have been enough to seal the deal, however Worcester don't yet have that winning mentality and they couldn't finish it off. Of
all of the Premiership Clubs Quins will be the happiest to see the RBS 6 Nations finish, their younger players are certainly taking on the
challenge of the Aviva Premiership however the need for their playmakers to
come back is getting stronger and stronger. Worcester still
have a lot of fight left in them however Dean Ryan summed it up perfectly when he
said after the game “We've got to get a win and I don't care if it's the
ugliest win I've ever seen.”
Phil Dowson celebrated his 200th
appearance for the Saints in emphatic style as they ran out bonus point winners
over Gloucester at Franklin’s Gardens. Gloucester were dealt a tough hand having
to make three positional changes just before kick-off however it was the strength
in depth of the Northampton squad that proved to be the undoing of the visitors. Like
Sale Northampton’s fly half pulled the strings with expertise and Myler kicked
his side to a small half time lead. Ben Foden returned back from injury on 50
minutes and looked particularly sharp, despite having spent 14 weeks on the
side-lines. When Nigel Davies summarised the game he used the phrase that any player hates to hear; "I'm disappointed in the team" and sadly it sums up Gloucester well at the moment. In stark contrast the Saints looked superb and given the contingent that they have returning from international duty soon you would be a fool to write them off for a home playoff place or maybe, just maybe an Aviva Premiership Title.
The final match of the weekend
was Newcastle versus Leicester also known as ‘The Return Of Manu’. Yes at face value the
scoreline reads like a walkover however in actual fact Newcastle competed hard throughout and deserved to get more from it. The Tigers were rampant in their pursuit of the win,
even 3 yellow cards couldn’t stop them from taking all 5 points on offer and Cockers should be pleased with his men. I won’t provide an in depth analysis of Mr Tuilagi, simply a nice photo, as I believe that focusing
solely on him would do the rest of his side a dis-service. Instead the focus should be on Captain Ed Slater and that man Vereniki
Goneva, both players were at the centre of everything and really helped the team to shine. Newcastle were gutsy, they
made their own tries, yes tries from Newcastle, which is promising and will take many positives from the fixture. The Tigers looked much more like the Tigers we know and love (well some love) and I may be jumping the gun here but I'm predicting that they will press on now and secure that fourth playoff spot.
All in all Round 16 was an action
packed round with tries galore and notable individual and team performances. It is time to take a short Aviva Premiership break whilst the LV Cup and RBS 6 Nations
take centre stage, but don't worry in just a couple of weeks it will return with a huge round of fixtures.
