Once again we were treated to another epic round of Aviva Premiership action and Round 19 certainly had more drama that most... red cards, yellow cards and bonus points galore were the order of the weekend. Needless to say there was a lot of action in Round 19 so cutting it down to a manageable and importantly readable amount has certainly been a challenge but I do hope that you enjoy this Out On The Full Round 19 Review.
The Friday night clash between the Sale Sharks and Harlequins was billed as a colossally tight playoff battle and initially it looked as if that would be the case however that was until
Harlequins found fifth gear and romped away from the home side. Conor O’Shea’s
men looked more comfortable than they have done in a long time and played some great heads up rugby led by their outstanding International players; Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown and Danny Care in particular all added an extra dimension to Harlequins and are absolutely vital to their play off hopes. Sale found themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to chase a game and it didn't really sit well with them... Steve Diamond admitted afterwards his men had just run out of gas slightly which was obviously disappointing however given their horrific season last year I think that secretly he'll be quite happy with 5th position in the table after 19 rounds. On an individual note Danny Cipriani continued to remind Stuart
Lancaster that he would rather like to visit New Zealand this year and Dwayne Peel reminded us all of the fact that a 10 is only as good as his 9 makes him look!!! Across the board Harlequins looked comfortable, Sam Smith
continued to score tries for fun, Nick Evans showed exactly why he gained so
many All Black Caps and Chris Robshaw was at his mercurial best. The result meant that
Sale now slightly out of the playoff contention and Harlequins continue to march
forward and breathe heavily down the necks of Bath Rugby above them.
At
Welford Road the Leicester Tigers continued their pursuit of a home semi final by
securing a bonus point victory over a spirited London Wasps side. Cockers’ men put
aside their European heartbreak and muscled their way to victory although the
man himself was less than impressed as he described his team’s performance as ‘pretty
average’ and called the fixture a ‘non-event’. Personally from where I was
stood on The Terrace at Welford Road that assessment seemed slightly harsh, yes his Tigers weren’t quite as clinical as they should have been however Manu Tuilagi carried the team on his shoulders and they did secure a bonus point victory. Dai Youngs had made six changes to the starting line up
going into the match and his ‘new look’
Wasps side played with strong intent and purpose. Nathan Hughes and Guy
Thompson both put in huge shifts to ensure that aforementioned Tuilagi didn’t cause too, too much devastation and Tommy Bell’s try screamed class with a capital C however it was to be Tigers’ day. It was great to see Geoff Parling return to
the field after 5 months out and whilst Richard Cockerill wasn’t the happiest
man alive post game it was a case of job done for the men in green.
Now
we all know that a West Country Derby is going to be a feisty affair, history
has shown us that, however I don’t think that any of us expected it quite to
reach the level of drama that it delivered on Saturday afternoon at Kingsholm. For
those of you that missed the fixture the main talking points were the 5 yellow
cards and 2 red cards that referee Tim Wigglesworth distributed during the
match as well as Gloucester having to move to uncontested scrums part of the
way through. Pushing the drama and officiating debate aside there was some good rugby
mixed in there... Nick Abenendon didn’t let the horrific tackle from Puafisi
phase him as he showed his class throughout, Ford worked hard as always and for the home side the praise perhaps should be spread all around as they played for the majority of the game at least a man down and showed endevaour throughout. Needless to say both sides’
discipline could have been a lot better however it was Bath who came away
from the fixture with and some may say with a touch more dignity than their West Country rivals. Personally I thought that Toby Booth hit the nail on the head with his assessment...""I thought it was Christmas season - it was a bit like a pantomime at times.", all in all it was a breathtaking match, not always for the right reasons, and it is safe to
say that we won’t see another like it this year.
At Sandy Park the Exeter Chiefs needed every ounce of muscle to put away the Worcester Warriors who once again displayed a huge amount of grit and determination to keep their Premiership Great Escape dream alive for another week. The Chiefs raced to a 21-3 lead after just half an hour of rugby however Worcester showed just how far they have come in order to wrestle the game back with Chris Pennell and Bristol bound David Lemi keeping the game in touching distance at the break. Gareth Steenson was the stand out Chief as he coolly reminder Rob Baxter of his credentials however it was Ryan Lamb who had the toughest job of the afternoon having to hold his nerve to secure the losing bonus point with a last minute penalty kick. Baxter hailed the victory as a ‘massive’ one; Baxter’s men have Europe in their sights through either automatic qualification or through the playoff route. Dean Ryan as always warned us all to write off his side at our peril... the mountain that they have to climb might be the size of Ben Nevis however it is one that he and his team fancy scaling.
On
Sunday afternoon whilst some were still finishing the London Marathon Saracens entertained the Northampton Saints in the blissful sunshine at Allianz Park. Steve
Borthwick reached new heights as he led his team out for his 263rd Premiership appearance and his men needed every ounce of strength to finish off the Saints. As you would expect it
was a bone crunching affair and some of the hits made even the toughest fans in
the crowd wince just a little! For 60 minutes or so Saracens were in control,
they scored some stunning tries and generally enjoyed themselves; their enjoyment was epitomised by Schalk Brits’ outstanding breaks and Marcelo Bosch’s 56m+ casual
as you like penalty however Saints hadn’t travelled down just to make up the
numbers. In the final quarter Northampton pulled their socks up and fought
hard, they were led by the mighty ball carriers Dickinson, Lawes and Dowson and thanks to tries from North and Burrell they gained a valuable and deserved losing bonus point.
The final fixture of Round 19 was at the Madjeski Stadium between London Irish and the Newcastle Falcons and with Irish safe for another year the Newcastle Falcons were the ones with everything to play for. Now I am by no means an expert in the matter of rugby history knowledge however I don’t think that there have been many Premiership fixtures that have had the same score at half time as at full time, Sunday’s fixture was certainly unique in that respect. The crowd were treated to a barrage of points scoring action in the first forty minutes of the game thanks to six tries, five conversions and four penalties. Andrew Fenby’s hat-trick will have tasted very sweet against his former side and Irish pulled Newcastle apart for forty minutes. From a Newcastle perspective it made for difficult viewing, the ever honest Dean Richards described it as ‘the worst half of rugby’ that he had ever seen! Unsurprisingly in the second half Newcastle picked up their game and displayed much more attacking intent however Irish had a point to prove and did not allow the visitors onto the try scoring sheet. Newcastle remain mathematically unsafe and have the daunting task of entertaining Saracens in Round 20 whilst Irish head to Franklin’s Gardens to be entertained by the Northampton Saints.
The Friday night clash between the Sale Sharks and Harlequins was billed as a colossally tight playoff battle and initially it looked as if that would be the case however that was until
Harlequins found fifth gear and romped away from the home side. Conor O’Shea’s
men looked more comfortable than they have done in a long time and played some great heads up rugby led by their outstanding International players; Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown and Danny Care in particular all added an extra dimension to Harlequins and are absolutely vital to their play off hopes. Sale found themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to chase a game and it didn't really sit well with them... Steve Diamond admitted afterwards his men had just run out of gas slightly which was obviously disappointing however given their horrific season last year I think that secretly he'll be quite happy with 5th position in the table after 19 rounds. On an individual note Danny Cipriani continued to remind Stuart
Lancaster that he would rather like to visit New Zealand this year and Dwayne Peel reminded us all of the fact that a 10 is only as good as his 9 makes him look!!! Across the board Harlequins looked comfortable, Sam Smith
continued to score tries for fun, Nick Evans showed exactly why he gained so
many All Black Caps and Chris Robshaw was at his mercurial best. The result meant that
Sale now slightly out of the playoff contention and Harlequins continue to march
forward and breathe heavily down the necks of Bath Rugby above them. At Sandy Park the Exeter Chiefs needed every ounce of muscle to put away the Worcester Warriors who once again displayed a huge amount of grit and determination to keep their Premiership Great Escape dream alive for another week. The Chiefs raced to a 21-3 lead after just half an hour of rugby however Worcester showed just how far they have come in order to wrestle the game back with Chris Pennell and Bristol bound David Lemi keeping the game in touching distance at the break. Gareth Steenson was the stand out Chief as he coolly reminder Rob Baxter of his credentials however it was Ryan Lamb who had the toughest job of the afternoon having to hold his nerve to secure the losing bonus point with a last minute penalty kick. Baxter hailed the victory as a ‘massive’ one; Baxter’s men have Europe in their sights through either automatic qualification or through the playoff route. Dean Ryan as always warned us all to write off his side at our peril... the mountain that they have to climb might be the size of Ben Nevis however it is one that he and his team fancy scaling.
The final fixture of Round 19 was at the Madjeski Stadium between London Irish and the Newcastle Falcons and with Irish safe for another year the Newcastle Falcons were the ones with everything to play for. Now I am by no means an expert in the matter of rugby history knowledge however I don’t think that there have been many Premiership fixtures that have had the same score at half time as at full time, Sunday’s fixture was certainly unique in that respect. The crowd were treated to a barrage of points scoring action in the first forty minutes of the game thanks to six tries, five conversions and four penalties. Andrew Fenby’s hat-trick will have tasted very sweet against his former side and Irish pulled Newcastle apart for forty minutes. From a Newcastle perspective it made for difficult viewing, the ever honest Dean Richards described it as ‘the worst half of rugby’ that he had ever seen! Unsurprisingly in the second half Newcastle picked up their game and displayed much more attacking intent however Irish had a point to prove and did not allow the visitors onto the try scoring sheet. Newcastle remain mathematically unsafe and have the daunting task of entertaining Saracens in Round 20 whilst Irish head to Franklin’s Gardens to be entertained by the Northampton Saints.
So there you have it, the dramatic Round 19 in a nutshell... of course there were more moments to describe and individuals to highlight however we could be here until the Premiership Final if I were to include every single detail... irrespective of condensing down the action it was still a mighty fine round of rugby. Now there are just three rounds left until the playoffs and there is still so much to play for that I cannot wait until Friday night when the action starts all over again!
View All The Out On The Full Photos from Welford Road & Allianz Park Here.
View All The Out On The Full Photos from Welford Road & Allianz Park Here.
