Dramatic... thrilling... pulsating... once again the Aviva Premiership delivered us a weekend of drama and scintillating action. Right now on Sunday evening I have a sore throat caused by a lot of shouting beside a rugby pitch, a feeling that I'm sure many of you know well!!? It was quite the weekend so let's dive into the full Aviva Premiership Round 2 review;
In the blissful sunshine The Rec enjoyed almost a point a minute as Bath hosted London Welsh. It was a much
improved performance from Justin Burnell’s side in spite of the fact if you
looked at the scoreline, 53-26, cold you may not think so. Defensively Welsh
did have more structure and in attack more impetuous; Weepu may still be far
from match fit but his hands and distribution are as good as ever, Peter
Browne and Lachlan McCaffrey were dogged and across the board Welsh got well and truly stuck in, technical term there!! Bath’s defence wasn’t up to the standard that their management
team would like being described as ‘disappointing’ by Head Coach Toby Booth but
in their 53 points there were many positives. Kyle Eastmond, Semesa Rokoduguni and
Jonathan Joseph all were extremely potent in attack, Carl Fearns simply
destroyed the field and young Chris Cook sealed his Premiership debut with a
try and a superbly assured performance. Defensively Bath may not have been up
to par however they looked like an extremely fit side and a side that had so
much more in the tank. 5 points for Bath and Welsh’s first, all in all a solid
day’s work at The Rec. Final Result Bath Rugby 53 London Welsh 26 
Enticing, enthralling and nail biting; Sandy Park was in full voice as
the Exeter Chiefs came so close to recording their first Aviva Premiership win
over the Leicester Tigers since February 2012. The Chiefs continued to showcase
their much improved game plan as they delivered the fast paced and physical game
that we saw against London Welsh. The
young centres to watch Sam Hill and Henry Slade weren’t phased by their
esteemed opponents, Allen and Tuilagi and instead they, like their
entire side, matched the visitors from the East Midlands physically and in their
attacking intent. Rob Baxter highlighted that; 'you have to try and cover all
the bases against a top side' and for most of the match they did that however
the Tigers used every ounce of their experience finish the match off when it mattered. Much
is being talked about the Freddie Burns and Ben Youngs partnership,
individually they both performed their positional duties extremely well and together
they are gelling and developing that instinctive partnership which could be very
potent for England as well as Richard Cockerill’s Tigers. Exeter’s losing bonus
point will be important, but around Sandy Park there will be lingering a sense
of, what if? Final Score Exeter
Chiefs 20 Leicester Tigers 24In the far North at Kingston Park as the Newcastle Falcons hosted London Irish. As we all know in tight games making your kicks at goal is essential and the home side's Juan Pablo Socino missed 15 points over the course of the match. Those 15 points would have given the Falcons their first win in 17 Premiership games, instead they must be content with a losing bonus point. 5 tries between the two sides and 3 from the Falcons showcased the fact that the new artificial pitch will stand them in good stead throughout the year and importantly winter however the win still eluded them. Brian Smith talked about the importance of starting their campaign and described his side in the following manner; "We’re going to get there. For the moment we’re a bunch of grinders who are working hard. When we get a bit of belief we can start to evolve our game." London Irish will be relieved to have come away with four points but will certainly need to raise their game against Saracens at home next weekend. Dean Richards knows that it was there for the taking, his diplomatic assessment was to protect his players however it will be hurting all with a Falcon on their chest tonight as 4 points don't come around too often. Final Score Newcastle Falcons 18 London Irish 20
Heading into the fixture between Wasps
and Northampton Saints at Adams Park few outside of the Wasps’ camp believed
that a home win was possible however the men in black and gold proved us all
wrong. It was an enthralling battle, by far the best 3-3 first half that we have seen in a
long time. It almost feels rude to showcase individuals from Wasps as it was a huge team effort to stifle the Northampton Saints and hold onto the win however Chris Bell’s physicality was phenomenal. Chris took on Courtney Lawes, Luther Burrell and indeed anyone who ran at him and won almost every time and in the back row Ashley Johnson
showcased another skill in his box of tricks; intercepting and running in tries. It must be
emphasised that Northampton did not play badly, were they at the dizzy heights
of last Friday night? No, however they certainly played a huge part in a
cracking game of rugby. Stephen Myler was his usual majestic self, Tom Wood worked himself into the ground and it was a tight, tight fixture. Jim Mallinder’s assessment as always was to the point
and spot on; ‘I don’t think we played badly today, but we weren’t quite
accurate enough’. George North’s try, not try, could have swung the game and
naturally Saints supporters will feel aggrieved as it was very close to call, had it been allowed it could
have been a different game, however Hartley and his side will analyse, focus
and head to Kingston Park smarting. Wasps, well they will go into their London Derby against Harlequins fired up and ready to rumble!! Final Score Wasps 20 Northampton Saints 16
This weekend proved exactly what we all knew, that this 2014/15 season will be the most competitive and exciting one that we have seen in recent years. Unexpected wins and comeback kings it was quite the Aviva Premiership weekend wasn't it!?!
View all the Out On The Full Photos from the weekend here
