If this weekend’s Premiership Round was an episode of Eastenders then it would most certainly be the Christmas Special, you know exactly the one I mean, the one in which the Mitchell family have an almighty row in the Queen Vic and something jaw dropping happens. It was without a doubt the most intense and dramatic weekend that we have seen so far in this the 2014/15 season and will take some reviewing, so sit down, relax and enjoy the full, Out On The Full Round 10 review;
On Friday the action started on a wet and windy night in Manchester, where the Sale Sharks hosted the Exeter Chiefs. I have to admit that I did predict an Exeter victory however as we all saw that prediction was blown out the water by a sterling effort from the entire Sale squad. In less than perfect weather Steve Diamond’s men squeezed the Chiefs and as Rob Baxter said Sale ‘got the important bits of the game right’. Those important bits were the set-piece battle, territory and discipline. The territory was thanks to the sublime kicking game of Danny Cipriani who shone in front of a watching Stuart Lancaster and in my eyes was majestic during the time that he was on the field. Henry Slade wasn’t far behind him, performance wise, he made even the most difficult situations look utterly effortless and was a joy to watch. All in all it was a bump in the road for the Chiefs and the most impressive win of Sale’s season to date.
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| (C) Claire Jones |
Saturday 20th December will long be remembered in the history of the Northampton Saints for triumphing over the Leicester Tigers with 14 men for 60 minutes doesn’t happen all the time does it!? Did Dylan Hartley deserve a red card or would a yellow have been sufficient? That is a question that will be talked about for weeks to come and one that will divide the country however what will be unanimously agree upon is the fact that the card was a catalyst for the Saints to showcase their very best rugby. Northampton’s balance of beautiful attacking flair mixed with bruising defensive intensity was sublime to watch. Luther Burrell, in particular, did everything that was asked of him and more and to a man Mallinder’s side deserved their victory. The Leicester Tigers exploited their numerical advantage for Niki Geneva’s two tries however as Cockers highlighted post game in the second half their defence went a little AWOL. I could continue and provide a blow by blow account but I won’t, instead I’ll say this; in my eyes it was one of the best Aviva Premiership games that we have seen this season.
At Allianz Park Saracens were ruthless and showed no mercy as they ran in 11 tries against a hurting London Welsh. As the 78-7 scoreline suggests Saracens were dominant in absolutely every single aspect of the game and they didn’t take their foot off the gas for a second, from a Welsh perspective it was very difficult to watch. One Saracen in particular should be called out for his input into the end result and that is Owen Farrell, who showcased his all around game and delivered a performance that should have answered many of his recent critics. Fellow England International Mako Vunipola also looked sharp and for Saracens it was a timely confidence booster going into a run of two games that they should win comfortable against the Newcastle Falcons and London Irish. For London Welsh their Aviva Premiership journey continues to be an extremely testing and hurtful one.
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| Winning Selfie @DomDay5 |
The second Derby of the weekend was at Kingsholm where Gloucester Rugby hosted Bath Rugby. The last meeting between these two was the famous yellow and red card debacle and thankfully this match had a little more structure to it! Bath put in a master class of how to defend, they were resolute and at many times in the game absolutely impenetrable. George Ford’s contributions were notable and stunning slotting five penalties in the first half and 3 conversions and a penalty in the second. The Gloucester pack had a tough day at the office conceding more penalties than Director of Rugby David Humphrey’s and indeed their fans would have liked and their penetration in attack also needs to be reviewed. These are both areas the Cherry and Whites are capable of changing and they'll want to do so before Wasps arrive in town next week; Bath will march confidently on to host Exeter next weekend.
In the final match of the weekend Wasps welcomed London Irish to their brand new home; The Ricoh Arena. In front of 28,254 people, Wasps hosted the perfect house warming for their fans as a phenomenal second half performance delivered a 48-16 win. It was the stuff that dreams are made of for fly half Andy Goode as he had one of his best day’s at the office ever, providing 33 of Wasps’ 48 points; an Aviva Premiership Record. At first it looked like Irish were going to spoil the party, Blair Cowen was exerting his dominance across the park and for forty minutes Wasps looked nervous. However Dai Young’s men considerably upped their game in the second thanks to the feet of Christian Wade who showcased great form and the efforts in particular of Elliot Daly and Joe Simpson. It was a historic afternoon for the players and indeed all of the individuals at Wasps that have worked tirelessly for months to secure its the club’s future, they couldn’t have asked for anything more than starting life in the Midlands with a bonus point victory.
Northampton Saints Photos © Claire Jones RedHatPhoto.com all proceeds supporting Restart, the rugby players' charity.
