Premiership Round 1 Review - Comebacks, near misses and more

Welcome to the first Premiership Rugby review of the new season. As always this is a round up of the weekend's action and will be followed now by a set of ‘Round Reflections’. From unfathomable comebacks to historic wins Round 1 gave us a little bit of everything so let’s dive straight into the first six matches of the 2016-17 season. 

Gloucester 31 - 38 Leicester Tigers

(C) Paler Images

There's nothing like starting the new season with a bang is there?! Match one and we were treated to 69 points, 9 tries and a truly astounding comeback from Leicester. It was the ultimate game of two halves and one that even the Directors of Rugby struggled to truly explain afterwards. Gloucester started so well and showed us what they can do if they hit their straps but then capitulated on all fronts. Cool decision making was one of the points that I made in their season preview and choosing to head to the corner in the 73rd minute is exactly the type of decision I was talking about. I would not want to have been in Leicester’s changing room at half-time because I expect Richard Cockerill went apoplectic with rage. As the tables turned Gloucester’s bench weren’t able to press on and Leicester grew in confidence. Sam Harrison’s performance was outstanding seamlessly shifting from 9 to 10 and he’ll be a huge asset this season if he continues in that manner. Without question the Tigers used one of their 'Get Out Of Jail Free Cards' with this match and their fans will hope they won't need to use too many more over the coming 22 rounds! 

Key Player: Sam Harrison. By far the pick of a very good second-half from Leicester Tigers. 

Newcastle Falcons 19-17 Sale Sharks

At Kingston Park the Sale Sharks had the opportunity to steal the result from their hosts but Dan Mungford couldn't quite nail the three points and the Newcastle Falcons held on. The hosts hadn’t won an opening round fixture for eight seasons but on the whole did deserve to take this one. They didn’t take all of the chances and the word in the dressing room after was that if they had stuck to their shapes and strengths then they could have won by more. The Sharks’ discipline was a key area that Steve Diamond will want to sharpen up ahead of their return to the AJ Bell Stadium and of course ensuring AJ MacGinty is fully fit to start. On an injury front losing Rob Webber to a broken arm is a big blow and we all wish him a speedy recovery.  

Key Duo: 182 metres made and 26 carries for Sinoti Sinoti and Vereniki Goneva combined - a solid start!

Saracens 35 - 3 Worcester Warriors

If you haven't seen the opening match of the London Double Header then do yourself a favour and start the game at half-time. After the drama of Friday night Twickenham fell a little for 40 minutes, although credit must go to Worcester's defence to containing Saracens so well. Alas they couldn't continue their pressure and four second half tries provided the Champions with their bonus point. The pick was a sensational solo effort from Ben Spencer, although Schalk Brits' offload out of contact to Schalk Burger was pretty special too! Worcester missed the sparks that Chris Pennell and Francois Hougaard provide in attack but were determined and dogged defensively and will be targeting the wounded Gloucester side arriving at Sixways on Friday night. 

Key Player: 23 carries and 77 metres made for Billy Vunipola. One notable fumble of a high ball but overall a productive afternoon for England's current number 8. 

Northampton Saints 14 - 18 Bath Rugby

At Franklin's Gardens Bath recorded their first victory there since 2000 thanks to the commanding performance of the pack and the quality of George Ford. The fly-half delivered all 18 of their points and showed much greater experience and game management skills than his opposite number. It was a physical contest but the hosts simply couldn't convert their opening half possession and territory into points. Bath dominated two usual areas of Saints strength; the scrum and lineout and continued to do so when their replacement front row arrived. Nic Groom's late brace, in the final six minutes, took the edge of the scoreboard and tested Bath's belief but a four point margin slightly flattered the hosts. Saints that fired far too late in the match and need to deliver from the outset when they travel to Ashton Gate next weekend. 

Key Player: George Ford. The fly-half not only managed a huge amount of traffic down his channel but showed his impeccable feel for the game with quality kicking out of hand and played the conditions with ease. 

Harlequins 21 - 19 Bristol Rugby

Bristol's return to Premiership Rugby could have been a true fairytale story alas Harlequins pulled themselves together just in time to spoil the ending. John Kingston's side had to wait until the 65th minute to start to feel as if they may take control but all in honesty it wasn't ever truly comfortable and that's testament to the attitude and application of Andy Robinson's Bristol. Throughout the newly promoted squad we saw players embrace the Twickenham stage with Ryan Edwards being a prime example of that. It was a match that had plenty to discuss adjudication wise and personally I'm not fully on board with this new style of officiating for forward passes. But, let's park that to one side for now and conclude that it was an enjoyable 80 minutes to observe. Bristol know that it’s only round one but they’ll take plenty of confidence back to a packed Ashton Gate and Harlequins must pull their socks up on the road at the AJ Bell Stadium. 

Key Player: Handed this one to Tusi Pisi with 13 carries, 137 metres made and a try. According to Opta that's the most  metres made by Premiership Rugby fly-half since April 2014. 

Wasps 25 - 20 Exeter Chiefs

The final game of the weekend took place at the Ricoh Arena and as is always the case between Wasps and Exeter there were plenty of points scored and it went down to the wire. Exeter started the stronger of the two; they took their chances in the forty and showed a dominant set piece. Chasing a nine point deficit at half-time Dai Young reminded his players about the work rate and tempo that he expected from them and clearly his words were taken to heart as the hosts pressed on in the second and wrestled the game back. Tommy Taylor had a storming debut for his new side, Joe Launchbury led their physicality and throughout Jimmy Gopperth oozed class being instrumental in almost all of their points. Exeter’s opening half was filled with positives but Rob Baxter’s focus this week will be to fathom why they couldn’t answer Wasps’ rise in intensity during the second. Tiredness? A little rusty mentally? I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of it before a repeat of last season's Premiership final in just a few days time. 

Key Player: Jimmy Gopperth - plenty of eyes were on Danny Cipriani on his return but the Kiwi was the man in control. Notable mention to Dan Robson for his all around dynamism. 

Stuart Farmer's Premiership Rugby Round Facts

Stuart Farmer is the man in the know at Premiership Rugby when it comes to statistics. He's the official statistician for the competitoin and here are some of his pearls of wisdom about Round 1;

• The best Premiership Rugby season starter is Tom Varndell who has scored 8 opening weekend tries since his debut in 2005.
• Phil Dowson has been in a starting lineout on 13 separate opening Premiership Rugby weekend
• It was the first time in Leicester Tigers’ 136 year history that they’ve overturned a 24 point deficit to win a match
• Matt Scott’s two tries on his Premiership Rugby debut makes him only the 5th Gloucester Rugby player to a achieve such a feet.