Five out of six away wins, standout performances at both ends of the table and a potential resignation on social media. It’s fair to say that Round 17 was an eventful one and one that is going to take some digesting. In a change to the normal format I'm going to dive into detail on a few of the key talking points from the Round instead of looking at things match by match.
First and foremost let’s start at Sixways and discuss the basement battle that took place between Worcester Warriors and Bristol Rugby. Nearly every season we get to a point where the two teams meet for a season-defining match and more often than not these duels are cagey affairs. Often both sides are scared to lose and therefore go into their shells with one just prevailing marginally at the end. On Sunday Worcester Warriors emphatically tore up the history books and showed us all that there's another way to do it.
In my book Round 17 was by far Worcester’s best performance of the season - it eclipsed their win over Saracens due to the way in which they embraced the occasion and the pressure that was on them. They were inspired from the very first minute and their slick output contrasted with the stutters that we saw from Bristol. At the heart of their output was Francois Hougaard - he is their spark, their general and the man that instills confidence in those around him. Hougaard is perhaps the most important bit of recruitment any side has done over the past few seasons and with his distribution, energy and eye for a try they delivered. Indeed the challenge for Worcester now is to produce at that intensity each week - as we all know consistency is king in this league - and if they do they’ll not be hanging around in the bottom two nearly as much.
So the question is what now for Bristol? Well their match against Gloucester at Ashton Gate is it. There aren't any second chances, it's the real deal and in front of their home fans they have to condure the belief and performance to pray on Gloucester's own worries and gain the result. At Sixways key players didn't deliver and that cannot happen again they need to do to Gloucester what Worcester did to them which is to dictate the game from the opening moments and never look back. It's a huge ask however given what I'm just about to talk about regarding the Cherry and Whites there is a spot of hope.
So the question is what now for Bristol? Well their match against Gloucester at Ashton Gate is it. There aren't any second chances, it's the real deal and in front of their home fans they have to condure the belief and performance to pray on Gloucester's own worries and gain the result. At Sixways key players didn't deliver and that cannot happen again they need to do to Gloucester what Worcester did to them which is to dictate the game from the opening moments and never look back. It's a huge ask however given what I'm just about to talk about regarding the Cherry and Whites there is a spot of hope.
I think it’s fair to say that most weekends the Premiership discussion centres largely around the televised fixtures yet in Round 17 another caught all of our attentions - Gloucester v Harlequins. After 55 minutes Gloucester looked to have the game in the bag alas their final quarter curse struck and John Kingston's side travelled back home elated with their smash and grab victory. Obviously credit must be heaped on the shoulders of Harlequins for their ability to keep going and take the game however it is worrying for the Cherry and Whites that this type of finish happened again. It goes without saying that it sends signals to other teams in the competition of just how vunerable they can be in the latter stages and shaky confidence is something that's so difficult to get rid of. Being on the outside of Gloucester’s camp I don’t know the root causes for their difficult final quarters but answers need to be found and found fast. Given Laurie Fisher's comments on Twitter afterwards saying that it's ‘time to make room for someone else’ change in the set-up might arrive quickly at the club and we'll wait for the club's comment on those matters. For now they have to try and erase the hurt of the weekend and answer those questions to ensure that no further capitulations happen.
Elsewhere Exeter Chiefs impressed with their performance at Welford Road as did Wasps at The Recreation Ground. Rob Baxter’s Chiefs are a world away from their difficult start to the new Premiership season - they have their all-court game back and are riding confidently into the final rounds of the season. With three home games and trips to The Stoop and Kingsholm left you’d fancy them to secure a home quarter-final but if Saracens sneak ahead then they won't be too fussed about heading away from home. The same can be said for Dai Young’s Wasps who are ticking along very nicely indeed and showing the full extent of squad depth. Kurtley Beale, Tommy Taylor and Danny Cipriani stole the headlines at The Rec and rightly so but it’s the work of the collective that’s pushing them forwards each week and they’re looking good for honours this season aren’t they?
With a couple of Anglo-Welsh Cup weeks on the way Out On The Full's focus will now shift back to the RBS 6 Nations and England's final two rounds. It promises to be an enthralling finish to the competition and after that Round 18 of Premiership arrives in town before the European quarter-finals. It's a great time of year as pieces of the puzzles in all of the different competitions are starting to fall into place and as always we're expecting a few twists and turns before they are firmly fixed in and fates at the top and bottom of the table are decided.
