Aviva Premiership Round 20: 5 things we learned

1. One foot in the play-offs

Wasps stormed back into play-off contention with a win over Exeter that epitomised their season – fast-paced and full of flair. Joe Simpson scored one of the solo tries of the campaign, and despite sitting in sixth, they must now be favourites to clinch the fourth play-off spot. Just three points separate them and Leicester in fourth, with Exeter wedged in between. It essentially means no side can afford another loss. When you look at the remaining fixtures, Wasps are the most likely to remain unbeaten. They host the Tigers in the next round – a game that is 1,000 ticket sales away from being a 32,000 sell-out – and then travel to London Irish, who look to have one foot on the beach already. The Tigers have to win at the Ricoh and beat Saints at home, neither of which they look like doing (they’ve been living in the play-off spots on borrowed time for some time now and could well be about to be found out), and Exeter face an away trip to Saracens, which, given their hosts will still be hunting a home semi-final, they look unlikely to win. Bonus points could come into it, but at the moment the team sat in sixth look the most likely to finish fourth.

2. Burgess finds his feet

It’s not been the seamless transition that everyone wanted and a lot predicted, but Sam Burgess is increasingly looking at home in Bath’s number six shirt, which will come as a surprise to most, after he was expected to slot in at either 12 or number eight. Against London Irish he won his second man of the match award in a row, typified once again by several strong carries. In fact, he took the ball to the line more often than any other player in a Bath shirt, and made more metres than any other forward. He showed good contact skills to steer a driving maul towards the line and flop over for another five pointer. Generally, he is looking happier at six than any other position he has tried so far. It was arguably a bit of a surprise to see him named man of the match – he had a good game but others had better – but it was nonetheless encouraging to see him feeling increasingly at home in union. A full (and extended) off season should be the priority now.

3. Joe Simpson needs to be in England’s World Cup squad

Joe Simpson is a man that needs to be included in England’s World Cup squad. His scintillating solo try against Exeter was one of the best for some time and proved why he has to be involved in the national set-up. International rugby is a step up, of course, but can you imagine how devastating he would be running at tired defences? He offers something different to any other option that England have at inside half-back, and that makes him an invaluable option to come off the bench. The areas of his game that might have needed some work in years gone by – namely game management and box-kicking – have come on leaps and bounds. He’s even had World Cup experience before, having somewhat bizarrely been part of the 2011 squad to New Zealand. He made one substitute appearance against Georgia at that tournament – his only cap to date. He should add to that tally sooner rather than later.

4. Youthful Englishmen prove value of salary cap

It was a weekend full of promise for the future of English rugby. There were more than a handful of names that impressed who won’t quite be ready for this World Cup, but you can bet they will feature at some point for England in the next decade. At Gloucester Billy Burns ran the show with aplomb and showed how dangerous he can be on the counter attack, while outside him Henry Purdy was in devastating finishing form. For Harlequins Charlie Walker also showed a killer instinct to dive over for a score, while at the Ricoh Arena Exeter’s youthful contingent all caught the eye – in particular a bustling, bristling cameo from Luke Cowan Dickie. Would all these guys (and there are undoubtedly more that have been missed) be getting the platform to show what they can do if the salary cap was raised and they had more foreign talent standing in their way? Almost certainly not. There is nowhere near the same number of young French stars breaking through in the Top 14, and it is no coincidence that their salary cap is that much higher.

5. Centres of excellence

England’s midfield has long been an area of consternation but this weekend several of the frontrunners for the 12 and 13 shirts in England’s World Cup team performed well. Luther Burrell looked back to his best for Saints, scything through the Saracens line to set up Manoa, while for Gloucester Billy Twelvetrees, so often maligned, cut some glorious lines and even showed a gem of a sidestep to bag a brace. For Bath Kyle Eastmond distributed with aplomb and Jonathan Joseph scored the kind of try that had everyone purring at the beginning of the season. It’s difficult to know whether it’s a blessing or a curse for Stuart Lancaster really – the midfield is the one area that causes more debate amongst England fans (and, you fancy, selectors) than almost the rest of them combined, but with everyone performing well it hardly becomes any easier.

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images