Sarries surge past Tigers, Chiefs stun Saints
The Premiership playoff race is really starting to hot up now as the mathematically challenging equation of trying to fit seven into four begins to show signs of strain – and the strain was never more obvious than it was on the faces of the Tigers as they went down 22 – 6 away to Saracens at Allianz Park. Despite Leicester leading 6 – 0 in the first half, the hosts gradually grew into the game but the key moment came at the end of the first half when Tom Youngs – who otherwise had an impressive game – cynically (and needlessly) blocked Chris Ashton as the England man was chasing down Mat Tait and was shown a yellow card for his troubles.
In just over that time, the men in black barrelled over for three superbly taken tries, and it was game over. Leicester did have a monopoly on possession in the last quarter but, alas, were about as threatening in attack as Mother Theresa – although that is not to detract from Sarries’ ‘blanket of black’ defence, which was at its Wolf Pack-ish best throughout. The north-Londoners move back into second spot, and it means that the Tigers have an awful lot of work to do get into the top four.
Exeter took Leicester’s spot in the playoff positions, taking full advantage of a Northampton side still reeling from their mauling in France a week ago. At Sandy Park the hosts were in superb form, with Henry Slade catching the eye in particular, but it was full back Phil Dollman who really set the game alight with a marvellous individual try, motoring past forwards and dummying his way past three defenders in the process.
The pack were also in sublime form, giving one of the most physical units in England a rare going over in both the loose and at scrum time, where British and Irish Lion Alex Corbisiero was in all sorts of trouble against Tomas Francis. A penalty try was just reward, with only a consolation from Jamie Elliot giving the score an air of respectability at 21-10.
Elsewhere, Bath picked up a bonus point in an entertaining win at Newcastle where the hosts impressed again with their enterprise, but the talking point was – as usual – Sam Burgess, this time making his first Premiership start at flanker. The big man had a largely decent game – carrying well and even pinching a turnover – and looks a prospect for sure, but he’ll need a lot more time to adapt. There were also entertaining wins for London Irish and Harlequins over Sale and Gloucester respectively, whilst Wasps picked up the mandatory five points against London Welsh, with Tom Varndell jogging in a hat-trick.
Premiership Star Man: Billy Vunipola
Dragons do the double over Leinster
Undoubtedly the game of the weekend in the PRO12 was Newport Gwent Dragons’ sensational comeback victory over Leinster in a real thriller at Rodney Parade. Although Thomas Rhys Thomas (one of the most obviously Welsh names around) scored early, it was all Leinster thereafter, with a score from Jimmy Gopperth and a brace from Ben Te’o putting the province in control at 22-8 after 50 minutes. But then Jack Dixon scored a try and, with 10 minutes remaining and Te’o in the sin-bin, substitute back-rower James Benjamin entered the fray to score a quickfire double to hand the hosts a famous victory.
Across the Irish sea, Tommy Bowe scored a double in Ulster’s entertaining 27 – 20 win over rivals Connacht, whilst a last-minute penalty from Rhys Priestland cruelly denied Zebre a superb win at Parc y Scarlets, but the 28 – 26 victory keeps the Welsh side’s hope of a top six finish alive. Pacesetters Glasgow, and rivals Munster and Ospreys all came away with easy wins over Cardiff Blues, Edinburgh and Treviso respectively.
Pro12 Star Man: Tommy Bowe
Do not adjust your screens… Oyannax beat Clermont… AT Stade Marcel Michelin
Fans of the French side will point to the fact that the hosts made a bucket load of changes to a side which pretty much defined the term ‘champagne rugby’ last weekend in Europe, but this was still a team that boasted the likes of Zac Guilford, Aurelien Rougerie and Tomas Domingo, and the loss at home against Oyannax will certainly rank as one of the biggest upsets ever in Top 14.
After leading early on through a Peceli Yato try, the European giants never looked comfortable and a Soane Tonga’uiha score plus two penalties from Ben Urdapilleta – one five minutes from time – saw the visitors come away with a stunning victory after holding off late surges with 14 men.
There was also good viewing at Stade Yves-du-Manoir as Montpellier and Racing Metro played out a 24-24 draw, with Maxime Machenaud and Antoine Claassen grabbing braces for the visitors, who couldn’t win despite outscoring their hosts four tries to two. Elsewhere, La Rochelle and Stade Français also played out a draw – this time 19 apiece – whilst there were narrow victories at home for Brive, Castres and Toulouse over Lyon, Bordeaux Begles and Bayonne respectively. Things were rather more comfortable for Toulon, although they still had to be on their game to put away Grenoble 34 – 25 away from home.
Top 14 Star Man: Ben Urdapilleta
Blues get off the mark against the Brumbies
The under-performing Blues finally ended a run of seven straight defeats with a win against the Brumbies in Auckland on Friday night, and it was all thanks to ex-London Irish and Leicester playmaker Dan Bowden, who is filling in at 10 these days. The Kiwi was in sparkling form as he darted over for a score, kicked his goals and distributed neatly, but it was his replacement Ihaia West who hogged the glory with a late penalty from wide-out to win the game after his side had done their best to throw it away, letting the Aussies back into it through Liausii Taliauli’s well-taken try and, even then, the hosts had to rely on Nic White missing a last-gasp penalty attempt in order to celebrate a win.
There was also an eyebrow-raiser in Canterbury, where the Crusaders were downed by this season’s dark horses, the Highlanders. The hosts looked in control thanks to early scores from Matt Todd and Jordan Taufua, but a Ben Smith try and a superb double from Waisake Naholo saw the visitors complete a famous smash n’grab at the home of the seven time champions.
There was joy for the South Africans on tour as well as the Stormers and the Cheetahs picked up unexpected victories over the Waratahs and the Force, with the Bulls completing the dominance over Australian sides with a 43 – 22 win over the Reds at Loftus. There was also a huge win for the Lions – who continue to surprise this season – turning over the Sharks 23 – 21 in a thriller in Johannesburg.
Super Rugby Star Man: Dan Bowden
Try of the Week: You’ll go a long way to see a better individual effort than that of Sinoti Sinoti for Newcastle against Bath on Friday. Sure, you can point at some pretty weak tackling – see Semesa Rokoduguni’s wet attempt – but you can’t detract from the acceleration, balance and strength of the Samoan flyer as he beat four men to score in the corner.
Hero of the Week: In truth this could have gone to the entire Exeter pack for a brutal display against their much-vaunted opponents from Northampton, but you can’t beat a good super-sub. With two tries in four minutes to turn the game around for his side, take a bow James Benjamin; the flanker was instrumental in helping the Dragons to a superb win over Leinster.
Villain of the Week: Despite having a fine game in virtually every other aspect, the importance of discipline in the top games came to the fore as Tom Youngs saw yellow for a brainless infringement in his own 22. When he left the field, his side were winning – when he returned, the Tigers had conceded two tries and were in the position from which they would concede a third.
By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
12 replies on “Best of the weekend: Exeter, Dragons & Oyonnax pull off shock wins”
No kind words for Dave Ewers? He was a monster this weekend, making massive tackles, defending the line like a flood defence wall and powering over the gain line time and again.
Possibly the best performance from the Chiefs pack this year and that’s saying something, given how this year has gone!
Try of the week, I’d have a look at Peter Horne’s first 2 from the Glasgow game. Both created by Tommy Seymour, brilliant running! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vj9wYEwXQs
Tomas Francis is nailed on for a cap in the Welsh friendlies in the summer then. It’ll be interesting to see if any battles develop there – perhaps England might come calling?
Looks like a good prospect. He had Corbisiero on toast. Corbisiero seems to have struggled since his last injury, and he won’t be getting his England shirt back any time soon with those kind of performances.
Tigers looked beaten after the first try was scored on the stork of half time. They tried to come back when they had their full 15 back on the pitch, but they lack any real threat in attack, and look predictable and slow with ball in hand. No-one seemed to be stepping up to take the lead and make decisions.
The fact that they are still in with a chance of getting in the play-offs when they’re clearly not playing that well is a testament to how strong they are, but you have to wonder how long Cockerill will keep his job if they keep playing like that.
Looking at the squad they had out, it should’ve been a much closer game, but they were actually quite poor.
They’ve really struggled since Matt O’Connor left as backs coach. Cockerill is fine head coach, but he’s pretty clueless when it comes to the backs IMO (he was a hooker, after all!). Paul Burke had the job but was binned half way through the season, and no one has really stepped up – I know Geordie Murphy helps out, but he’s still massively green as a coach.
I’d be surprised if they made the play-offs now. Wasps will be far too good in Coventry, and the Saints – even playing as poorly as they are – will be a tough ask. Aaron Mauger can’t arrive soon enough.
Interesting comment on MOC given how much he is being slated for Leinster’s reportedly hopeless backs play this season. Leinster are well on course to fail to make the Pro 12 playoffs for the first time ever – in fact they have been in every final so far.
Although the Blues were hapless I have to say that Glasgow look a bit like Leinster of old in the way their backline ticks – patience, probing on each phase, changing the pt of attack when needed and played at a cracking pace. It’s amazing that Scotland were not more successful recently given how good Glasgow look.
It’s a strange one, but perhaps O’Connor is finding it tough to adapt to the demands of being a full on head coach. I know his partnership with Cockerill was one that worked well – neither really gave an inch and they tended to have quite heated arguments over selection.
But it seemed to work on the pitch. On their own, neither seem to be prospering nearly as well. Here’s hoping Aaron Mauger can hold his own when Cockers comes snarling at him!
Agreed looked at Glasgow and thought 9-15 all Warriors would be excellent for Scotland and then we get a Scrum Half who was excellent in the AI but went back to his pedestrian speed.
I was at the game on Saturday, and Youngs’ brainless yellow really started their collapse. The problem is unlike the Tigers of old, they never really looked like getting back in the game. As soon as Billy V wrestled his way over the line, quite a few of their heads went down, and when Bosch scored early in the second half, a lot of them looked beaten.
They need a morale boost, but I can’t see them getting back in the top four this season with the run-in they have.
Not meaning to take anything away from the performance by the Chiefs’ pack but Saints’ scrum has been pretty wobbly this year, and yesterday demonstrated why – referees are wise to their tactics now and they aren’t very good at adapting. Corbs’ technique has more or less always been to bore in but now he’s getting pinged for it. I think he’s also got a problem in that he’s going higher to save his knackered knees, and that’s making life harder. Worrying signs.
The Chiefs have three hard games remaining plus a Euro Challenge semi final this weekend. They could win all their remaining games and equally they could lose them such is the competition this season. However, whatever the results Mr Lancaster should come calling at Sandy Park for Nowell, obviously, Slade to replace Twelvetrees,, Ewers as a possible replacement for Morgan if he does not recover in time but most importantly Francis as he must not be allowed to disappear over the Severn Bridge