Saracens pummel Exeter as big guns return
After finding themselves in the unfamiliar surroundings of second place in the Aviva Premiership last week, Saracens welcomed back their England players and smashed Exeter Chiefs 36-18. Owen Farrell in particular was in sparkling form for Sarries and helped himself to 14 points including a try to go along with scores from Alex Goode, Billy Vunipola, Jackson Wray and Chris Wyles. The Chiefs seemed utterly shell-shocked by the ferocity of Saracens’ play and were dominated in all phases. Their tries both came from Thomas Waldrom, his ninth and tenth of the season, and two penalties from Gareth Steenson helped them to their 18 points but Saracens made an impressive statement with their resurgent play.
Sale Sharks have quietly turned AJ Bell Stadium into a hellish place for teams to visit. Unbeaten there in 11 months, the Sharks’ latest victims were Leicester who fell 27-20 in a game that was broken up by stoppages due to lightning. After Veriniki Goneva had dropped the ball over the line, Sale countered with a try of their own, Danny Cipriani providing the break before feeding Nev Edwards who found Cameron Neild. Less than 10 minutes later, Edwards played scorer after Will Addison’s kick downfield somehow stayed infield and Sam James gathered to put Edwards in under the posts. With Cipriani on imperious form, both tries were converted and a penalty was added to give Sale a 17-6 lead at the end of the first half.
However, just prior to the break, Tommy Bell dotted down in the corner after a bullocking run from Manu Tuilagi to bring Leicester back into the fray. After halftime, and the weather-enforced break, it was Goneva who struck next, atoning for his earlier gaffe by finishing off a sweeping move and drawing Leicester level at 20-20. It was of course Cipriani who stepped in to preserve Sale’s unbeaten home record, by producing a moment of individual brilliance, beating several defenders on his way into the left corner for the match-winning try.
Newcastle came up against a Wasps-shaped stumbling block in their quest for Premiership survival, falling 34-20, while Northampton beat Harlequins 29-23 and Bath topped Gloucester 17-12. Worcester put their league safety almost beyond doubt by beating London Irish 12-6.
Aviva Premiership Star Men: Danny Cipriani/Owen Farrell
PRO12 play-off race hotting up
With four rounds remaining before the Guinness Pro12 playoffs, Connacht and Scarlets notched victories to inch closer to guaranteeing themselves knockout rugby in May. Connacht clung on to a crucial 7-6 win over second placed Leinster, with Kieran Marmion’s try keeping the table-toppers in control. The scrum-half chased down a Niyi Adeolokun chip early in the first half and dotted down to give Connacht the lead. With the conditions conspiring to ruin any chance of running rugby, the respective defences came to the fore and the sides ground against each other for a tectonic half hour. Just after the break, Ian Madigan slotted Leinster’s first points with a penalty kick, after missing earlier, and then made the score 7-6 with a second kick after an hour. With fresh legs coming on, Connacht were forced to defend desperately on their own try-line and after repeatedly denying their opponents, they finally forced a turnover and escaped with a narrow victory.
The Scarlets’ 25-16 defeat over rivals Ospreys held extra significance as they cemented their third place spot, just two points behind Leinster in second. It was the Ospreys, however, who started the game at a sprint, with Josh Matavesi scoring after fifteen minutes thanks to slick interplay from Sam Davies and Dan Evans, and Davies converting and adding a penalty. Scarlets trailed 10-3 with Dan Jones’ penalty their only scalp, when DTH Van der Merwe popped up to score his seventh league try of the season from Morgan Allen’s pass. Jones added the extras and he and Davies swapped penalties to see the sides into half-time level at 16-16. The deadlock stayed intact until after the hour mark, despite both sides generating almost certain scoring opportunities, and it was left up to replacement fly-half Aled Thomas who kicked four penalties in the final 15 minutes to shut the door on Ospreys.
In Friday’s slate of fixtures, Munster and Cardiff Blues handed out drubbings to Zebre and Benetton Treviso respectively. The Irishmen denied their Italian counterparts a single point, winning 47-0 and Cardiff broke the half century, eventually triumphing 56-8. Glasgow kept themselves in the playoff discussion with a 27-17 victory over Ulster thanks to their returning international contingent, and Sunday’s match saw Edinburgh sneak a 16-15 win against the Dragons, despite a spotty kicking performance from Sam Hidalgo-Clyne.
Guinness Pro12 Star Man: Stuart Hogg
Montpellier put pressure on Top 14 top two
Racing 92 fell out of the top three league places after their 21-20 defeat to fellow high-fliers Toulon. An early Delon Armitage try from an interception gave Toulon an advantage and Frederic Michalak kicked two first-half penalties on his return to the side. Racing landed a solitary penalty from Dan Carter, but were unable to breach the Toulon defence and fell victim to their opposition’s opportunism once more after the break; Theo Belan running in a second score after Charles Ollivon gathered a loose ball. Carter’s second penalty made the scoreline 18-6 with an hour gone, and it was not until the final ten minutes that Racing jolted into life. Two tries in three minutes, courtesy of Wenceslas Lauret and Carter, were both duly converted by Carter and Racing were suddenly two points ahead with little time left on the clock. Cue Michalak, who stroked over a penalty with the game’s final kick to give Toulon their hardest-fought victory of recent times.
Meanwhile, Montpellier extended their winning streak to five games, by defeating bottom-dwellers Agen 45-21. Timoci Nagusa and Bismarck Du Plessis extended their impressive try-scoring form with two each, with Pierre Spies and Wiaan Liebenberg also crossing to continue the strong South African representation. Although Agen stayed in contention for much of the game, with tries from Alexis Bales, Tamaz Mchedlidze and a penalty try, Montpellier were too strong to surrender the lead and with 15 points coming from a combination of Demetri Catrakilis, Benoit Paillaugue and Frans Steyn, the bonus point victory was safely delivered to Jake White.
Clermont Auvergne quietly retained top spot with their defeat of Bordeaux Begles by 24-19, and Brive beat Castres 23-22 in the battle of mid-table. Grenoble v La Rochelle saw Grenoble claim a bonus point victory 39-24 and Pau beat Oyonnax 25-6. In the late Sunday fixture, Toulouse thrashed Stade Francais 36-3.
Top 14 Star Man: Patricio Fernandez
Chiefs run riot, Sunwolves run aground
The Chiefs played some utterly jaw-dropping rugby in their tonking of the Western Force by 53-10. Leading just 12-10 at the half, the Chiefs went bananas in the second period, scoring 41 unanswered points including 7 tries. The New Zealanders were expected to show signs of fatigue having travelled through South Africa and Argentina in their recent schedule, but instead recorded nine total tries, coming from Charlie Ngatai (4), Damian Mckenzie (2), Michael Leitch, Toni Pulu and James Lowe. The second half showed a Chiefs side in complete control, and the offloading was simply sublime with special commendation to Aaron Cruden who was flinging audacious offloads all night long. The Force scored their only try through Ben Tapuai but were unprepared for the onslaught that awaited them after the break.
The Crusaders were made to fight tooth and nail for their 19-14 victory over the Sharks, as each side had a late try chalked off by the TMO. David Havili opened the scoring for the Crusaders, bundling over from one metre out, after a lovely Nemani Nadolo offload, but only ten minutes later, Lwazi Mvovo pounced on a loose pass and sprinted home to level the scores, 7-7 at halftime. The Crusaders continued to pound on the Sharks defensive wall, but the South African side forced more mistakes, and when a ball bobbled free from the Crusader’s grasp, Mvovo was there again to gather and score his second of the game. Nadolo scored soon after to bring the scores level once more, with both sides being denied tries after referral to the TMO. It fell to Kieran Read to rescue his side with a 72nd minute try that allowed the Crusaders to leave Durban with a hard-fought win.
The Sunwolves are still searching for their first Super Rugby victory, as they were denied by the Bulls, 30-27, and their fellow newcomers, Los Jaguares, also lost a narrow match, 13-8 to the Stormers. Friday saw the Hurricanes record their third win on the bounce against the Southern Kings, by 42-10, while the Highlanders (27-3 vs Rebels), Brumbies (25-18 vs Cheetahs) and Waratahs (15-13 vs Reds) were also successful in Round 5.
Super Rugby Star Man: Damian McKenzie
Try of the Week: Danny Cipriani’s game-saving solo effort against Leicester. You also owe it to yourself to watch the Chiefs vs Force highlights for some awesome tries.
Hero of the Week: Thomas Waldrom, for scoring his 26th try in 37 appearances for Exeter Chiefs. Thomas the Tank topped the try-scoring tables last year, and his 10th score of the 2015-16 season has him on top once more. Toot toot!
Villain of the Week: Father Time, who has called an end to Andy Goode’s rugby career (again), as the fly-half played his last match for Newcastle. In the three months since Goode joined the Falcons, they have recorded wins against Leicester, Quins, Bath and Saints. Enjoy retirement, Andy.
By Fraser Kay (@fraserkay)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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