Ireland continue to shine, Wales outdone by the sublime

Ireland made it two from two in the way of ‘big scalps’ in their Autumn campaign, beating the Wallabies 26 – 23 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin – but they were made to sweat for it, with the men in gold staging a superb comeback after the hosts had roared into a 17 – 0 lead early on through a Simon Zebo touchdown following a Johnny Sexton kick and a Tommy Bowe intercept. Given the year that the Wallabies have had, you would have been forgiven for thinking that it was a case of game over, but there is something of a feel-good factor about Michael Cheika’s side at the moment and – despite the deficit – they had looked dangerous with the ball in hand…and they were soon right back into it.

Firstly, scrum half Nick Phipps touched down following another intercept and then the Tahs 9 turned provider, handing a (seemingly forward) pass to Bernard Foley for the fly half to dot down. The half-backs then combined again superbly for Phipps to score his second, leaving the score at 17 apiece due to Foley’s missed conversions. The boots of Foley and Sexton then traded points until the men in green led 26 – 23 with 16 minutes to play but, despite the pressure applied by the visitors in an electric atmosphere, this Ireland side look to be made of strong stuff and there was no last-minute capitulation as there was against the All Blacks last year. The Aussies are playing some exciting stuff and can take encouragement, but Ireland will be the happier knowing now that they can hold their nerve against the world’s elite.

And it was the world’s elite who held their nerve against Wales in Cardiff as well. Despite a scoreline of 16 – 34, it was a brutal encounter which yo-yo’d between the sides – and the hosts actually held a one point lead with 11 minutes to go, after scores from Julian Savea and Jerome Kaino were cancelled out by a Rhys Webb try and the torturous boot of Leigh Halfpenny. The Millennium Stadium seemed to sense that a genuine opportunity to create history was on the cards, with the pressure cooker atmosphere only intensifying the enormous hits that were being dished out by both sides, but in particular the men in red, who blitzed to great affect all day. Bu whether it was the pressure that told in the end, or the fact that the All Blacks are just that ruthless, the world champions demolished the Welsh side (and their dreams) in the last 10 minutes with three tries – two from Beauden Barrett (who had suffered a mixed day at the office) and another from the imperious Keiran Read. Another year, another defeat against the All Blacks – albeit against a backdrop of promise – and that 60 year wait for a win against the Kiwis goes on.

England, meanwhile, felt like they had been waiting an age to pick up a win too, having lost five on the bounce for the first time since 2006. A defeat was never seriously on the cards against a typically physical Samoan side, but it was a scrappy game full of English inaccuracies, brought about by poor handling and sizeable Samoan shoulders. Johnny May scored a very well taken double and Mike Brown picked up another after a delightful cross-field kick from George Ford, but they also had the referee to thank for ignoring a couple of suspect forward passes and for being – in my view – a tad over-zealous with the yellow-card after George Ford was clattered in the second half by Johnny Leota. It was a 28 – 9 win which came with the big plus that Ford was unflustered and impressive in the 10 jersey, but there are still plenty of questions to be answered heading into an intriguing clash against Wallabies next weekend.

Elsewhere, Scotland managed to shake off the demons of 2012 with a solid 37 – 12 win against Tonga, despite being held for the majority of a difficult first half – before a fine breakaway score from Stuart Hogg gave the sign for the hosts to cut loose and rack up a decent scoreline. The resurgence continues under Vern Cotter. Les Bleus, meanwhile, managed – in typical French fashion – to undo all their impressive work of the last fortnight by going down meekly to Argentina in Paris, the 13 – 18 scoreline coming courtesy of four superbly struck drop goals by fly-half Nicholas Sanchez, whilst South Africa stuttered to a 22 – 6 win over Italy in Rome.

Star Man: Nicholas Sanchez

Saints Smash Sarries Again

In the Premiership, there must be a growing sense of ‘bogey-team-ness’ in relation to Northampton amongst Saracens fans, with their side being well beaten at home by their conquerors from last year’s final. Tries from James Wilson and Phil Dowson – inside the first 20 minutes – gave the visitors an unassailable 19 point lead and, despite the inevitable come back through Jackson Wray and Chris Wyles scores, they were never going to claw back that deficit from the champions.

Elsewhere, there were impressive wins for Newcastle and Sale over Gloucester and Quins respectively, whilst Bath, Exeter and the Tigers all picked up convincing victories as well.

Star Man: James Wilson

Treviso hold Leinster to draw, Ulster condemn Ospreys to first defeat

One of the most eye-catching results of the weekend was the 8 try thriller in Italy, where Leinster and Treviso – both decimated by international call ups – scored four tries apiece in a 24 – 24 draw. The visitors looked to have snatched the win when Darragh Fanning went over with 10 minutes to go, but a late effort from hooker Davide Guazzon levelled things up – although Jayden Hayward missed the chance to convert for the win.

A hard-fought 26 – 15 win for Ulster ended the Ospreys 100 percent record in difficult conditions. The Welsh side still remain top of the pile but a brace from Darren Cave and an effort from Franco van der Merwe brought home the points for the hosts, who are starting to gather some serious momentum in their domestic campaign.

Elsewhere, there were big wins for Edinburgh, Munster and Connacht, whilst the Scarlets scrapped past Glasgow.

Star Man: Darren Cave

Try of the Week: Again, plenty to choose from, but Nick Phipps‘ second against Ireland involved some glorious interplay and handling in the build-up.

Hero of the Week: There were more impressive displays, sure, but the ability of George Ford, making his full debut, to get up time and again after being clattered, deserves some sort of recognition. Big cajones, my lad.

Villain of the Week: Maybe I’m a bit lenient, but I thought Jaco Peyper’s decision to send off Johnny Leota was ludicrously harsh. A big hit, shoulder height in my book, but not dangerous.

By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images