Late scores send Exeter and Wasps to Twickenham
Saturday played host to, arguably, the greatest back-to-back Premiership semi-finals ever. So much so that I really don’t know which game to start with. The best four teams went hammer and tong, with late (really late) tries determining both outcomes.
Exeter were the first team to make sure of their trip to Twickenham, as they made the most of Saracens’ tiring bodies with a last-gasp try. It will be the second time in as many seasons they have been to the final. But, with an unbeaten league run stretching back as far as October, and the knowledge of how it feels to lose such big games, you can bet that they will be in a much better place to lift the trophy than last year.
It was an intense, if inaccurate, first half. Owen Farrell and Gareth Steenson traded a couple of penalties, but the concerning thing for Saracens were the bodies that seemed to be giving up. After the interval, Jack Nowell grabbed a converted try, whilst Chris Wyles replied with one without the extras. With 5 minutes to go, and Exeter two points to the good, it looked like a famous victory against the European Champions. Then, Mile Ellery somehow bounced over the line to break their hearts. It wasn’t done, though, as Henry Slade gained crucial field position with a late penalty, which Exeter used to drive Sam Simmonds over the line and celebrate a dramatic 18-16 victory.
The Twickenham rendezvous will be against Wasps, who themselves managed a jailbreak against Leicester Tigers. The heated Midlands derby was a surprise in all respects. Firstly, who’d have thought the visitors would be leading with minutes to go? Secondly, once they had that lead, who’d have thought Wasps would have had the fortitude to bring it back?
The hosts raced out the blocks, with Kurtley Beale scoring a try and Jimmy Gopperth contributing five points from the boot. Peter Betham responded in kind, whilst the boots of Gopperth and Freddie Burns left it 16-13 at the break. Telusa Veainu put Tigers in front, with Burns adding the extras. Wasps were knocking on the door, but it looked like Tigers’ defence would hold true. That was until Josh Bassett broke through to send the crowd into raptures. The conversion didn’t matter, Wasps had made their first final in nine hard years with a magnificent 21-20 victory.
Scarlets become first away victors, Munster dispatch Ospreys
For the first time in Pro12 history, an away team won a semi final. Thoroughly deserved, Scarlets now find themselves in the showpiece event for the first time, courtesy of a 27-15 win against Leinster in Dublin. This massive achievement was done in spite of being a man down for over half the game, when Steff Evans was dismissed for a tip-tackle, and leaves them with the confidence to attack the final with nothing to lose.
It was a supreme performance from the whole squad, with Evans himself kicking of proceedings with a fine try. A Gary Ringrose try and an Isa Nacewa penalty gave the hosts the lead, before Aaron Shingler and Gareth Davies crossed. The Irish looked stunned, and even the red for Evans – just before half time – didn’t seem to give them the confidence it should. Jack Conan got an unconverted try, but Liam Williams slotted a couple of penalties to put the result beyond doubt.
They will meet Munster in the final, as the men in red restored some Irish pride by forcing the Ospreys into black hole, from which they were unable to conjure anything resembling a try.
Dan Biggar opened the scoring with a penalty. However, following this, Ospreys produced very little to threaten the scoreboard. Francis Saili touched down, with Tyler Blyendaal adding a penalty before half-time. Simon Zebo and Andrew Conway put the game out of reach and sent the table-toppers coursing through to the Dublin final 26-3.
Whilst Munster – rightly – go in as favourites next weekend, they will have been given a heavy wake-up call by Scarlets’ performance. It should be an absolute cracker.
Stade and Saints set for Champions Cup playoff
Stade Francais and Northampton will meet to decide the final Champions Cup place. The Parisians were comfortable 46-21 winners against Cardiff. For Saints, the task was tougher, as they just held on to down Connacht 21-15.
Toulon and Racing make semis
Toulon and Racing 92 have made it to the semi finals of the Top14. Last season’s winners, Racing, upset Montpellier 22-13, whilst Toulon battled hard before finally seeing off Castres 26-22. Clermont and La Rochelle await them.
Crusaders see off Chiefs
Crusaders saw off Chiefs 31-24 in the most hotly anticipated clash of the round. Brumbies brought Kings’ surprising run to an end, winning 19-10. Waratahs won the Aussie derby 50-23 against Rebels, whilst Force were left red-faced by Highlanders, losing 55-6 in Perth. Lions, Sharks and Stormers made South Africa a happy place, recording wins over Bulls (51-14), Sunwolves (38-17), and Blues (30-22) respectively. Hurricanes bounced back from last week, trouncing Cheetahs 61-7.
Irish have first leg advantage
Not strictly speaking a game from the weekend, but London Irish took a giant leap towards an immediate Premiership return by defeating Yorkshire Carnegie on Wednesday. They take a 29-18 advantage into the return leg in Reading.
Scotland retain London 7s
An entertaining weekend of 7s action culminated in Scotland defeating the hosts to retain their crown. England already sat second in the overall table, behind champions South Africa, going into the final weekend in London, but the 12-7 loss isn’t the way they’d envisaged their homecoming.
Hero of the week
Liam Williams stood out in a Scarlets side that defied all odds. Not least because he was roped in to taking the crucial place kicks that put his side out of sight and into the final.
Villain of the week
I’m not sure whether to give this ‘award’ to Steff Evans, for putting his side in peril with a red card when they were going to well, or to Leinster, who did nothing to capitalise on that red card. Help me decide.
Try of the week
Another tough one. Any of the first four tries in the Leinster Scarlets game could be chosen on the basis of crisp hands and splitting running lines. As could Josh Bassett’s for the importance. However, I’m going to give it to Sam Simmonds’ effort, because for a team to score that late to win against Saracens is a massive achievement in itself.
Discussion points
– Who will win the toughest finals we have seen in recent years?
– Was the Scarlets’ win the greatest Pro12 achievement ever?
– What do Exeter and Wasps need to do to get over the finishing line?
– How will Billy Vunipola’s absence affect the Lions?
– Can England or Scotland topple South Africa for the 7s championship next year?
– The new Pro12 criteria for Champions Cup qualification. Good or bad idea?
It’s interesting to point out that Carley (the referee) should have stopped play immediately when Freddie Burns clearly went down unconscious and concussed. Clear safety failure from the ref and it illegally enabled Josh Bassett to score and win the game
I hope those grapes aren’t too sour, Jacob.
Carley immediately signaled the penalty advantage for the dangerous chop tackle and play moved away from Burns, allowing the physios on. Carley could not have seen that Burns was either concussed or out cold at that point. The TMO would have had to look back at the footage, but why would he? The physios were on very quickly. Had that been any other point in the game, and had Bassett not scored, Burns would have been carded for his troubles.
Thing is, it is the refs decision, not yours or mine. Just as he ignored and played on after other dangerous plays. It’s rugby, live with it. The refs decision is final. If you want to gripe out referees, follow the round ball game instead.
“illegally enabled Josh Bassett to score”. Illegal in what sense?
Imagine that he had stopped the game immediately, Basset’s try was disallowed (not because it was illegal but because the whistle had already gone), and Burns had jumped back to his feet.
Ref’s ordinarily wait 2 or 3 seconds, and usually happens when the play is continuing around the prone player OR there is a lull in the play. There was no danger of physios not being able to attend to him immediately.
Given that Wasps were on the front foot it would have been very contentious to stop the game.
That being said, Burns was clearly not just feigning injury, or taking a breath. He looked out cold, so a stoppage would have been justified.
It was a great game, and either side could have won it. Leicester will rue the number of penalties they gave away, including the obstruction 20-odd metres from where a kick was expected to land. That gave Wasps 3 points that could have been the difference.
On a separate note, I really don’t like Carley as a referee. I think he misses far too many infringements around the breakdown, and often awards penalties where there are none due. Not just in this game but throughout the season. There are better referees out there that warrant the big games.
Yes Jake, you’re correct that he wasn’t feigning injury and that the game could have been stopped.
I didn’t suggest that he was feigning, but there are many occasions when a player gets a knock, and stays down for 2 or 3 seconds before getting back up, sometimes when a tackle his missed – or misjudged.
My point – perhaps poorly made – is that everything happened so quickly, that the referee needs time to process it all, and by the time it was processed, the try was scored.
I have to say fair play to Exeter. Some seriously tired bodies out there in black and Exeter played some great rugby. They fully deserve to be in the final and I for one think they will beat Wasps. They have developed some great depth in their squad. The fact that they had Slade and Campagnaro on the bench is a testament to that. Not quite sure why Waldrom got MOTM though? Personally I thought that should have gone to Townsend because he was immense.
I did think that one down side was some of the refereeing decisions. Not sure how Waldrom got away with being so blatantly off side at the ruck when we were so close to their line, but our decision to make a quick tap may have sped up Barnes’ decision not to penalise further?
Also not sure why Slade went completely unpunished for his attempt at a tip tackle on Ellery. He clearle went underneath the player and lifted the legs beyond 90 degrees. If it hadn’t been for Ellery’s body position it could gave been pretty serious. Not even asked to check by the TMO. Was it because Ellery scored in the process ?
On to Billy and the Lions. I am absolutely gutted for Billy, and I think the Lions will really miss his ball carrying ability. Without him you imagine that Faletau will get the nod. I think Moriairty is a more effective ball carrier as far as busting holes and yardage, but Faletau has softer hands and better offloading ability.
At least he is young enough to have more Lions chances ahead of him. Imagine how good he could be in four years time at the age of 28!!
Interestingly I thought that if anyone should have been penalised when Ellery scored it should have been Ellery for trying to jump over the tackle – which is normally classed as dangerous play.
Slade went low – pause the attached at 0.28 or 0.37 – Ellery jumps into the tackle and because Slade has wrapped his legs, Ellery’s momentum takes Slade over backwards.
Becuase it is deliberate, Ellery’s arms are outstretched to dot the ball down so he is in no danger. If anyone was in any kind of danger it was Slade as Ellery’s weight comes down and forces his upper body to twist.
I think you have viewed it slightly different to me. Ellery does jump into it slightly (a bit odd in itself) but Slade wraps his legs and then pushes upwards with his own legs, causing Ellery’s legs to go beyond the 90. Slade doesn’t need to lift his own legs to complete the tackle.
Just watched it again and Ellery doesn’t jump at all, he pretty much stops running when he gets to Slade and Slade lifts him over the try line. Slade goes in very low I guess hoping to get Ellery’s legs and stop him moving forward, but then lifts his legs off the floor. As he’s being lifted Ellery stretches himself out to get over the line. It’s all very clumsy to be honest from both parties.
Faletau might get the look-in, but I would much rather Gats would put Stander there instead, opening up the flanks for an O’Mahony/Warburton/Tipuric ball-winning situation with O’Brien coming in for the half-way house of power and breakdown work as required. Certainly it would be a better use of assets to now have Stander in the No8 category, and this could be hinted at with Haskell coming in as replacement.
As for the Slade tackle – my gut feeling at the time was a card, but I suspect that both Referee and Touch Judge partly assumed Ellery had jumped, and partly assumed that momentum had taken Ellery that way anyway – and with Nowell coming in to ensure Ellery wasn’t fully flipped, it wasn’t as ‘dangerous’ in official eyes. Add to the fact it at that point seemed a certain match-winning try, and I suspect they felt it was only borderline and let it slide.
Put it this way, if Ellery had manoeuvred in the air to try and set up ruck ball instead, he would have ended up badly dropped by Slade and the card would have been out for certain. Funny old world.
*Put it this way, if Ellery had manoeuvred in the air to try and set up ruck ball instead, he would have ended up badly dropped by Slade and the card would have been out for certain, with penalty try to boot. Funny old world.
Slade goes in around the knees, so he may have been attempting to drive him back but he loses his balance in the driving phase and goes over backwards. After watching it several times in slo-mo it all ends up looking very clumsy.
Isn’t it the case that we know see the sanctions determined by the outcomes?
I think that to say that Slade “attempted” a tip-tackle is ridiculous. Why would anyone do that on their own line?? What he was trying to do was stop Ellery in his tracks, and force him backwards. As someone else notes, the result was due to Ellery attempting to jump over the contact point of the tackle.
Agreed – he will have gone in trying to drive Ellery back, so intent was never going to be there for a tip – that would have been sheer insanity. This may also have factored in to the decision by the officials for letting it pass.
I actually thought Slade did well in the end to bring him down quite safely. Maybe it was just the weight of Ellery but he appears to drag his legs downward at the last moment to stop him tipping over onto his head.
Billy out is a huge blow to the Lions and a real shame for him.
I think if the ABs could have chosen one Lions player to send home, it would have been BV. Our chances of any kind of win have been diminished.
On the bright side, Faletau is not a bad replacement by any means and he did well against the ABs in Wales’ last tour. With BV out, my previous choice of O’Mahoney and Warburton on the flanks would leave the Lions without a stand-out ball carrier in the back row, so I think it should be 6. Stander, 7. Warburton, 8. Faletau
Why huge? BV was ineffectual in the pivotal Dublin game. The Irish set a sufficient number of players up to stop him on the gain line. As the AB’s prev all but shut Ireland out @ the same venue, do think they too wouldn’t have been capable of stopping him, esp in NZ? BV’s predictable & his bullocking rep is mainly based on club or 6N matches in winning teams. Felatau may offer more opportunities.
I agree with you on that one Pablito, I think Billy’s loss is Faletau’s gain and that opens up Stander for the number six shirt as the designated ball carrier. It’s such a tough call but I would start the following for the first test barring any further injuries:
1. M. Vunipola
2. K. Owens
3. T. Furlong
4. M. Itoje
5. A. W. Jones
6. C. J. Stander
7. S. Warburton
8. T. Faletau
9. C. Murray
10. J. Sexton
11. E. Daly
12. O. Farrell
13. R. Henshaw
14. G. North
15. S. Hogg
16. J. George
17. J. McGrath
18. K. Sinckler
19. G. Kruis
20. S. O’Brien
21. R. Webb
22. J. Joseph
23. L. Williams
I worded it wrong ok
It just seems to me that refs have recently downplayed injuries when they are supposed to be strict on them. I am not moaning about the result but rather concentrating on the safety as I play junior rugby myself
Jacob, watch the 2-3 minute game highlights in HD as it includes the incident in full. Watch the ref’s eyes (his face). See where he is looking? He is watching the ball, not the players from the tackle. He does not see him down at all. No eyes in the side/back of his head. It would have taken a second or two for the assistants or TMO to give him a message on the mic. Had this happened in the Wasps’ 22, Bassett would not have gotten far before the ref had stopped play. As it was, Bassett had only a yard or so to cover.
I have and I get ur point completely ok any blame that could be given could be given to the linesman on Carley’s right who wouldn’t need to have been watching the game so attentively as the one on the left where Bassett scored so in theory could and should have seen the incident better. I do feel that a lot of the time linesman don’t do enough in the game to inform the ref of what they saw.
Barring further injury & tour form, I’d go for the following in the 1st test v NZ.
1. M. Vunipola
2. R. Best
3. T. Furlong
4. G. Kruis
5. A. W. Jones
6. S. O’Brien
7. S. Warburton
8. T. Faletau
9. C. Murray
10. J. Sexton
11. T. Seymour
12. O. Farrell
13. R. Henshaw
14. G. North
15. L. Williams
16. J. George
17. J. McGrath
18. D. Cole
19. M. Itoje
20. S. O’Mahony
21. R. Webb
22. J. Davies
23. L. Halfpenny
They’ll require plenty EXP & ballast & be able to deliver for a full 80. All Irish front row might also be a consideration as combos have a better understanding. I’d have Farrell for his goal kicking, otherwise J.Davies. Unsure about O’Mahony or Stander, but O’Brien got the exp & can carry. Kruis & AWJ more beef than Itoje. Best can hit HIS line outs & again exp’ed, as capt’n too. Seymour can catch the high ball 7 the back 3 will be tested. Liam Williams is also good on D & A. Halfpenny can kick & catch & is yet again exp. Maybe they’ll miss Billy, although he is predictable as & was exposed in Dublin. Would the AB’s have been any less prepped v him? Unlikely. Besides Felatau offers more options.
Paulo and Don I have a better team.
Mcrath
George
Furlong
Itoje
Kruis
Stander
Warburton
Falataue
Murray
Sexton
Watson
Henshaw
Daley
Williams
Hogg
Entitled to yr opinion, but how do you justify yr differences? E.g George may be better off bench as Best unlikely to blow vital line out like former (v Ire).