Wasps and Saracens ride on European momentum

Wasps set the rugby world alight by putting in consecutive towering performances against Leinster and Toulon in Europe, scoring 55 points and conceding just 12. Although their 33-15 win over London Irish on Saturday was not quite of the same calibre as their previous outings, it showed the same high quality rugby that they are playing.

In their first Premiership ‘away’ win of the season (albeit at Twickenham), Wasps ran in four tries to secure the bonus point, with Daly, Thomas Young and Frank Halai (two) providing the scores. London Irish debutant Johnny Williams scored twice but the potent blend of Wasps’ bruising forward play and pacy outside backs meant Irish were living on borrowed time. Daly’s try came from a beautiful line, while Hughes was bullish, uncompromising and showed his uncanny ability to more yards than he should on almost every carry.

Saracens put a pin in what has been a promising start to the season for Worcester, smashing the newly promoted side 48-18 earlier in the day at Twickenham. Similar to the Wasps’ result, this match also showcased the young talent being nurtured at Allianz Park. Sarries ran in six tries: two from Chris Ashton and one each from Jackson Wray, Schalk Brits, Ben Ransom and Ben Spencer with Spencer also setting up Ashton’s first try with a splendid break from the base of a ruck. Spencer gave a remarkable performance along with Maro Itoje who came off the bench and impressed. Worcester’s two tries, however, were both wonderful.

Exeter took on Harlequins in a match-up that reshuffled the top four, the hosts just ahead at the finish line, winning 26-25. Gareth Steenson scored almost all of the Chief’s points, ending up with 21 including a try. Harlequins were awarded a penalty try after seven minutes before Nick Evans and Charlie Walker added tries, but James Short crossed for Exeter just before the break to give Chiefs a narrow lead at half time. In the second half, Exeter were more clinical and eventually built enough momentum to allow Steenson to score his try which put his team 26-20 ahead. Tim Visser’s bizarre try brought Quins within touching distance but Tim Swiel’s conversion slid wide giving Exeter the narrowest of winning margins, and second place in the league.

Many of the weekend’s games were affected by the adverse conditions and none more so than Northampton’s game against Gloucester at Franklin’s Gardens. Battling wind and rain, Saints ground out a 15-3 victory behind a dominant pack performance. Their scrum won three of Stephen Myler’s five penalties and put Gloucester under pressure for the full 80 minutes.

Sale and Newcastle provided the rarest of rugby results: a draw. 15-15 was the final score in a game that could have been decided several times by kicks that were snatched away in the teeth of the gale at AJ Bell Stadium. Rob Vickers and Will Welch scored for the Falcons as they fought for their first points of the campaign, while Sale were content with five Danny Cipriani penalties. Both Catterick and Cipriani had chances to steal a win but ultimately, but neither side seemed too disappointed with the two points.

Leicester hosted Bath at Welford Road and squelched their way to win 21-11, denying Bath even a losing bonus point. It started wonderfully for Bath with Matawalu, Banahan and Anthony Watson combining to put the latter over for a try. However, Welford Road is a difficult place to perform in the most clement of conditions and when the pitch gets churned up it just seems to suit Leicester. Telusa Veainu took an interception seventy metres to score as Bath blew a three man overlap, and Dan Cole scrambled over from close range to put the result beyond doubt.

Aviva Premiership Star Man: Nathan Hughes

Connacht go top of PRO12 after low-scoring round

Round eight saw only 156 points scored across the six matches. Friday night saw the highest-scoring clash with Edinburgh beating Newport Gwent Dragons 32-13 at Murrayfield. Willem Nel, Alasdair Dickinson, Tom Brown and Matt Scott all crossed for the Scottish side, while all the Dragons could muster was a Nic Cudd try on the stroke of full time.

Glasgow left it until the last 10 minutes of their game with Benetton Treviso to finally wake up and snatch a win. An Adam Ashe score in the 74th minute rescued the Warriors but they will breathe a sigh of relief to have escaped the game with a win. Meanwhile, Ulster’s recent rough patch was extended by Leinster on Friday as Leinster bested them 8-3, in a game that had more excitement than the scoreline suggests. The sole try was scored by Sean Cronin from a lineout maul and Jonny Sexton and Ian Madigan exchanged penalties, but scoring opportunites for Ben Te’o, Luke Fitzgerald and Isa Nacewa all variously went begging.

Connacht then made history at Thomond Park, beating Munster 18-12 and ending a 29-year drought in Limerick. Early points from Tiernan O’Halloran and Craig Ronaldson gave Connacht a 10-0 lead after 20 minutes, but Munster replied through Niall Scannell who drove over at the back of a maul. A potentially harsh decision against Connacht gave Munster a penalty try and reduced the visitors to 14 men with a yellow card. With the score at 13-12, Connacht sealed the victory through a sensationally finished Bundee Aki try.

Another one-try offering came at the Liberty Stadium where Ospreys beat Cardiff Blues 13-6. Wales stalwart Alun-Wyn Jones provided the try and Dan Biggar’s replacement Sam Davies delivered the remaining eight points with his boot. Elswewhere, Scarlets allowed Zebre back into a game that looked well-won after 25 minutes, but eventually rounded out 20-12 victors.

Guinness Pro12 Star Man: Sam Davies

Toulon take out their frustration

After being dominated by Wasps a week ago, Toulon had something to prove when taking on table-toppers Clermont Auvergne in the daunting Marcel Michelin stadium. Toulon beasted their Champions Cup counterparts, 35-9 in a match that featured a little bit of everything. There were tries aplenty, ranging from free-flowing scores such as those finished by Delon Armitage and Eric Escande, to break-out ‘against the run of play’ tries like Drew Mitchell’s, and even a penalty try after Clermont collapsed a Toulon rolling maul. Eric Escande scored 20 points on his own but the real showstopper was Matt Giteau who was everywhere and miraculously managed to avoid adding his name to the scoresheet.

Montpellier and La Rochelle are both in need of a shot in the arm, and it was Montpellier who received it, winning 25-20 with 20 of those points coming from the boot of Demetri Catrakilis. Bordeaux Begles, meanwhile, earned a bonus point and then some, as they ran roughshod over Pau 46-10. Scrum-half Yann Lesgourgues helped himself to a hat-trick with Baptiste Serin (19 points), Nans Ducuing and Ole Avei completing the list of try scorers.

Brive were similarly dominant over Oyonnax, winning 34-9, with Gaetan Germain scoring 24 points. Oyonnax’s defence was at times laughable as Brive strolled through repeatedly. However, the conditions closed in as the game progressed, bringing a thick fog that hung over Stade Charles Mathon and Brive were forced to rely on the boot of Germain.

Much of the focus ahead of Racing 92’s game with Toulouse concerned the impending debut of Dan Carter, and with the All Black in attendance, Racing smartly defeated the visitors 28-13. Henri Chavancy scored the only try of the first half, with Maxime Machenaud adding a conversion and two further penalties to put Racing ahead at the half. Toulouse found their footing in the second period and Vincent Clerc and Arthur Bonneval scored for the visitors, tries that crucially went unconverted. Racing were equal to the challenge and Dmitri Szarzewski and Carter’s former New Zealand team-mate Chris Masoe crossed to secure the win for Racing 92.

Castres went close against Agen on the back of tries from Alex Tulou and Julien Caminati to win 23-18, while in the weekend’s final fixture Stade Francais saw Jules Plisson score all of their points in a 21-19 win over Grenoble at Stade Lesdiguieres.

Top 14 Star Man: Matt Giteau

Try of the Weekend: Honourable mentions to both of Chris Ashton’s tries against Worcester, Delon Armitage’s opening score against Clermont and to Bundee Aki’s phenomenal finish to topple Munster. However, for its bizarre and physics-defying nature, Tim Visser’s try for Harlequins against Exeter gets the nod this week. I don’t want to spoil it but it involves a poorly judged kick and a corner flag. You can view it here.

Hero of the Weekend: It would be a wild understatement to say that referees get a lot of stick, but recently the men in the middle (led by the wonderful Nigel Owens) have been providing us with some hilarious soundbites in return. Here is 24 year-old ref Ben Whitehouse giving Connacht captain John Muldoon a tongue-lashing for his tone of voice. Joyous.

Villain(s) of the Weekend: The Welford Road ground staff for cooking up the most inhospitable in-goal areas in professional rugby. About two feet deep and not a blade of grass in sight, they make one very glad to be watching the game and not playing in it.

By Fraser Kay (@fraserkay)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images