Best of the weekend: Sting in the tail as Wasps blast open play-off race

Wasps sting Chiefs to tighten playoff race

We’ve known it for ages, but if you wanted any evidence that this year’s playoff race is going to go right down to the wire, all you needed to do was have a look at the epic encounter between Wasps and Exeter Chiefs at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday. With Leicester picking up the obligatory five-point maximum from their encounter with London Welsh, it seems as though the fourth playoff spot is a straight shoot out between Wasps, Chiefs and the Tigers – with the top three spots already pretty much sealed by Saints, Saracens and Bath.

There was some fantastic young English talent on show in Coventry, in the form of Elliot Daly, Jack Nowell and Henry Slade, but it was the forgotten prodigy of English rugby, Joe Simpson, who proved to be the difference. The scrum half has been electric all season and showed his eye for a gap and searing speed to scorch and weave his way through the Chiefs defence from 60 metres following a loose kick to seal a win for the hosts which sees them move within three points of fourth place.

Christian Wade and Will Chudley had exchanged early tries before the Chiefs’ pack were surprisingly well mauled at scrum time and conceded a penalty try. Waldrom bundled over on the hour to make things interesting before Simpson’s stunning intervention set up another key playoff-playoff against the Tigers next weekend.

Elsewhere, Sam Burgess confirmed his long-term future in union will be at six as he earned plaudits for his display in Bath’s win over London Irish, whilst Northampton remain top after a hard-fought win over Saracens which saw Billy Vunipola limp off with a worrying ankle injury. Elsewhere, a last-gasp Billy Burns try earned Gloucester the win in a brilliant game against Newcastle where the Cherry and Whites came out on top by 42 – 40, whilst Harlequins repelled a fighback from Sale to win in Salford 23 – 25.

Premiership Star Man: Joe Simpson

Ulster end Leinster Title Hopes, Ospreys march on at Judgement Day

It’s been a difficult season for Matt O’Connor’s Leinster, with the former Leicester coach coming in for criticism over why a vastly talented side is still struggling to produce good rugby with any level of consistency – and that was apparent in their 26 – 10 defeat against a rampant Ulster side at the Kingspan stadium. A score in each half from Irish internationals Craig Gilroy and Iain Henderson took full advantage of a Leinster side probably still suffering mentally and physically from their European exit and keeps the men in white well on track for a home semi-final in the playoffs.

In Cardiff, Judgement Day was a roaring success in terms of both attendance and the quality of rugby on show, although only the Ospreys and the Scarlets walked away with smiles on their faces. The Blues actually led at half time against their rivals by 9 – 7, with Dan Evans getting on the end of a great team try, but the Ospreys cut loose after the break with Dan Biggar, Tom Grabham and Ben John scoring tries to secure a 23 – 31 win and a bonus point. The Scarlets came away with a similar success against the Dragons, running out 29 – 10 bonus-point victors despite going behind to an early try from Tyler Morgan.

Elsewhere, there were was a comfortable win for Glasgow (who remain top) over Connacht and the mandatory victories over the Italian sides for Edinburgh and Munster.

PRO12 Star Man: Alun Wyn Jones

Day of Shocks in Top 14

Whilst the whole rugby world tries to figure out if Quade Cooper has in fact actually signed for Toulon, his alleged future employees were making a bit of a pigs ear of beating La Rochelle in the Top 14 as Mali Hingani’s late try earned the hosts a shock 32 – 29 win over the reigning domestic and European Champions. To be fair, Toulon were fielding a completely different side to that which played last weekend and no doubt had bigger games on their mind, but the win certainly eased La Rochelle’s relegation fears, even if fellow strugglers Castres were hammering the other title contenders and next week’s Champions Cup finalists Clermont in the other shock result of the weekend.

The result here was rather more comprehensive, which is a worry for Clermont, with winger Remi Grosso claiming a hat-trick in a five-try 31 – 10 victory. Let’s just hope both sides are saving their best rugby for the final. Racing Metro were also on the wrong end of a shock score as they went down 26 – 16 at Oyannax, whilst Toulouse, Bordeaux Begles, Brive and Bayonne also picked up wins.

Top 14 Star Man: Remi Grosso

Pocock and Hooper Shine as battle for Wallaby Seven Jersey Intensifies

The spotlight in Aussie rugby is well and truly on who will take that number seven shirt at the World Cup as long-term absentee David Pocock (on his day, the world’s best open side) and the associated gun show announced his return to top form with a hat-trick for the Brumbies against the Highlanders. In truth, Pocock has been looking lethal over the ball for some weeks but here he took the spotlight for once, burrowing over for a first-half hat-trick courtesy of some brutal rolling mauls in a bonus point win.

The former Wallaby skipper’s display didn’t go unnoticed by the current Wallaby skipper, Michael Hooper, who reminded everyone of his qualities in a typically dynamic display, plunging over for a try almost identical to any of Pocock’s and then blasting through a gap to set up Adam Ashley-Cooper for a score in a tense 18 – 16 win over rivals Melbourne Rebels. It’s an interesting selection dilemma for Michael Cheika, but having Hooper and Pocock pushing each other can only be great news for the Wallabies… and bad news for England and Wales.

Elsewhere, the Nemani Nadolo-inspired Crusaders got back to winning ways with a big victory over the Blues, whilst there were also wins for the Chiefs, Lions (again!), Stormers and the Hurricanes, who remain top of the standings after a bonus point win over the Reds in Queensland.

Super Rugby Star Man: David Pocock

Hero of the Week: In so many stunning games with close finishes, it’s hard to pick just one, but Billy Burns’ last-gasp try to win against Newcastle was sporting theatre at its best and set the Shed off even more so than usual.

Villain of the Week: Whilst there can be arguments over Chris Hala’ufia’s yellow card for a no-arms tackle on Laurence Pearce for London Welsh against the Tigers, he can’t have any complaints about a yellow for the needless shove of a player’s head into the ground when they are still clearly feeling the effects of the hit. It was a pretty pathetic showing from the big man (unfortunately it seems to be creeping into the game more and more) and he earned himself a red card in the process.

Try of the Week: There were some peaches this week, with the Ospreys scoring some crackers and great efforts from Jonathan Joseph and Joe Simpson, but I’m going for Adam Ashley-Cooper’s effort against the Rebels, purely because it’s from a set move – a rarity these days. I love it when a plan comes together.

By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images