Old-school Tigers bring down Bath

Leicester produced their best performance of the season so far, which was full of their traditional grit and determination, in a win against a Bath side that failed to fire. Going in to the game, the West Country outfit were confident of a rare win against their fierce rivals at Welford Road after a surprisingly good start to the season. Conversely, Tigers had struggled to put in a complete performance in their opening three fixtures. All that changed in the course of 80 minutes.

The red, green and whites had an intensity for the whole game, putting Bath on the back foot and letting them have little time on the ball and therefore few successes at breaking over the gain line. Owen Williams landed the first points with a penalty, and shortly afterwards Brendan O’Connor found himself crossing when he was on the end of a fantastic pass. Bath got themselves back in contention with a Semesa Rokodoguni try, catching a George Ford high ball, liberating himself from would-be tacklers and scorching away. Williams had time for another couple of penalties before the change of ends.

Tigers’ dominance continued for vast swathes of the second forty. Tom Youngs drove over from a maul, and Williams relished punishing Bath’s indiscipline off the tee. The visitors briefly had their hosts worried with around ten minutes to go, as they caught them sleeping at the front of a line-out, Tom Dunn rushing down the right hand flank. The ascendancy was short lived, with Tigers defending resolutely, and then getting another try from a short drive, this time through Ed Slater. The Tigers spent the last few minutes searching for a bonus point they were not to find.

Best ever start for Wasps

Wasps flew to the top of the Premiership table as they made sure of their best ever start to a season with a hard-fought 20-15 victory when they visited Franklin’s Gardens. Northampton certainly didn’t let the visitors have it all their own way, stunning the crowd with a try within two minutes. Smooth attacking from a line out saw the ball go through the hands before Ben Foden got an offload away to George North, who went over in the corner for an unconverted score.

Wasps soaked up more pressure from the Saints, before hitting back with an exceptional score made by fly-half, Danny Cipriani. He was fed by Joe Simpson off the back of a difficult scrum inside their 22, then nudged a kick, which he gathered, drew the defence, put the ball into the hands of Guy Thompson and finally to the onrushing Jimmy Gopperth who sprinted under the posts.

A penalty either side of half time extended the lead to 13-5. The latter stages of the game turned very interesting, as Northampton relentlessly went for the line, but were let down by inaccuracies. They then had a glimmer of hope, as Nathan Hughes saw yellow and Tom Kessell grabbed a converted score to make it a one point game. The Coventry side got their cushion back, thanks to bad hands from the hosts. Dan Robson picked up the spilled ball and kicked through to Josh Bassett to get their second try. Ken Pisi was then sin binned before Stephen Myler got a late penalty to ensure a bonus point, but it was Wasps who left the happier, proving they can win in all manners.

London derby upset

In a weekend of surprises, the London derby served up arguably the biggest. Harlequins, who (up to this point) have been only a disappointment so far this season, beat Saracens, who had been (up to this point) imperious.

The Stoop crowd were treated to a dominant opening half, where the champions looked strangely out of sorts. An early penalty from Tim Swiel was backed up with a try from Tim Visser. The Dutch-Scottish winger used his excellent reading skills and long arms to pick off Alex Lozowski’s pass and go over the line. Before half time they had built up a 17-0 lead, when Quins had worked the numbers and given Charlie Walker an easy run into the corner.

Being champions, Saracens were not to cave in, but they had left themselves too much to do, and we’re not helped by fly-half Lozowski’s kicking. Richard Wigglesworth was on the end of a nice Mike Ellery chip, when he went over for the visitors only try, converted by the number 10. Lozowski got one penalty out of three attempts in the second half, which let the hosts see out the game comfortably, even with a late James Horwill yellow.

High scoring draw, Kingsholm shock and Chiefs exert dominance

Worcester and Sale played out a remarkable draw, which saw both sides pick up try-scoring bonus points at Sixways. The hosts, not for the first time this season, built a big lead before letting the opposition back in. Sale dominated the opening exchanges, getting two tries and conceding one to build a 17-5 lead. Warriors then proceeded to go over for 4 tries without response, before the tide swung again, leaving the result at 34-34.

Despite dominating the territory and possession stats, Gloucester went down to a shock 18-13 loss at home to Newcastle. A try from Ross Moriarty cancelled out Falcons’ score through Dom Waldouck, but Alex Tait secured victory with a score in the second half.

Bristol’s memorable performance in defeat against Quins in round one seems a distant memory, with Exeter reminding them what league they are in with a 41-17 victory.

Scotstoun disappointed

Ulster travelled to Glasgow on Friday night, hoping to see their name on top of the table come the end of the weekend. Their 22-17 win, coupled with Ospreys’ loss, made this a reality.

The visitors were on the attack for much of a frenetic, intense opening 40. They had two tries ruled out, to go with the two tries they scored. Darren Cave finished a lovely move, which started with a Charles Piutau break down the left, leading to the ball being spun from the left, to Cave on the right corner. Gordon Reid replied for the Warriors, finding himself over the line underneath a pile of bodies. Ulster extended their lead to 15-7 before the teams went in, with a hugely controversial penalty try. Leonardo Sarto tackled the man without using his arms, causing the referee to put him on the sidelines for ten minutes and give an easy seven points.

Glasgow mounted something of a comeback on the reemergence of the teams. A Finn Russell penalty was followed by a nice Tommy Seymour try, which saw Stuart Hogg draw in the defence before releasing the speedster to cross the whitewash on the wing, giving the hosts a lead they barely deserved. Afterwards, Paddy Jackson found himself on the end of another fine score from the men in white. They cut through the middle of the Scots defence, timing passes wonderfully and offloading at the perfect times, Jackson carrying defenders with him as he earned his side a memorable win.

Ospreys run halted

The return of a Johnny Sexton in fine form was the catalyst for Leinster’s full five points against Ospreys. The Welsh side suffered their first defeat of the season, in what was comfortably their worst performance, albeit against the strongest opposition.

The visitors were nowhere to be seen before the break. Josh Van Der Flier initiated the home tries, as he was at the tail of a muscular drive to the line. Indiscipline cost the Ospreys a sin bin and a penalty try on the half hour mark, as the Dubliners intensely pressurised them in the pack. Sexton grabbed the third try and left the Welsh side with a 24-0 deficit.

The rest gave them the opportunity to recuperate and reevaluate. It doesn’t always work out like that, though, as they allowed Van Der Flier in for his second, and the game well out of their reach, prior to starting a scoring run of their own. Three quick fire tries from Ben John, Dafydd Howells and James King were too little, too late.

Italian sides show promise, Williams gets Scarlets off the mark, Munster win

The two Italian teams showed they were no mugs this week, with Zebre just losing out to second placed Cardiff, and Treviso showing vast superiority in a win against Dragons. The Blues were tested in a close, tense encounter in Parma. Three tries apiece saw them escape with a 23-21 win, with missed kicks costing the Italians. This comes a week on from another gutting result, where a strong winning position against Connacht was snatched away by the weather. A tight opening half changed after the break, when Treviso outfought the Dragons in an ultimately comfortable 27-11 win.

The defending champions, Connacht, maintained their losing start to the season, this time going down to Scarlets 17-8. The Irishmen had taken the lead with a lovely score, before Liam Williams got a fine brace himself and, in the process, a first win for his side. After their pleasing and remarkable run to the title last year, the west coast team need to turn this start around, and fast, to avoid unwanted conversations.

In a match that was hyped for being a clash of two solid set pieces, there was only one winner, as Munster got a bonus point, 28-14 win over Edinburgh. The scrum proved vital, as Munster had their guests under the kosh the whole game.

Pau silence Grenoble

Bottom side Grenoble will be wondering how they failed to win an eminently winnable home game against Pau. Penalties dictated what was a very high scoring game, particularly in the final few minutes. The home team had thrown away a 13 point half time lead, relying on their fly half Jonathan Wisniewski to land a penalty to regain the control with a minute left. He obliged, leaving the score at 38-36, but Pau responded with a penalty of their own when the clock was in red, breaking the hearts of the home crowd.

Champions Racing 92 kept up with their indifferent start, sinking to defeat in Castres 31-23. Neither side had the advantage at the break, with a converted try and two penalties each, but Castres started the stronger when they came back out. Tries from Geoffrey Palis and Benjamin Urdapilleta gave the hosts the advantage, with Leone Nakarawa getting one back for the Parisians.

The other games saw Adam Ashley-Cooper bag a hat-trick for Bordeaux in their 32-10 win over Lyon, Toulouse end their three game losing streak with a home victory 23-18 over Racing’s capital neighbours Stade Francais and Toulon overcame Clermont 23-21 in a clash of the titans on the south coast. There were also wins for La Rochelle (34-17 over Bayonne) and Montpellier (a demolition job, 42-13 against Brive ) sending them into first and second place respectively.

Try of the weekend

A three way tie. Jimmy Gopperth’s after Danny Cipriani’s Maverick work. Also, Darren Cave’s and Paddy Jackson’s for Ulster after some clinical running lines and great support play. They were all so good that I am not going to decide between them.

Here’s the Wasps try about 30 seconds in to these brief highlights.

Hero of the weekend

The man who was at the heart of everything good in Ulster’s attacks as they went top of the league – Charles Piutau was a menace. If he keeps this sort of form up, they may be unstoppable.

Villain of the weekend

I don’t like to single out referees, so I will just single out a certain decision. Italy and Glasgow winger Leonardo Sarto’s yellow card, and the penalty try that went with it, was an absolute shocker. To me, the no arms decision looked harsh anyway. To say it was worthy of a yellow was taking the biscuit. To say a try would definitely have been scored, mamma mia.

By Joe Large

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images