Sale 29-21 Northampton
Sale Sharks got the weekend off to a flyer to record their third straight victory with a second half comeback against Northampton. With both sides losing several players to the World Cup squad depth was on show and it was Sale’s youth movement that came put on top. After going into the break 12-6 down the Sharks came out looking to run the ball wide and caused the Saints problems especially when the visitors were reduced to 13 men after two sin binning’s in a matter of minutes. Tries from former Saint Mark Easter along with David Seymour and Dwayne Peel along with 14 points from the boot of Nick MacLeod ensured the Sharks unbeaten home record remains intact.
Worcester 15-17 Harlequins
League leader Harlequins also needed a second half revival to beat newcomers Worcester as Sam Smith score and a late penalty try overcame the boot of Andy Goode. It was the ever impressive boot of Goode that had given Worcester a 9-3 half time lead including a monster penalty from inside his own half with Quins managing just a solitary Nick Evans penalty in reply. Goode increased the home lead after the break with his fourth penalty and a drop goal but it was his opposite number who would steal the show as Evan’s sublime inside ball put Smith into acres of space to score and after Jake Abbot was yellow carded the home scrum couldn’t withstand the Quins pressure and conceded the penalty try with Evan converting for victory.
London Irish 46-29 Newcastle
Tom Homer kicked 26 points as London Irish secured a try bonus point victory and left Newcastle still searching for their first win of the season. Jimmy Gopperth had given Newcastle an early lead but a try from Topsy Ojo and four Homer penalties had Irish going into the break with a 19-12 lead. The second half started with a further exchange of penalties but Jonathon Joseph scored two tries from distance either side of a penalty try to put the game beyond any doubt. Newcastle did get a couple of late tries to give the travelling support something to cheer about as Daz Fearn and Jamie Helleur grabbed consolation scores but the team is seriously struggling even in a time when they should be benefitting from other team World Cup call ups.
Leicester 25-50 Saracens
Saracens put Leicester to the sword in a repeat of last year’s final as the defending Champions ran in six tries to inflict the Tigers to their heaviest Premiership defeat. The first half saw Charlie Hodgson convert three penalties and his own try before Captain Ernst Joubert extended the visitors lead. Leicester winger Niall Morris scored just before the break to reduce the deficit to 23-11 at the half but a breath taking display in the second saw two quick tries from Owen Farrell and Jamie George put the game out of reach. Julian Salvi crossed for Leicester but the comeback was never on as Joubert add his second and Brad Barritt crossed by the posts to ensure Ben Wood’s late score was nothing but a consolation try and Saracens even had the last say as Farrell kicked a penalty with the last touch of the ball to make it a cool 50 point haul for the visitors.
Gloucester 23-6 Bath
Gloucester overcame Bath in a physical West Country derby where the home forwards dominated to maintain local bragging rights. It was Bath who took an early lead with two Sam Vesty penalties and were looking comfortable until Tim Taylor’s penalty was quickly followed by a Darren Dawidiuk try just before the break. Bath were unable to get into the game in the second half and even the usually reliable boot of Vesty was having a poor outing, Gloucester extended their lead with two further Taylor penalties and with Bath searching for a score that would at least give them a losing bonus point they knocked on and Charlie Sharples kicked ahead and showed his blistering pace to sprint past the Bath defence and collect the kick to the delight of the home crowd.
Exeter 21-11 London Wasps
Exeter continued their impressive start to the season with victory over Wasps as they denied the visitors of any quality ball and used the conditions and a strong pack to their advantage. It was Wasps who had the lead at the break as slender as it was at 6-5 with former Chief Ryan Davis slotting two penalties either side of a Tom Johnson try as the flanker was on hand to round off Sireli Naqelevuki's break. In the second half Fly-half Ignacio Mieres kicked two penalties and his replacement Gareth Steenson came on to add a further three points but it wasn’t until Chris Budgen’s try that the Chiefs were able to put the game away and even though Wasps got a try of their own with Jack Wallace’s late score it was too little too late.
So after four games only Harlequins are unbeaten while Saracens, Exeter and Sale are just behind with three wins each. London Irish lead the chasing pack thanks to picking up a league leading three bonus point while Leicester, Northampton and Worcester will be hoping for a change in fortunes with just one win to their names and Newcastle are still searching for their first win to give their new owners something to smile about after their recent investment.
With the Aviva Premiership maintaining a full fixture list through the World Cup many teams will be using this time to pick up some valuable wins that will help the push for the top four, European qualification or just Premiership survival but for the teams heavily affected by World Cup call ups just picking up a few bonus points here and there will be vital. Leicester, Northampton and Wasps will all be hoping for a change in fortunes once their international players return.
It is great to see the youth movement at Sale thriving even though they are as affected by the World Cup as any team. Steve Diamond came back to the North West with high expectation and after an opening week blip they look to have turned things around. Fielding a starting XV on Friday night with an average age under 24 and two further players on the bench well below that Diamond has really brought a passion and intensity back to the club that was severely missing in recent years.
It is also nice to see Exeter maintaining their impressive start to their second Premiership campaign, many expected the Devon outfit to go straight back down last season but a great infrastructure along with a team that fully believes they can win any game is not only keeping their heads above water but pulling off some eye catching results, especially at home.
Next weeks fixtures; Worcester v Northampton, Bath v Leicester, Exeter v Saracens, Gloucester v London Irish, Harlequins v Sale, Newcastle v Wasps
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