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Gallagher Premiership XV of the Week - Round 11

By Alex Shaw
Mike Brown of Harlequins is tackled by Thomas Young and Tom Cruse of Wasps during the Gallagher Premiership Big Game 11 match between Harlequins and Wasps at Twickenham. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images for Harlequins)

Round 11 marked the final weekend of Gallagher Premiership action of 2018 and it’s fair to say that the competition signed off in style for the calendar year.

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Northampton Saints got the ball rolling by beating table-topping Exeter Chiefs, 31-28, at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night, before 82,000 packed out Twickenham to see Harlequins down former local boys Wasps, 20-13. Sale Sharks picked up an invaluable bonus point win on the road, too, beating Gloucester, 30-15, at Kingsholm.

We have rounded up the top performers from the weekend’s action below.

(* denotes RugbyPass Index score)

  1. Mike Brown, Harlequins (66)

Another robust performance from Brown, who is clearly channelling his inner-Samson, as the full-back owned the skies and diffused the bombs that Wasps put up to test him. He challenged the defence with his own counter-attacks and regularly showed the awareness and handling skills to bring teammates into play, something which seems to remain an outdated criticism of the England international.

Bristol Bears’ Charles Piutau was another full-back to shine this weekend.

  1. Luke Morahan, Bristol Bears (52)

Worcester’s Bryce Heem really pushed Morahan here, but the Australian just shades it based on what was a pivotal impact in Bristol’s invaluable win over Newcastle Falcons. He consistently made hay on the right wing and was duly rewarded with a try in the second half. The wing keeps stepping up to the plate in big home games at Ashton Gate and his tries are going a long way to securing Bristol’s Premiership status.

  1. Fraser Dingwall, Northampton Saints (62)

Dingwall was an early replacement for the injured Piers Francis and maintained the recent form which has seen him become a semi-regular starter for Saints this season. His defensive work was as impressive as usual, including an important try-saving tackle in the first half, as he shut down any width that Exeter tried to get. He got a deserved try for his efforts just before half time and showed up with his running lines and solid passing game.

  1. James O’Connor, Sale Sharks (70)

The Australian mixed it up nicely outside of Rob du Preez and was frequently Sale’s attacking spark plug at Kingsholm. His support-running and incisive passing was summed up well by his work in the build-up to Faf de Klerk’s try late in the first half. His chemistry with Sam James had Sale looking like a potent offensive force, despite Gloucester having the lion’s share of possession.

  1. Jonny May, Leicester Tigers (75)

Made an immediate impact at the Rec, scoring a try after just two minutes, and though Bath controlled much of the possession during the game, May was in ominously dangerous form any time he got his hands on the ball. He hurt Bath as a counter-attacker and kept phases alive with some neat inside passes and offloads.

  1. Dan Biggar, Northampton Saints (75)

Despite not being given a mass of possession – or even territory – to work with, Biggar controlled the game well for Northampton and helped create the attacking opportunities that Saints thrived on, displaying a clinical edge that they will hope they can replicate over the coming weeks. The Welshman manipulated the space around him expertly and frequently put players through holes, as well as contributing 16 points with the boot.

  1. Cobus Reinach, Northampton Saints (69)

Two big nods to de Klerk and Francois Hougaard, in what is rapidly becoming the year of the South African scrum-half in the Premiership, but Reinach snaps up this spot for the second week in a row with an excellent all-round showing against Exeter. The nine picked up another intercept try, but it was his busy, swift service from the base and eye for a gap that really shone in Saints’ energetic showing on home soil.

https://twitter.com/premrugby/status/1078969114008473600

  1. Ben Moon, Exeter Chiefs (89)

Exeter may have been on the losing side at Franklin’s Gardens but that didn’t stop their forward pack from having one of the more dominant performances in the Premiership this season. Moon ripped into Paul Hill and had Northampton backpedalling for much of the game and even popped up with a try shortly after half time.

  1. George McGuigan, Newcastle Falcons (62)

The hooker gave Newcastle a strong and efficient platform from the lineout, as well as stepping up as his side’s most willing carrier from rucks and as a first receiver. He flourished in both of those areas, whilst his ability to quickly hook the ball at the scrum gave Newcastle another method for attacking the Bristol defence.

  1. Harry Williams, Exeter Chiefs (87)

A similar story to one of Moon this weekend, with Williams enjoying a very profitable afternoon at the set-piece. Alex Waller was consistently being pinged at the scrum and struggled to live with the power that Williams was bringing to bear. Northampton’s high-tempo, keep phases alive style was too much for Exeter, but both props distinguished themselves in the one battle Exeter won emphatically.

  1. Will Skelton, Saracens (86)

On a day when Saracens looked slightly short of their usual power-heavy forward play, Skelton stepped up with multiple impactful carries that kept his side moving forward and allowed them to claw back the early two-score deficit they coughed up. With Maro Itoje absent through injury, Skelton picked up the attacking and ball-carrying slack, whilst George Kruis impressed on the defensive side of the ball.

  1. Courtney Lawes, Northampton Saints (72)

Although Northampton were struggling at the scrum on Friday night, they were excelling at the lineout and that was in no small part due to the work of Lawes. The lock was a reliable target in attack, but it was in defence where he really shone, regularly disrupting and stealing ball from the usually ultra-reliable Exeter set-piece. Unsurprisingly, his solo tackling was also in fine shape at the Gardens, making a number of momentum-shifting – and legal – hits on Exeter carriers.

  1. Alex Dombrandt, Harlequins (63)

A clever lineout move and good handling skills brought Dombrandt a try just a minute into the game, before the flanker exerted his power with ball in hand during the rest of the first half. As Wasps began to take control of the flow of the game in the second half, it was his ability to prevent Wasps’ carriers getting over the gain line that singled him out as one of the weekend’s top performers.

  1. Sam Underhill, Bath (65)

The flanker really imposed his will on Leicester at the breakdown, denying them any consistent source of ball-security at the contact area. He added to that with a textbook rip on Matt Toomua in the first half, whilst his powerful punches as a carrier helped keep Bath moving forward despite losing Nathan Catt and Matt Garvey early. He complemented Francois Louw at number eight well, but unfortunately had to leave the field in the 47th minute with an ankle injury.

  1. Ben Earl, Saracens (84)

Earl saw off stiff competition from Matt Kvesic and Ben Morgan, as he helped Saracens survive an uncharacteristic slow start to the game. His work at the breakdown and as a carrier was key in first denying Worcester scoring opportunities in the Saracens 22, before helping launch attacks that brought his side a key 10-point revival towards the end of the half. His efficiency at the contact area, with Saracens very rarely flooding the breakdown with numbers, was critical in their comeback against a spirited Worcester side.

Watch: Exceptional Stories – Henry Fraser.

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J
Jon 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

39 Go to comments
A
Adrian 12 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

39 Go to comments
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