Gallagher Premiership XV of the Week - Round 19
Round 19 of the Gallagher Premiership got underway in exhilarating fashion on Friday night, as relegation-embattled Leicester Tigers made their future prospects look a lot brighter with a 27-22 victory over bottom-placed Newcastle Falcons.
Worcester Warriors rubbed salt into Newcastle’s wounds, too, by picking up a bonus point win at home to Sale Sharks, leaving the side from the north-east seven points adrift with three games left to play. Bristol Bears took a big step towards securing their Premiership future also, beating Saracens, 23-21, at Ashton Gate.
We have compiled a XV of the top performers from a high-stakes weekend of Premiership rugby.
A classy and polished performance from Banahan, who was playing out of position due to the injury crisis currently going on in the Gloucester back line. He took care of his own responsibilities efficiently and was also on hand to aid two relatively inexperienced wings in the forms of Tom Seabrook and Henry Purdy. He just sees off Simon Hammersley, who was also impressive on Friday night.
- Vereniki Goneva, Newcastle Falcons
The Fijian wing got through a mountain of work on Friday evening, frequently popping up in midfield and as a one-out runner. He always had a step or a fend in his locker to help him beat the first defender and get Newcastle moving forward. The one time he got the space to make a big break, he ripped through the Leicester defence, before setting up Sonatane Takulua for a try.
- Elliot Daly, Wasps
The outside centre gave the Wasps faithful something to cheer in one of his last performances in the black and gold at Sandy Park. He was a dual-threat any time he managed to find space, capable of unleashing the wings outside of him or stepping inside or outside and breezing passed would-be tacklers. Those fans will be hoping Malakai Fekitoa can emulate performances such as this one from Daly.”
- Mark Atkinson, Gloucester
Not quite the fireworks of last week, when Atkinson collected a hat-trick, but the inside centre was a fine facilitator for Gloucester in their comeback at Kingsholm. His carries frequently drew and tied up multiple defenders, which allowed Danny Cipriani to loop around and turn the corner in the subsequent phase. He stepped in comfortably further out in the back line when Billy Twelvetrees moved inside, too.
- Josh Adams, Worcester Warriors
The Cardiff-bound Welshman did everything he could to ensure that Worcester again enjoy Premiership rugby next season by bagging a hat-trick at Sixways on Saturday afternoon. He was the lethal end product to a well-functioning back line for the Warriors and his three second half scores allowed Worcester to pull away from Sale and secure an emphatic bonus point victory.
- Danny Cipriani, Gloucester
Compelling cases were put forth by George Ford and Marcus Smith, but it was the Cipriani-orchestrated comeback at Kingsholm that won the day. The fly-half celebrated his recent contract extension with a showing that should now guarantee Gloucester playoff rugby at the end of the season and it was his ability to find, create and utilise space that allowed Gloucester to overturn a 17-0 deficit.
- Sonatane Takulua, Newcastle Falcons
A fine effort in defeat from Takulua, who was the heartbeat of Falcons in an intense and high-tempo affair with Leicester on Friday evening. The scrum-half was lively around the fringes and as a support-runner, as demonstrated by the try he finished off from a Goneva break. He kicked well at goal, too, and contributed a total of 17 of Newcastle’s 22 points, ensuring that they at least took a losing bonus point into the final three games of the season.
The South African compounded a tough couple of weeks for Kyle Sinckler by turning in a strong scrummaging performance at the Stoop. His carrying was also effective and he found some soft edges in Harlequins’ fringe defence, as the Londoners put a premium on their line-speed further out, in an attempt to cut off the space for Saints out wide.
- Harry Thacker, Bristol Bears
The Bristol lineout ran smoothly with Thacker pulling the strings and the diminutive hooker tormented the Saracens defence with his power in the contact and his eye for a gap. His carries kept Bristol moving forward, building tempo and momentum, and allowed Bristol to leave Ashton Gate with a priceless four points that, probably, erases any concerns about relegation. A yellow card tarnished the performance slightly, but it did not prove costly for the side from the West Country.
- Rodney Ah You, Newcastle Falcons
A couple of early errors aside, Ah You had a storming game on Friday night. His back and forth battle with Ellis Genge was as compelling as the match in general, and the physicality of his carries and tackles were key for Falcons. He was consistently able to get Newcastle over the gain-line in attack and repeatedly made momentum-shifting tackles in defence, leaving him unlucky to be on the losing side.
- Will Spencer, Leicester Tigers
Spencer brought plenty of physical edge to the encounter in the north-east, something which has been noticeably missing from Leicester’s game for much of this season. The lock was pivotal to Tigers winning those arm wrestles in the tight exchanges, and with Newcastle controlling both possession and territory, that was key to allowing Tigers to produce clutch turnovers and escape Kingston Park with the win.
- Franco Mostert, Gloucester
It wasn’t quite the offensive performance we all know Mostert is capable of, but his work in defence and at the set-piece was excellent at Kingsholm and allowed the Cherry and Whites to turn the tables on Bath, who were rampant early. His physicality close to the ruck denied Bath the front-foot ball they were excelling with early in the game and he helped make the set-piece a reliable foundation for Gloucester to launch their attacking play from in the second half.
- Jamie Gibson, Northampton Saints
Gibson carried well for Saints at the Stoop, providing them with quick ball to run on to and negate the line-speed that a set Harlequins defence can bring. In conjunction with Teimana Harrison, Gibson helped Northampton shade the physical battle up front against the likes of Alex Dombrandt and Chris Robshaw.
- Sam Lewis, Worcester Warriors
A strong performance across the board from Lewis, who was busy throughout at Sixways. His influence was felt as a ball-carrier, in the defensive line and as a breakdown operator, both clearing out and slowing down Sale’s ball. He was at the heart of many of Worcester’s best attacking moments, laying the foundations for the back line to shine.
- Guy Thompson, Leicester Tigers
Two tries in the second half from Thompson proved critical to Leicester picking up four points at Kingston Park and could potentially be decisive in their battle against relegation. Away from the try line, Thompson was also ruthlessly efficient for Tigers, spoiling Newcastle’s ball at the breakdown, tackling manfully and constantly bringing energy to Leicester in attack and defence. Wasps’ Nathan Hughes deserves a mention for his excellent showing against Exeter, but Thompson’s showing could save his club from relegation, just tipping the scales his way.
Watch: Rugby World Cup city guide: Tokyo
Comments on RugbyPass
I’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
139 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
139 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
139 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
139 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
139 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
139 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
139 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
139 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
139 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
139 Go to commentsHo hum.
139 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
139 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
139 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
139 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
139 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
139 Go to comments