Gallagher Premiership XV of the Week - Round 4
The highlight of the weekend’s action in the Gallagher Premiership was undoubtedly Worcester Warriors’ 44-37 victory over Leicester Tigers at Welford Road, as the side from the West Midlands responded well to Bristol Bears recording their second victory of the season 24 hours earlier.
Exeter Chiefs and Saracens kept up their perfect starts to the season, cementing themselves into their own tier at the top of the competition, whilst Wasps showed a significant improvement in their fortunes, recording a 31-13 victory over Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell.
We have rounded up the top performers from the weekend’s slate of games.
- Simon Hammersley, Newcastle Falcons
The full-back wasn’t just a danger on the counter-attack, he frequently popped up close to the ruck and in the midfield, bursting through any gaps the Exeter defence offered up. He contributed strongly to Newcastle’s best attacking moments in the game, despite Exeter’s tight five exerting a vice-like grip on the game and denying the Newcastle back line the platform they would have liked.
- Bryce Heem, Worcester Warriors
Heem was unlucky not to get among the try scorers at Welford Road, but that shouldn’t detract from a dominant outing on the right wing. Leicester struggled to contain Heem and though they won the territory and possession battles, it was Heem’s frequent forays with ball in hand that helped given Worcester the platform to score their six tries and record a memorable victory in the East Midlands.
- Elliot Daly, Wasps
Daly looked good back in his favoured position of outside centre, linking up well with the returning Willie le Roux and the outside threats of Josh Bassett and Christian Wade. His kicking from hand was impressive, too, as he pinned Sale back into their 22 with raking kicks to the corner, and his ability to put the afterburners on and burst through any gaps given to him kept defenders in two minds as they drifted outwards.
- Johnny Williams, Newcastle Falcons
A coming out performance for Williams in the black of Newcastle, as the former London Irish man shone offensively against the usually reliable defence of Exeter. A skilful offload out of the back of the hand sent Zach Kibirige away for the opening try of the game, before the centre chipped in with one of his own in the second half. He threatened as a carrier and a distributor.
An honourable mention, too, for Wasps’ Michael le Bourgeois, who tormented Sale on Saturday afternoon.
https://twitter.com/premrugby/status/1043575946274656257
- Josh Bassett, Wasps
Persistently unheralded in a back three that also boasts le Roux and Wade, yet consistently effective for Wasps. He was a threat out wide with his pace on Saturday, as well as ambitious in his bid for extra work, appearing often in the midfield. Kept the dangerous Denny Solomona well under wraps, too.
- Duncan Weir, Worcester Warriors
Any fly-half who can guide his team to victory at Welford Road deserves plenty of praise and that’s exactly what Weir did on Sunday afternoon. He clinically swooped with a couple of early tries, whilst contributing 12 points from the boot, as well as sending Jack Singleton through for his try.
Bristol Bears’ Ian Madigan also had a strong outing, albeit in vastly different conditions at a rainy Ashton Gate on Saturday.
- Richard Wigglesworth, Saracens
Even at the age of 35, Wigglesworth continues to impress among men 10 or even 15 years his junior. On the occasion of breaking the Premiership appearance record, Wigglesworth masterfully guided Saracens’ powerful pack around the field, played the territory game well and brought swift and accurate delivery from the contact area, allowing Saracens to a run at a tempo that Gloucester couldn’t live with.
- Nathan Catt, Bath
An old-school propping performance from an old-school prop, Catt was tailormade for the wet and wintry conditions at the Rec on Saturday. Didn’t tear up trees in the loose – although he was busy in the defensive line close to the fringes – but worked away at Ben Franks in the scrum and had plenty of joy against the Kiwi.
- Tommy Taylor, Wasps
A strong return to his old club for Taylor, who helped give Wasps the set-piece foundation they needed to take the game to Sale. His lineout throwing was accurate and he also contributed strongly with his tackling work, helping keep Sale’s carriers on or behind the gain-line.
Harry Thacker also impressed for Bristol and seems to be becoming more influential to them with each passing week. Bristol’s lineout was just not quite as effective as that of Wasps, though.
- Harry Williams, Exeter Chiefs
It was an old-school Exeter performance on Friday night, strangling and suffocating Newcastle through the power and efficiency of their tight five at the set-piece. Williams gave youngster Adam Brocklebank a stern examination of his scrummaging ability and the Newcastle loosehead will have learnt a lot, despite being on the back-foot for most of the evening.
- George Kruis, Saracens
It’s no surprise that Saracens’ best defensive performance of the young season comes on a day when Kruis stepped up to the plate. Carried physically when he had the opportunity to, but it was in defence that the lock really stood out, organising and leading the defensive line and excelling in the one-on-one tackle situations. Usual, effective, contribution at the lineout, too.
- Chris Vui, Bristol Bears
Nothing too flashy from Vui, but in the torrential conditions at Ashton Gate, the Samoan lock made the hard yards as a one-out runner and kept the lineout running relatively cleanly. Consistently impressed with clearing out at the breakdown, helping Bristol with their ball-security.
- Maro Itoje, Saracens
Itoje was like a wrecking ball at Allianz Park on Sunday, turning Gloucester over multiple times at the contact area and the lineout. In addition to being a defensive lightning rod, the blindside also stepped up with two tries, one from a rolling maul and the other as a result of a fortuitous bounce from a clever Owen Farrell kick.
Tom Curry was the standout man in Sale’s disappointing performance at home to Wasps, displaying his physicality in the tackle and denying, single-handedly at times, Wasps on the gain-line.
- Lewis Ludlam, Northampton Saints
A performance from the young Northampton flanker that showed he belongs at this level. Northampton were poor overall, and they didn’t deal with the conditions at the Rec well enough, but Ludlam impressed as a carrier. He coughed up a couple of turnovers which take the gloss off somewhat, but he was also busy in the defensive line and managed to muddy Bath ball on a number of occasions.
- Sam Simmonds, Exeter Chiefs
Not quite the free-flowing Simmonds we often see, but the No.8 took what he was given on Friday night. The tight five paved the way for him to pick up two tries at the back of the rolling maul, with the time he spent learning from Thomas Waldrom clearly paying off, and he took on more of a role close to the fringes, helping Exeter win the hard yards around the contact area in a tight contest with Newcastle.
Sione Kalamafoni deserves a mention, too, who looked like a one-man army at times on Sunday.
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments