Gallagher Premiership XV of the Week - Round 8
In Round 8 of the Gallagher Premiership, the teams at the bottom of the table picked up valuable points in the final week of the November internationals.
Newcastle Falcons saw off Bath, 16-8, at Kingston Park, Worcester Warriors managed a 20-13 win over Harlequins at Sixways and Sale Sharks edged a close one with Northampton Saints, winning 18-13 at the AJ Bell.
Even Bristol Bears, who made the trip to the Ricoh Arena to take on Wasps, secured two bonus points in a 32-28 loss, effectively turning defeat into a draw.
We have rounded up the top performers from the weekend’s action.
Continue reading below…
Watch: Michael Cheika is not a happy man following the Wallabies’ loss at Twickenham.
- Jason Woodward, Gloucester
Exeter did a decent job of strangling Gloucester out of the contest as the game went on at Sandy Park, but Woodward was a constant source of counter-attacking and threat to the Exeter defensive line. His eye for the space between defenders kept Gloucester moving forward, despite his side in general struggling to live with Exeter’s line-speed and set-piece.
- Cadan Murley, Harlequins
A fine Premiership debut for Murley, who showed that, even at just 19 years of age, he is more than able to cut it at this level. His speed and footwork made him a handful for Worcester to deal with, whilst he showed all of the responsibility defensively you could expect of a young player, including reading a Perry Humphreys break and positioning himself perfectly for the intercept.
A nod for Alex Lozowski, who did extremely well out of position on the wing.
- James O’Connor, Sale Sharks
Possibly the Australian’s best performance of the season, O’Connor mixed things up nicely in Sale’s midfield against Northampton Saints. Offensively, he was able to hurt Saints as both a runner and a playmaker on the gain-line, threading passes to the likes of Denny Solomona and Arron Reed outside of him.
- Ryan Mills, Worcester Warriors
With Worcester conceding the majority of possession and territory to Harlequins on Friday night, this was a performance of defensive rigour, rather than offensive ability from Mills. Admittedly, he did still manage to grab a try that proved vital in delivering four points for his side, but it was his work in the defensive line that really stood out, managing to make aggressive, proactive tackles efficiently, and not sacrificing line-speed in order to do so.
- Ross Neal, Wasps
The former London Irish academy man helped fire Wasps into a dominant lead that, despite a spirited Bristol comeback, they would not relinquish. He grabbed two tries and replicated a lot of the physicality that Wasps had so struggled to live with against Taqele Naiyaravoro the week before.
https://twitter.com/premrugby/status/1066602585841385472
- Max Malins, Saracens
In a game when Saracens were missing a plethora of internationals, Malins proved to be the perfect spark plug the reigning champions, pulling strings and creating opportunities against Leicester Tigers. His break, dummy and 30m pass for Alex Lewington was a mark of his class in the game and, as his previous appearances for the club have shown, he is a more than able deputy for Owen Farrell when the fly-half is with England.
- Francois Hougaard, Worcester Warriors
As mentioned before, Quins dominated the territory and possession battles at Sixways, but that didn’t matter, as Hougaard brought a tempo and clinical edge when Worcester were in possession that was enough to see them outsmart Quins’ ever-improving defence. When the South African is given any kind of space around the fringes and can get his running game going, his teams invariably go well around him.
An honourable mention for Saracens’ Ben Spencer, who was in similarly sparkling form at Welford Road.
- Nathan Catt, Bath
It was a flat, inefficient and demoralising Bath performance up in the north-east on Friday night, with the lineout also going astray, but if there were one positive area for Bath fans to be cheerful about looking back on it, it was the scrum. Catt was the spearhead of that impressive unit, turning the screw on Jon Welsh, and many Bath players may still be scratching their heads as to why they went for the posts, and not a scrum, when they were camped right on the try line.
- Harry Thacker, Bristol Bears
How do you not pick a hooker who grabs himself a 16-minute hat-trick, as well as a 60m intercept? Thacker has been excelling in a ‘finisher’ role for Bristol and he was unlucky that his second half cameo at the Ricoh Arena couldn’t bring his side anything more than two bonus points, but it essentially turned a loss into a draw, in terms of points in the table. A mention, too, for Newcastle hooker Kyle Cooper, who was very efficient against Bath on Friday evening.
https://twitter.com/premrugby/status/1066610241549361153
- Dan Cole, Leicester Tigers
The Leicester tighthead is not one to be cowed by Kyle Sinckler’s heroics with England, turning in a display at Welford Road which showed he still has plenty to offer England. He scrummaged well and was a potent carrier around the fringes, negating much of Saracens’ impressive midfield blitz. It was a real captain’s display from the prop in the second half, as his side put together a spirited fightback.
- Calum Green, Newcastle Falcons
The lineout wasn’t flawless from a Newcastle perspective, but Green helped ensure it had a solid advantage over the Bath unit, both as an attacking jumper and a disrupter on defensive throws. He made plenty of hard yards through the game, too, and was one of Newcastle’s busier defensive operators, helping negate the possession and territorial advantages that Bath had.
- James Gaskell, Wasps
Gaskell helped keep the Wasps lineout running smoothly and made his presence known with the ball in hand at the Ricoh. He kept his side on the front-foot and that allowed the likes of Lima Sopoaga and Neal to flourish in Wasps’ high-tempo attack.
- Gary Graham, Newcastle Falcons
In a Falcons side that likes to play at pace and move the ball quickly from side to side, Graham provides some necessary muscle up front. The power of his tackling on the gain-line was a major factor as to why Bath were unable to get their attacking game going and the ensuing the frustration they felt.
- Sam Lewis, Worcester Warriors
A tough call, that could have easily gone the way of Wasps’ Thomas Young, but Lewis was influential in delivering a valuable four points for his side. He was an immovable limpet at the breakdown, tackled powerfully throughout the contest and popped up with some strong carries. It was a jack of all trades type of performance from the Welshman, who had success in everything he attempted at Sixways.
- Jean-Luc du Preez, Sale Sharks
Some notable performances from Zach Mercer, Matt Kvesic and Tom Willis, but the amount of work du Preez got through at the AJ Bell, in his Premiership debut, was something else. It seemed as though the South African was always around the ball against Northampton, carrying, tackling and influencing the breakdown throughout the contest.
Watch: Eddie Jones and Dylan Hartley speak to the media after England’s 37-18 victory over Australia at Twickenham.
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments