Kiwis in Europe: Bears-Saints Premiership derby almost a Kiwi Super Rugby match
This morning’s Northampton versus Bristol Gallagher Premiership contest is the sort that this Kiwis in Europe column just loves.
We had the two New Zealand head coaches in the competition – Chris Boyd of the Saints and Pat Lam of the Bears – going head to head in a Six Nations hiatus with no less than 13 players who have a New Zealand rugby connection.
Bristol prevailed 20-14, making a stirring comeback to hold fourth position in a Premiership table that is tight as a drum with Saracens now out of the playoffs picture. The Bears can partly thank a 61st minute try by replacement Henry Purdy, who is a not a Kiwi but did scores three tries in 10 outings for Otago in last season’s Mitre 10 Cup.
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Fullback Charlie Piutau was again the most dangerous back on the park, running for 87m from 16 carries, while Chris Vui pulled down a game-high six lineouts. Other Bears to feature were Alapati Leiua, John Afoa, Steven Luatua, Nathan Hughes and Jake Heenan.
Saints fielded Matt Proctor, Owen Franks, Teimana Harrison, Ben Franks and Ahsee Tuala. Boyd’s men still hold second place in the Premiership.
Exeter won 26-15 at Gloucester, which fielded Josh Hohneck and Tom Marshall.
London Irish’s Kiwi contingent of Waisake Naholo, Terence Hepetema and NZ-educated former Wallaby prop Sekope Kepu enjoyed a 29-15 away win over Harlequins.
Leicester’s Telusa Veainu scored a try to help his team defeat Wasps 18-9. Jordan Taufua was in the No 7 jersey for the Tigers. For the vanquished, second five Jimmy Gopperth slotted three penalty goals, playing outside Jacob Umaga. Brad Shields was used off the bench.
Saracens are proving a nuisance, despite their automatic relegation at season’s end, beating Sale 36-22. The Sharks fielded Bryn Evans and Denny Solomona.
Bath’s Jackson Willison enjoyed a narrow 22-21 win over Worcester’ Matt Moulds.
In the French Top 14, the struggles continued for defending champion Toulouse, edged 30-27 by Racing-Metro in Paris.
Ben Volavola, Ben Tameifuna, and Dominic Bird all played for the Parisians, while Pita Ahki scored a try for the visitors and Joe Tekori was sin binned.
Castres’ Maama Vaipulu helped his club defeat Agen 43-24. Appearing for the Agenais were JJ Taulagi, Sam Vaka, Paula Ngauamo and Tom Murday.
Stade Francais edged a La Rochelle side (21-20) that included Ihaia West, this time at fullback, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Victor Vito and Uini Atonio.
Former Crusaders wing Nemani Nadolo crossed for a hat-trick in Montpellier’s narrow 31-29 win over Alofa Alofa’s Bayonne.
Tim Nanai-Williams, Fritz Lee and Loni Uhila all played in Clermont’s 23-20 victory at Pau, which fielded Ben Smith and Ziggy Fisi’ihoi.
Toulon’s Kiwi quartet of Bryce Heem, Brian Alainu’uese, Liam Messam and Julian Savea all tasted a 34-17 victory over So’otala Fa’aso’o’s Brive.
Ben Botica kicked three goals and Seta Tamanivalu scored a try as high-fliers Bordeaux-Begles beat Lyon 37-19. Toby Arnold, Rudi Wulf, and Charlie Ngatai, who kicked two penalty goals, all featured in the Lyonnais backline.
In the Guinness PRO14, Aki Seiuli’s Glasgow crushed Zebre 56-24. Junior Laloifi, who was binned, Josh Renton and Jimmy Tuivaiti all turned out for the Italians.
A try to Matt Faddes was not quite enough as Ulster went down 26-24 to Ospreys. Sean Reidy was on the side of the scrum for the Ulstermen.
Simon Hickey’s Edinburgh won 14-19 at Scarlets, for whom Sam Lousi and Kieron Fonotia featured.
A try to prop Michael Bent helped Leinster overcome the Cheetahs 36-12. Halfback Jamison Gibson-Park was used off the pine.
Dominic Robertson-McCoy’s Connacht blanked Cardiff Blues 29-0. Rey Lee-Lo, Filo Paulo and Nick Williams turned out for the Blues.
Full rounds of all three competitions will be played this weekend, despite the third round of the Six Nations.
Ian Foster answers questions put forward from RugbyPass’ fans:
Comments on RugbyPass
Also, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
2 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
2 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
39 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
23 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
39 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
39 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
4 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
4 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to comments