Premiership: Six stories from the weekend
- Saracens go clear at the top
- Foden snatches late win for Saints
BILLY WHO?
Saracens came back from 11 down to score 14 straight points to win the battle of the top two at Sandy Park. The Premiership's all-time to points scorer Charlie Hodgson was crucial in kicking three second half penalties to win 11-14.
While usual Saracens No8 Billy Vunipola was charging around Murrayfield and helping himself to a man-of-the-match award, his replacement Samu Vunisa did a very passable impression.
The Fiji born Italian international, who also played in New Zealand, crashed over for a vital try just before the break to keep Sarries in the game.
"We were 11-0 down playing against the strong wind but we didn’t deserve to be and Vunisa’s try just before the interval was crucial as we went into half-time only six points down," said director of rugby Mark McCall.
The big man was also pretty happy with himself as Saracens move five points clear.
IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL...
With time up on the clock, all Harlequins had to do was kick the ball in to touch. Somehow, Northampton's Ben Foden leapt acrobatically to stop that happening. A few moments later and he was running in the match winning score in a pulsating encounter.
In the end, Northampton snatched it 23-27 to break Quins' unbeaten home record and leave everyone speechless.
"I cannot describe or put into words how I feel right now, I've never seen anything like it on a rugby field," said Quins' director of rugby Conor O'Shea. "You just had to walk over the dead-ball line and kick it over."
PAIN RELIEF
There was no dream return to his former club for Newcastle fly half Andy Goode. The man summoned out of retirement to help Newcastle avoid relegation played his first 80 minutes in a long while.
However, a late Jimmy Goperth penalty gave Wasps a narrow 9-8 victory on the day. Newcastle returned to the bottom of the table after a win for London Irish but a losing bonus point may prove crucial come the end of the season.
MANNY ON THE MAP
Manchester's finest inflicted a first home defeat of the season on Leicester Tigers with a3-10 victory in windy conditions at Welford Road.
Having missed five kicks at goal, Danny Cipriani banged the ball in to touch and from the lineout England squad member Josh Beaumont touched down for the only try of the game. Maybe people will start taking a bit more notice of Sale now.
WEST COUNTRY DELUGE
Gloucester's James Hook was the hero of the day as he kicked all Gloucester's points in a 11-15 win over Bath in atrocious conditions.
But all the attention will be on last year's finalists Bath who have now won just two of the last 11 games in all competitions.
Sections of the home support reacted angrily at the full-time whistle as the rain continued to fall.
REVOLVING DOOR
Worcester boss Dean Ryan certainly didn't hold back in his assessment of his team's performance against London Irish. "I thought the first 40 minutes was terrible," he said. "We just had a revolving door for 40 minutes."
However, Irish were far happier in securing a 20-13 win that lifts them off the bottom of the table. There was also a nice moment for wing Topsy Ojo who celebrated his 250th game for the club.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar