Johann van Graan's champions start new season with a bang
PREMIERSHIP WRAP: English champions Bath got the defence of their Prem title off to the best possible start with a 47-31 bonus point win at Harlequins on Friday.
Johann van Graan’s side trailed 14-17 at the break as Quins got off to a flyer with flank Will Evans scoring a hat-trick of tries inside 30 minutes.
But two tries on debut from new signing Henry Arundell helped to turn the game upside down as Bath ran away with it in the second half.
Bath scored seven tries in total with hooker Tom Dunn and prop Billy Sela crossing in the first half with fellow prop Beno Obano, Archie Griffin and Sam Underhill adding to Arundell’s tries in the second half.
In Friday’s other game, Owen Farrell’s Saracens upset a new-look Newcastle with a 39-17 victory in the north-east.
Last month, Newcastle were taken over by Austria-based energy drinks company Red Bull and the side showed they had new wings when Alex Hearle crossed for the first try in the opening minute.
Saracens, though, recovered to lead 15-10 at half-time following tries from Brandon Jackson and Andy Onyeama-Christie.
Nick Tompkins scored twice in the second half and 18-year-old debutant wing Noah Caluori also touched down to seal the win and secure the bonus point.
Farrell marked his return to the Saracens line-up with 12 points off the boot.
Thursday’s opening game saw Sale defeat Gloucester while the remainder of the opening round will be played on Sunday so as to avoid any clashes on Saturday with the Women’s World Cup final between England and Canada at Twickenham.
See below for Thursday and Friday’s scores and scorers!
Thursday, September 25:
Sale 27-10 Gloucester
The scorers:
For Sale:
Tries: Roebuck, Jibulu, Carpenter, Andrews
Cons: Ford 2
Pen: Ford
For Gloucester:
Try: Clement
Con: Byrne
Pen: Byrne
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Sam Dugdale, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Nathan Jibulu, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Tom Burrow, 21 Dom Hanson, 22 Arron Reed, 23 Tristan Woodman.
Gloucester: 15 Charlie Atkinson, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Ross Byrne, 9 Tomos Williams (captain), 8 Jack Clement, 7 James Venter, 6 Freddie Thomas, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Arthur Clark, 3 Afolabi Fasogbon, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Harrison Bellamy.
Replacements: 16 Kealan Freeman-Price, 17 Archie McArthur, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Will Joseph, 23 Josiah Edwards-Giraud.
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: George Selwood and John Meredith
TMO: Peter Allan
Friday, September 26:
Newcastle Red Bulls 17-39 Saracens
The scorers:
For Newcastle:
Tries: Hearle, F Clarke
Cons: Connon 2
Pen: Connon
For Saracens:
Tries: Jackson, Onyeama-Christie, Tompkins 2, Caluori
Cons: Farrell 3, Burke
Pens: Farrell 2
Teams:
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Oli Spencer, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Max Clark, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Cameron Neild, 5 Jamie Hodgson, 4 Oscar Usher, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 George McGuigan (captain), 1 Murray McCallum.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Fergus Lee-Warner, 21 Freddie Lockwood, 22 James Elliott, 23 Elliott Obatoyinbo.
Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Brandon Jackson, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl (captain), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 6 Nathan Michelow, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Eoghan Clarke, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Olamide Sodeke, 21 Charlie Bracken, 22 Cameron Hutchison, 23 Noah Caluori.
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Hamish Grant and Jamie Leahy
TMO: Hamish Smales
Harlequins 31-47 Bath
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Tries: W Evans 3, Kenningham, T Green
Cons: J Evans 3
For Bath:
Tries: Dunn, Sela, Obano, Arundell 2, Griffin, Underhill
Cons: Spencer 5, De Glanville
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Nick David, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Sean Kerr, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt (captain), 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5. Kieran Treadwell, 4 Chandler Cunningham-South, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter.
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Ollie Streeter, 19 Jonny Green, 20 Zach Carr, 21 Max Green, 22 Ludo Kolade, 23 Cameron Anderson.
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Max Ojomoh, 9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Vilikesa Sela, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano.
Replacements: 16 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 17 Francois Van Wyk, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Sam Underhill.
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Richard Gordon and Simon Harding
TMO: Stuart Terheege
