Bok discard lifts Sharks off the bottom

PREMIERSHIP WRAP: A powerful finish from Rohan Janse van Rensburg was the icing on the cake as Sale Sharks lifted themselves off the bottom of the Premiership table with a scrappy win over Newcastle Falcons.

* In other Saturday action Owen Farrell’s 20 points from the tee saw Saracens come from behind at The Stoop to maintain their unbeaten record in the Premiership this season.

* Leicester Tigers were in no mood to let the occasion get to them as first-half scores from Ben Youngs and Jordan Olowofela gave them victory over Northampton Saints at Twickenham.

* Danny Cipriani made a winning return to the Ricoh Arena as Charlie Sharples’ two tries inspired Gloucester past Wasps in a tantalising contest.

We look at Saturday’s matches!

Northampton Saints 15-23 Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers were in no mood to let the occasion get to them as first-half scores from Ben Youngs and Jordan Olowofela gave them victory over Northampton Saints at Twickenham.

Saints managed three tries themselves through Jamie Gibson, David Ribbans and Mike Haywood, but three missed conversions left them short in the end.

In aid of Rob Horne, whose playing career was cut tragically short after an injury in this fixture last season, the atmosphere was electric at the Home of, with just over 40,000 fans in great spirit to support the cause despite the gloomy skies.

George Ford got Tigers on the board within the first three minutes with an easy kick in front of goal.

Jonny May’s day ended abruptly when he took a heavy hit going into contact and had to be replaced by 20-year-old Olowofela on the wing.

Saints displayed their attacking intent when Dan Biggar kicked to the corner instead of taking three points, and they were rewarded when Gibson buried over from the resultant line-out maul.

But Ford put Tigers back in front midway through the first half, slotting a penalty after missing his previous attempt.

His half-back partner Youngs then increased the lead after Jonah Holmes found space down the right and passed back inside for the scrum-half to dive over, Ford adding the extras.

Tigers pounced on the momentum and added a second try minutes later, Holmes again the creator as he slipped through a hole in the Saints defence to race through and set up Olowofela, who slid over despite the covering tackle of Mallinder.

But Saints responded well, throwing bodies at the Tigers try line until finally, in the 46th minute, Ribbans muscled over to make it 10-20 at half time.

The intensity continued in the second 40 but Ford marginally increased Leicester’s lead with a penalty after Biggar got caught holding on.

With slippy conditions it was a day for the forwards and replacement prop Haywood managed to get on the scoreboard to give Northampton a glimmer of hope with 10 minutes left.

But Tigers stood strong and saw the game out much to the disappointment of the Saints fans.

The scorers:

For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Gibson, Ribbans, Haywood

For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: B Youngs, Olowofela
Cons: Ford 2
Pens: Ford 3

Teams:

Northampton: 15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Ahsee Tuala, 13 Andrew Kellaway, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Mitch Eadie, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Fraser Dingwall, 23 Tom Collins.

Leicester: 15 Jonah Holmes, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 David Denton, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Mike Williams, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (captain), 1 Greg Bateman.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 David Feao, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Sam Lewis, 20 Valentino Mapapalangi, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Jordan Olowofela.

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Roy Maybank
TMO: Sean Davey

Sale Sharks 20-7 Newcastle Falcons

A powerful finish from Rohan Janse van Rensburg was the icing on the cake as Sale Sharks lifted themselves off the bottom of the Premiership table with a scrappy win over Newcastle Falcons.

Sharks took advantage of two Falcons second-half yellow cards, as locks James Phillips and Bryn Evans both scored tries against their depleted opposition.

Flanker Will Welch had given Newcastle a 7-3 half-time lead with his try just before the break, after AJ MacGinty had converted a penalty for Sale.

After Evans crossed, centre Janse van Rensburg added a third for the Sharks to secure the points and confirm that his side would leapfrog their opposition in the table.

Sharks started the brighter of the two sides but some errant kicking and wastefulness in possession gave them little sight of the Falcons try-line.

MacGinty finally broke the deadlock just after the half-hour mark, kicking a central penalty when Newcastle were adjudged to be offside.

Falcons responded well, steadily gaining yards in the Sale 22 until Welch was able to go over the line from a few metres out, with fly-half Joel Hodgson converting.

After a lively start to the second half, Marland Yarde was tripped by Logovi’i Mulipola after offloading the ball, with the Falcon subsequently sin-binned.

From the resultant play, Sale utilised their heavy-hitting forwards to give Phillips the chance to go over, with MacGinty successfully converting for a 10-7 advantage.

Sale continued to pile the pressure on, with Byron McGuigan tackled unsafely by scrum-half Michael Young as he went for the corner, forcing the referee into producing another yellow card.

Sharks thought they’d scored again from the subsequent play but on review, Will Cliff had narrowly put a foot in touch.

Lock Evans punished the depleted Falcons side with a pick-and-go from close range to put Sale on the verge of just a second win in their last nine Premiership matches.

Janse van Rensburg then broke clear and barrelled through a couple of tackles to increase the cushion and, despite a missed conversion, Sale were able to see out the game, although a late, serious-looking injury to Yarde will be a worry for the hosts.

The scorers:

For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Phillips, Evans, Van Rensburg
Con: MacGinty
Pen: MacGinty

For Newcastle Falcons:
Try: Welch
Con: Hodgson

Teams:

Sale: 15 Sam James, 14 Byron McGuigan, 13 Luke James, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jono Ross (captain), 5 James Phillips, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Alexandru Tarus, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Josh Beaumont, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Mark Jennings, 23 James O’Connor.

Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Michael Young, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Gary Graham, 5 Tevita Cavubati, 4 Calum Green, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Adam Brocklebank.
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Sami Mavinga, 18 David Wilson, 19 Will Witty, 20 Ryan Burrows, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Tom Penny.

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Tim Wigglesworth
TMO: Trevor Fisher

Wasps 21-35 Gloucester

Danny Cipriani made a winning return to the Ricoh Arena as Charlie Sharples’ two tries inspired Gloucester past Wasps in a tantalising contest.

Cipriani was making his first appearance at the Ricoh since his summer move from Wasps and he reminded the home fans of his talents while again showing why he was named Premiership Player of the Month for September.

Sharples’ two tries, both super finishes, takes him to eight for the season from just six games while the result lifts Gloucester to third in the table.

Scores from Dan Robson, Elliot Daly and Juan de Jongh put pressure on Gloucester but Sharples’ second and Lewis Ludlow’s effort completed the win – following earlier Gloucester scores from Ben Vellacott and Sharples.

Wasps made a rapid start and scored the first points of the match inside three minutes as scrum-half Robson spotted a gap in the Gloucester defence and burst through from the base of a ruck to score.

But Gloucester, and Cipriani, grew into the contest and their first try was a moment of brilliance. The fly-half exchanged passes with Vellacott inside his own half before darting towards the corner.

He seemed to run out of gas but kicked inside for the scrum-half to score. That changed the momentum of the match and minutes later they added a second.

Full-back Tom Hudson broke through two tackles and popped a nice pass off for wing Sharples to burst through on his inside shoulder to score.

Wasps came charging out of the blocks in the second half, with Daly charging through to score – while Billy Searle added the extras.

The hosts kept up the pressure and De Jongh planted the ball down for their try of the match following Craig Hampson’s kick through.

But Gloucester put it to bed late on, with Sharples crossing after a sustained period of pressure and Lewis Ludlow brought up the bonus point in the final couple of minutes.

The scorers:

For Wasps:
Tries: Robson, Daly, De Jongh
Cons: Searle 3

For Gloucester:
Tries: Vellacott, Sharples 2, Ludlow
Cons: Cipriani 3
Pens: Cipriani 3

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly (captain), 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Nizaam Carr, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ben Harris.
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Michael Le Bourgeois, 23 Gaby Lovobalavu.

Gloucester: 15 Tom Hudson, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Ed Slater (captain), 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 James Hanson, 1 Josh Hohneck.
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Ollie Adkins, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Jason Woodward.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson, Wayne Falla
TMO: Claire Hodnett

Harlequins 20-25 Saracens

Owen Farrell’s 20 points from the tee saw Saracens come from behind at The Stoop to maintain their unbeaten record in the Premiership this season.

Saracens retained their lead at the top of the table, but were made to work by the hosts – who went into the break with an eight-point lead after tries from Danny Care and then added another through Joe Marchant.

But six penalties and a conversion from Farrell, combined with Billy Vunipola’s second-half try, showed that the defending champions mean business.

Marcus Smith opened the scoring with a 40-metre penalty after Alex Lozowski got in the way of Danny Care’s pass when retreating.

Renaldo Bothma came incredibly close to an opening try with a searing break through the middle, but an excellent tackle by Ben Spencer, who wrapped Bothma up and won a penalty, saved Saracens.

Farrell levelled the score 20 minutes in with Saracens’ first penalty of the day in a tight start.

Only minutes later Farrell doubled Saracens’ score with another penalty to take a slender lead, but Smith was on hand with a penalty of his own to square it up again.

And seconds later the hosts regained the lead after Care nicked the ball with a perfectly-timed interception to race clear and touch down under the posts on his milestone 250th appearance.

Farrell added a third penalty to reduce Quins lead to just seven points, before adding two more after the break.

Harlequins responded in astonishing fashion, as Smith lined a penalty up but the wind got hold of the ball and Marchant leapt up to claim it, then dotted down upon landing for a surprising score.

But Saracens started to turn the screw and their slick moves cut through Harlequins’ tired defence, with Vunipola on hand to dive over in the corner and Farrell converting to take the lead.

The fly-half then added his sixth penalty to take the gap to five, a lead which they held to the end to stay unbeaten so far in the defence of their title.

The scorers:

For Harlequins:
Tries: Care, Marchant
Cons: Smith 2
Pens: Smith 2

For Saracens:
Try: B Vunipola
Con: Farrell
Pens: Farrell 6

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Paul Lasike, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Renaldo Bothma, 5 James Horwill, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Max Crumpton, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Will Collier, 19 Stan South, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Demetri Catrakilis, 23 Alofa Alofa.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 David Strettle, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Mike Rhodes, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 Sean Maitland.

Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Robert Warburton
TMO: David Rose

Source: @premrugby