New Diamond can't save Warriors from loss

PREMIERSHIP WRAP: The Steve Diamond era at Worcester Warriors began in losing fashion at Sixways as Northampton recorded a 29-13 victory.

Former Sale Sharks boss Diamond, currently working as Worcester’s lead rugby consultant, will succeed Alan Solomons in the post of Warriors Director of Rugby later this year.

Head coach Jonathan Thomas departed the club earlier this week, but Diamond can take considerable encouragement from a battling second-half performance that produced tries for prop Rory Sutherland and centre Ashley Beck.

Saints, who remain firmly in play-off contention, cruised clear through tries by centre Rory Hutchinson, hooker Sam Matavesi and scrum-half Alex Mitchell, with Wales captain Dan Biggar kicking two conversions and a penalty.

Northampton led 22-3 before the Warriors revival and Saints had to wait until ten minutes from time before they could claim a bonus-point triumph when substitute hooker James Fish scored their fourth try and Biggar converted.

Scotland prop Sutherland returned for Worcester after serving a suspension imposed following his sending-off against Bath three weeks ago, while Sutherland’s Test teammate Duhan van der Merwe also started after recovering from illness.

Jonathan Thomas didn’t last all that long as the head coach at Worcester following the arrival of Steve Diamond as lead rugby consultant, the ex-Wales forward leaving the club with immediate effect on Tuesday just eight weeks after the former Sale director of rugby arrived in to start work at Sixways on

Centre Fraser Dingwall captained Northampton for the first time in a Premiership game, with Biggar and Scotland centre Hutchinson featuring ahead of next weekend’s Guinness Six Nations kick-off. A scrappy opening 15 minutes ended scoreless, although Worcester looked marginally more threatening in attack as van der Merwe roamed off his wing, probing for midfield gaps.

Northampton successfully absorbed a spell of Worcester pressure and then struck from their first attack as they drove a lineout before possession found its way to Hutchinson, who cut back inside and touched down.

Biggar converted as Saints moved seven points clear and while Fin Smith opened Worcester’s account through a short-range penalty, Warriors then saw wing Perry Humphreys sin-binned by referee Ian Tempest for a deliberate knock-on.

Smith was forced off injured twelve minutes before half-time, which meant Wales international Owen Williams making a first appearance since tearing his hamstring almost four months ago. And Worcester’s injury woes continued when lock Andrew Kitchener followed Smith in making an early exit, as Justin Clegg replaced him.

Kitchener had barely left the action before Saints struck again after good close-quarter work by their forwards enabled Matavesi to claim their second try. Northampton had control of the contest as the interval approached and they claimed a third try when the ever-alert Mitchell darted clear in midfield and enjoyed a 30-metre unopposed run to the line.#

Biggar converted and Northampton were in charge at the break, leading 19-3 and needing one more try for a bonus point. Biggar opened the second-half scoring through a 44th-minute penalty but Worcester still had their moments, notably a thrilling 40-metre surge by van der Merwe that required a fearless Mitchell tackle to halt him.

It set up a strong attacking position, though, and Worcester’s forwards rumbled over, with Sutherland awarded the score as Northampton’s advantage was cut to 14 points. Worcester then looked like they might score again two minutes later after skipper Ted Hill broke clear, only for Saints wing Ollie Sleightholme to pull off a try-saving tackle.

But Northampton were pinned inside their own half and Worcester made further in-roads with 16 minutes remaining when Beck marked his 50th Warriors appearance by collecting a fine try. Saints needed to regroup and they did so impressively as Fish’s touchdown and another Biggar conversion made the game safe.

* In other Saturday action London Irish fought back to secure their first-ever Premiership double over Exeter by – holding out for a narrow 18-14 win at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Tries from Matt Cornish and James Stokes ensured the hosts pulled off an excellent comeback against Rob Baxter’s side, who at one stage led 14-0.

Saturday scores and scorers

London Irish 18 Exeter 14

The scorers

For London Irish
Tries: Cornish, Stokes
Con: Jackson
Pens: Jackson 2

For Exeter Chiefs
Tries: Woodburn, Schickerling
Cons: Simmonds 2

The teams:

London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Lucio Cinti, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Matt Rogerson (captain), 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 Matt Cornish, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke.
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 22 Hugh O’Sullivan, 23 Kyle Rowe.

Exeter: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Harvey Skinner, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds (captain), 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Don Armand, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Patrick Schickerling, 2 Jack Innard, 1 James Kenny.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Dafydd Jenkins, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Sean O’Brien, 23 Josh Hodge.

Referee: Mathew Carley
Assistant referees: Nick Wood, Phil Watters
TMO: Luke Pearce

Newcastle 22 Gloucester 32

The scorers

For Newcastle Falcons
Tries: Radwan, Carreras, Maddison
Cons: Connon, Haydon-Wood
Pen: Connon

For Gloucester
Tries: Ruskin, Carreras, Ludlow, Thorley, Rees-Zammit
Cons: Hastings, Evans
Pen: Hastings

The teams:

Newcastle: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Pete Lucock, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Sean Robinson, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Mark Tampin, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Adam Brocklebank.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Maddison, 17 Conrad Cade, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Gary Graham, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Tom Penny.

Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Santiago Carreras, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Charlie Chapman, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Freddie Clarke, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Giorgi Kveseladze, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit

Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, Wayne Falla
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Worcester 13 Northampton 29

The scorers

For Worcester Warriors
Tries: Sutherland, Beck
Pen: Smith

For Northampton Saints
Tries: Hutchinson, Matavesi, Mitchell, Fish
Cons: Biggar 3
Pen: Biggar

The teams:

Worcester: 15 Billy Searle, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Gareth Simpson, 8 Matt Kvesic, 7 Ted Hill (captain), 6 Kyle Hatherell, 5 Andrew Kitchener, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Rory Sutherland..
Replacements: 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Jay Tyack, 19 Justin Clegg, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Alex Hearle.

Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Fraser Dingwall (captain), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 James Fish, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 Alex Coles, 21 Tom James, 22 James Grayson, 23 Matt Proctor.

Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Rob Warburton
TMO: Christophe Ridley

Sources: PA & RugbyPass