Saints stun the defending champs
PREMIERSHIP WRAP: James Grayson landed a late penalty as Northampton stunned champions Saracens in the Premiership opener at Allianz Park.
In other Saturday matches Sale Sharks fell victim to a stunning 18-point comeback by Gloucester, who overturned a 0-10 half-time deficit to kick off their season with a dramatic win.
* Gabriel Ibitoye’s two tries were not enough for Harlequins to steal victory at Sandy Park as they were beaten 22-19 by Exeter Chiefs.
* Worcester Warriors began their 2019/20 campaign with an assured 24-16 victory against Leicester Tigers.
We look at all the Saturday matches!
Exeter Chiefs 22-19 Harlequins
Gabriel Ibitoye’s two tries were not enough for Harlequins to steal victory at Sandy Park as they were beaten 22-19 by Exeter Chiefs.
After an early exchange of penalties between Marcus Smith and Joe Simmonds, it was the visitors who got the try-scoring underway when Ibitoye went over with just before the half-hour mark.
But the lead lasted just five minutes as Exeter blasted their way back into the game courtesy of a converted Jonny Hill try.
Smith got the scoreboard ticking once again after half-time before Simmonds responded once more with a penalty of his own.
Two further pinpoint strikes from the Exeter No.10 opened up the first real gap between the two sides as the hosts set about defending an eight-point lead.
And Harlequins took a five-point bite out of that lead when Ibitoye benefited from a sensational Alex Dombrandt offload to get his second try of the game, but it wasn’t enough to earn anything more than a losing bonus point.
The scorers
For Exeter Chiefs:
Try: Hill
Con: Simmonds
Pens: Simmonds 5
For Harlequins:
Tries: Ibitoye 2
Pens: Smith 3
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Max Bodilly, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Jannes Kirsten, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Sam Maunder, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Sam Hill.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Cadan Murley, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Will Evans, 6 Chris Robshaw (captain), 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Will Collier, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta.
Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Glen Young, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 James Lang, 23 Aaron Morris.
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Simon Harding & Paul Dix
TMO: Geoff Warren
Sale Sharks 16-18 Gloucester
Sale Sharks fell victim to a stunning 18-point comeback by Gloucester Rugby, who overturned a 10-0 half-time deficit to kick off their Premiership season with a dramatic win.
The host were dominant in the early stages and went in to half-time with a ten-point advantage thanks to the boot of Robert du Preez and a try by Byron McGuigan, who dived over the line after Akker van der Merwe picked up superbly from the ruck.
In the second half, and now 0-13 down after another du Preez penalty, Gloucester came out stronger and scored two tries in six minutes through Mark Atkinson and Tom Marshall.
After Billy Twelvetrees and du Preez exchanged penalties Sale held a one-point advantage but the boot of Twelvetrees put Gloucester into the lead with nine minutes remaining.
In an extremely tense finish, Sale managed to get a scrum in the dying moments of the game but du Preez’s penalty cruelly struck the post, from which Gloucester scrambled the ball into touch for the win.
Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann said: “We won it, we lost it and then we won it again. It was an intriguing match and we always knew it was going to be a big start to the Premiership with the intensity.
“We probably didn’t play as well as we wanted to building up to this [in the Premiership Cup] but in the first half the guys showed a lot of character by hanging in there.
“We never really played good territory, we gave them a lot of opportunity and our discipline was a bit of a problem but then the second half we just started to hang onto the ball.
“From there we got points on the board and got back into the game. We got into the lead and we had opportunities to win it and then there was a bit of a questionable yellow card.
“That gave Sale an opportunity at the end to win it and I feel so sorry for Robert du Preez, it’s always tough when you kick a ball and you miss it to win but I thought we deserved to get over the line.”
Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond said: “I thought first half we had control and we probably should have gone in a bit further in front but we knocked the ball over the line twice, I think it was 70 per cent possession.
“It was all okay at that point, but I think we didn’t get decisions at scrum. I think we had control at scrum but we had three penalties against us on our own put in which was ridiculous.
“But fair play to Gloucester they came to do a job and they did it. They got themselves back into the game with a good play from chipping it over and got their noses in front as we couldn’t get it back.
“We’re disappointed with the result and disappointed with the second half. I don’t think our bench offered us as much as the lads who started but it’s one of those situations.
“It’s a reality check of how difficult the Premiership is and if you’re not on it for 80-90 per cent of the game teams will beat you home or away and I think the other results have shown that today.”
The scorers
Sale Sharks:
Try: McGuigan
Con: R du Preez
Pens: R du Preez 3
For Gloucester:
Tries: Atkinson, Marshall
Con: Twelvetrees
Pens: Twelvetrees 2
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Sam James, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (captain), 5 Jean-Luc du Preez, 4 Josh Beaumont, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 WillGriff John, 19 James Phillips, 20 Bryn Evans, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Marland Yarde.
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Tom Marshall, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Lewis Ludlow, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Ed Slater (captain), 3 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Corné Fourie, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Aaron Hinkley, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Lloyd Evans, 23 Matt Banahan.
Referee: Andrew Jackson.
Assistant Referees: JP Doyle & Robert Warburton.
TMO: Sean Davey.
Saracens 25-27 Northampton Saints
James Grayson landed a late penalty as Northampton stunned champions Saracens in the Premiership opener at Allianz Park.
The Saints earned a shot at goal with 90 seconds remaining and Grayson took his chance, slotting the kick that earned Northampton a 27-25 win, their first at Allianz Park since March 2016.
Saracens had looked set to seal the victory as Ben Spencer kicked six penalties and converted Matt Gallagher’s try.
But Northampton and Grayson had the final say, building on some fine first-half work that earned a 21-16-half time lead through tries from David Ribbans, Rory Hutchinson and Henry Taylor.
Saints Director of Rugby Chris Boyd said: “It was a significant match for us in that there were parts of the game that were good for us that weren’t always good last year. We defended really well in patches.
“After half-time when we conceded nine points in penalties we had a young leadership group who steadied the ship, got some territory from them and won a shot at goal to win the game. It was pleasing.
“I’ve got a lot of faith in Jimmy [Grayson] in the crunch times when he needs to kick a goal for us to win. He generally did a good job at that last year and I was pleased with his organisation and game management here. To kick that at the end was pretty good.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall commented: “It’s horrible to lose games like that, when it’s the last minute that you lose.
“We were in a tough situation just before half-time when they scored two tries and we were under a lot of pressure after the break on our goal line.
“We found a way to tough it out and get into the game, which was very pleasing with a young side.
“We showed resilience out there and we were two minutes away from an altogether different feeling.
“Our effort was good, our ability to bounce back from setbacks was good and those are the things we can take forward.”
The scorers
For Saracens:
Try: Gallagher
Con: Spencer
Pens: Spencer 6
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Ribbans, Hutchinson, Taylor
Cons: Grayson 3
Pens: Grayson 2
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Rotimi Segun, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Alex Goode, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 1 Ralph Adams-Hale.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Joel Kpoku, 20 Callum Hunter-Hill, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Manu Vunipola, 23 Elliott Obatoyinbo.
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 James Grayson, 9 Henry Taylor, 8 Tom Wood, 7 JJ Tonks, 6 Alex Coles, 5 Alex Moon, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 James Fish, 1 Alex Waller (captain).
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Lewis Bean, 20 Mitch Eadie, 21 Connor Tupai, 22 Andrew Symons, 23 Ollie Sleightholme.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales & Wayne Falla
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Worcester Warriors 24-16 Leicester Tigers
Worcester Warriors began their 2019/20 Premiership campaign with an assured 24-16 victory against Leicester Tigers.
A quick opening exchange saw the visitors go in front after a penalty from the boot of Tom Hardwick, but Worcester soon scored their first try of the encounter when Ted Hill blasted his way down the wing to dot over while Duncan Weir added the extras.
Leicester edged back ahead when Tom Youngs dotted over from a line-out with Hardwick extending the advantage but Warriors hit back when Perry Humphreys scored his side’s second.
The two teams exchanged penalties just before the break and Hardwick’s boot put Leicester back in front with half an hour remaining.
Weir then edged Worcester ahead and his metronomic kicking sealed the result as two penalties in the final ten minutes ensured their season began with a win.
The scorers
For Worcester Warriors
Tries: Hill, Humphreys
Con: Weir
Pens: Weir 4
For Leicester Tigers
Try: Youngs
Con: Hardwick
Pens: Hardwick 3
Teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Marco Mama (captain), 6 Ted Hill, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Michael Fatialofa, 20 GJ van Velze, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Francois Venter.
Leicester Tigers: 15 George Worth, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jonah Holmes, 10 Noel Reid, 9 Ben White, 8 Guy Thompson, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Calum Green, 4 Will Spencer, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Tom Youngs (captain), 1 Greg Bateman.
Replacements: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Nephi Leatigaga, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Jordan Coghlan, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Jordan Olowofela.
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal & Phil Watters
TMO: David Grashoff
Source: @premrugby
