Sale Sharks bring Exiles back down to earth
PREMIERSHIP WRAP: Sale Sharks bounced back from opening weekend disappointment to hammer in six tries as they eased past London Irish 41-7 at the Madejski Stadium.
There were also wins for Northampton Saints, Harlequins and Gloucester in the other three games on Saturday.
We take a closer look at Saturday’s matches:
Harlequins 22-17 Bristol Bears
With the rain lashing down in south-west London, both sides struggled to keep the ball in hand for prolonged periods and a largely quiet opening 40 minutes yielded only three penalties apiece for Marcus Smith and Bristol kicker Callum Sheedy.
It was more of the same after the break as Smith’s boot edged Quins into a 15-12 lead before replacement Alex Dombrandt ignited the contest, providing a first line-break some 65 minutes in and from the resulting lineout, Martin Landajo’s perfectly-weighted nudge in behind was dotted down by a sliding Joe Marchant.
The Bristol response was almost immediate. With the outside of Landajo’s boot brushing the touchline in the Quins 22, Pat Lam’s men went from right to left and Jake Heenan dotted down in the corner but the hosts doggedly held on at the death
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Try: Marchant
Con: Smith
Pens: Smith 5
For Bristol Bears:
Try: Heenan
Pens: Sheedy 4
Yellow card: Nathan Hughes (Bristol bears, 54)
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 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 Matt Symons, 4 Stephan Lewies, 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 Niall Saunders, 22 James Lang, 23 Ross Chisholm
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Mat Protheroe, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Steven Luatua (captain), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Lewis Thiede, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Will Hurrell
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales & Wayne Falla.
TMO: Trevor Fisher.
Northampton Saints 35-16 Worcester Warriors
Northampton Saints backed up their impressive opening-day success at Saracens with a hard-fought bonus-point 35-16 win over Worcester Warriors at Franklin’s Gardens.
The Saints sprang into life during the second half, having gone in 6-9 down at the break.
Tries from Tom Collins and Taqele Naiyaravoro gave the home side breathing space, and they grabbed two quickfire tries, through George Furbank and Ollie Sleightholme, inside the final 15 minutes to make sure of a maximum haul.
Saints went marching forward again late on as Collins set up George Furbank for his first try and then replacements Lewis Bean and Sleightholme combined, with Sleightholme scoring the bonus-point try.
And there was still time for another Furbank effort and a late consolation from replacement Francois Venter as Worcester had the final say in what was a tough second half for the team from Sixways.
The scorers:
For Saints:
Tries: Collins, Naiyaravoro, Furbank 2, Sleightholme
Cons: Grayson 2
Pens: Grayson 2
For Warriors:
Try: Venter
Con: Lance
Pens: Weir 3
Yellow card: Ethan Waller (Warriors, 29)
Teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 James Grayson, 9 Henry Taylor, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 JJ Tonks, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Alex Moon, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 James Fish, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Karl Garside, 19 Lewis Bean, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Connor Tupai, 22 Andy Symons, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Ryan Mills (captain), 11 Melani Nanai, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Michael Fatialofa, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Conor Carey, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Callum Black, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Graham Kitchener, 20 GJ van Velze, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Francois Ve
Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant Referees: Tom Foley & Simon McConnell
TMO: Nigel Carrick
London Irish 7-41 Sale Sharks
Akker Van Der Merwe barged over in the 13th minute and their dominance was rewarded on two more occasions in the first half when Denny Solomona touched down after chipping and gathering his own ball before Marland Yarde made it 20-0 at the break.
Sale started the second half the way they ended the first, heavily on the front foot, as lock Josh Beaumont grabbed his side a bonus point when he sold his opposite number a superb dummy and ran 22 metres to score.
Just after the hour mark Rob Du Preez darted over and, despite a consolation Ruan Botha try for Irish, Rohan Janse Van Rensburg also followed suit to put the cherry on top of a brilliant team performance.
The scorers:
For London Irish:
Try: Botha
Con: Myler
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Van der Merwe, R Du Preez, Solomona, Yarde, Beaumont, Janse van Rensburg
Cons: R Du Preez 4
DG: Du Preez
Teams:
London Irish: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Blair Cowan (captain), 6 Matt Rogerson, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 George Nott, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 Saia Fainga’a, 1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi
Replacements: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Franco van der Merwe, 20 Conor Gilsenan, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Matt Williams
Sale Sharks: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jono Ross (captain), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Bryn Evans, 4 Josh Beaumont, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Phillips, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Luke James, 23 Marland Yarde
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Adal Leal & Philip Watters
TMO: David Grashoff
Gloucester 25-9 Wasps
Two tries each from Tom Marshall and Joe Simpson against his former club gave Gloucester a bonus-point win against Wasps at Kingsholm.
Wet conditions made handling difficult but the Cherry and Whites adapted better and took their chances.
Simpson, who left Wasps in the summer for Gloucester, slid through the puddles and mud for his first score.
Wasps could only register three Lima Sopoaga penalties as they lost for a second game in a row.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Marshall 2, Simpson 2
Con: Twelvetrees
Pen: Twelvetrees
For Wasps:
Pens: Sopoaga 3
Yellow card: Malakai Fekitoa (Wasps, 47)
Teams:
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 Ben Morgan, 21 Jake Polledri, 22 Callum Braley, 23 Matt Banahan
Wasps: 15 Marcus Watson, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Dan Robson (captain), 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Nizaam Carr, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Thibaud Flament, 4 James Gaskell, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Zurabi Zhvania
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Jacob Umaga, 23 Rob Miller
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Simon Harding & Roy Maybank
TMO: David Rose
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