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With the return to domestic rugby after the Six Nations, here is the roundup from the Gallagher Premiership and all the key questions answered.
With the return to domestic rugby after the Six Nations, here is the roundup from the Gallagher Premiership and all the key questions answered.
Who - Josh Bayliss was superb on his return to club rugby for Bath against Saracens. After featuring briefly for Scotland in the Six Nations, the back rower reminded everyone of the quality he has. With 90 metres made in 12 carries. Six defenders beaten, two-line breaks and then the try of the night. It was a game to remember for the flanker. His try was the highlight as he bounced off Tizzard and McFarland just under two metres out before breaking the line and using footwork to beat Van Zyl to score a stunner.
What - the moment of this weekend for was Leicester’s try at the death. Partly as it took bravery even to carry on the game in the red, but to ensure your side a bonus point and deny Bristol any is a huge statement in the race for top four. The try, ultimately finished by Hamer-Webb, also saw extreme skill. With the kick pass from. Steward, a skill he is not well known for, was on the money to Searle. Then Hamers-Webb’s line for the pass from Searle, as he then ran on to score.
Where - the Rec was rocking on Friday night as the home side put 62 points on the visitors, Saracens to maintain their position as one of the top two sides in the league along with Northampton. As a fan, there isn’t many things better than Friday night rugby, but Friday night rugby where your team are a force of nature in putting a side to the sword, capitalising on every mistake, it is a joy to behold, as it was for all Bath fans I can imagine.
When- I mentioned that Northampton, along with Bath, are seen as one of the best two sides in the league, well in the 71st minute at Franklins Gardens, it looked like bottom-place Newcastle Red Bulls were about to score a famous win. When Benitez-Cruz ran onto the loose ball before running in for a score to put the visitors just one point behind. Sadly, the idea of an upset started to slip, and the conversion was missed and then the Saints scored just five minutes later to seal the game.
Why - this may seem like a smaller question compared to previous weeks. Or avoiding the obvious question of what on Earth is going on at Harlequins and why can they not put a performance together in the league. My question does come from this weekends game at the stoop, though, why on earth did it take almost five minutes for a TMO check for Ludlow’s yellow card for an offence that didn’t seem massively serious? It took four and a half minutes from when Ludlow cleared out Isgro at the ruck to when referee Sara Cox showed the former Gloucester skipper the yellow card. It lasted so long as they couldn’t tell what had happened or confidently say if there was head contact due to not having the right angles. If you can’t tell, say there is nothing there and move on. Why are we looking to penalise? It ruins the flow of the game and especially over an incident where there was no injury or in a crucial area of the pitch, it just seemed so unneeded. If we want the game to grow and be a better product you can’t always look to penalise every little detail.