Aviva Premiership Final 2016 - Saracens v Exeter Chiefs

A match which promised so much: the top two teams going hammer and tongs to lift the trophy.  Saracens: defending European champions and last year’s Premiership champions; and Exeter Chiefs: the plucky underdogs who brought themselves from the Championship to the Final in just six years. Saracens were making their fourth Final visit to Twickenham with the view of being the first team since Leicester in 2010 to defend their title and the first to get the European and Premiership double since Wasps in 2004. Meanwhile the boys from Sandy Park were making their debut appearance in the Final in a bid to be the most successful club in Premiership history.

 Saracens started well, pressuring the Chiefs in their half. Two early penalties by Owen Farrell set the tone of the half, with Exeter seeing very little of the ball. Saracens could have had more on offer when they failed to utilise a 4 on 1 overlap, but a breakdown error by Chiefs gave Farrell his opening points. Premiership Player of the Year Alex Goode, uncharacteristically, dropped two balls when Gareth Steenson attempted to clear the ball from his half, but Exeter’s discipline let them down. Two infringements at scrum time by Harry Williams and further defensive errors at the breakdown let Farrell extend the lead following a series of storming runs from the forwards, including both Vunipola brothers.

England’s forgotten man, Chris Ashton, put the Chiefs under enormous pressure when the kicks were returned to their half, clattering hard with Phil Dollman. With the Chiefs having very little of the ball, it was all one way traffic. However, handling errors by the men in black meant they could not utilise the possession. Steenson eventually attempted a long range drop goal, but as the kick went wide, referee Wayne Barnes brought the teams back to an infringement at the lineout. Steenson took his chance to make up for the error from the tee and kicked the points.

A scary moment for Saracens came three minutes later when Henry Slade charged down Farrell’s attempted cross kick, putting the champions into reverse. However, Barnes had been playing advantage to Saracens and so Farrell took the three points on offer.

Exeter seemed to have little answer for the Saracens defence, instead opting to kick the ball into space to try and get the territory but the response was to send it right back at them, with Ashton chasing everything kicked for him. Soon the pressure told, as Farrell took a cross-field kick which landed neatly into the arms of Duncan Taylor, who had started the move by breaking through a hole in the defence. This seemed to open the floodgates, as a second try came through a failed tackle by Jack Nowell and Slade to allow Chris Wyles through to score in the same corner. Farrell kicked both conversions, leaving the Chiefs wounded. Steenson managed to reduce the deficit just before the half with a kick of his own, but the Chiefs had a lot to do in the second half.

Exeter came out in the second half with a point to prove and used their backs to great effect to put pressure on. After turning over a lineout maul, the Chiefs looked to have a chance of a breakaway try but an interception by a retreating Ashton denied the score. Finally with some possession, Chiefs tried to spread the defence and eventually a penalty came with Steenson going straight for the corner. The driving maul set by Exeter has worked all season for them and it worked again as club captain Jack Yeandle settled at the back of the lineout to score.

With Steenson’s conversion, Exeter seemed to break the Saracens game plan, setting a series of driving mauls from penalties to push the Champions back. An eventual tactic by Itoje was to collapse the maul, but this only lead to further pressure when Steenson sent the ball into the 22. This time, the maul failed to be as effective, but passing through the backs created an overlap which Dollman and Nowell were able to utilise, with the England winger giving his team hope in the last quarter.

Another conversion gave the Chiefs hope, but it was not to be. Marcelo Bosch took advantage of a newly forged overlap giving the final pass to let Goode over. With what turned out to be the final kick of his career, Charlie Hodgson lined up the posts but kicked it wide. As the camera’s panned out the coaches box, even Rob Baxter looked defeated when the final two minutes passed and the Chiefs ill-discipline reappeared.

After Goode was named Man of the Match, Hodgson attempted a final cross-field kick for glory, kicking the ball through the posts for good measure. Ashton pounced and celebrated but the TMO consultation revealed he’d missed the ball completely. Exeter took the drop out, looking to salvage some glory, but it was not to be as the ball ended up under a pile of bodies and Saracens were champions.

Dawn of a new era - who will rise and who will fall?

With Eddie Jones officially starting work in Twickenham and arriving in England this week, questions inevitably start to roll out about the  selection of his first EPS in January. Today though, news broke informing us all that Jones is only allowed to change 10 players from the World Cup squad. Well, 11, but we aren't mentioning the B word. It also transpires that Northampton duo Calum Clark and Luther Burrell were on standby and therefore technically are part of the EPS. Even stranger, Jones has to name a Saxons squad of thirty-odd players... Who have no games this season. We'll leave the insanity of a second string side that never plays to one side for now and instead, focus on who I believe likely to be ejected from the EPS in favour of different players. This is not to say those removed will be, or should be, only my opinions. As always, I welcome debate and conversation so if you have any opposing views, please let me know! Only four weeks left before the selection. Who has said #PickMeEddie?

Out: Rob Webber. In: Dylan Hartley.

Webber's inclusion has become more and more obscure as his popularity with his club coaches has slowly diminished. It's hard to justify not including a player as highly rated in his position as Hartley in favour of a man who doesn't start for his club. Ignore his discipline issues, since Eddie Jones seems to be about to, but if you can't or you feel the concussion injuries sway you, then consider Mikey Haywood, Hartley's understudy. Man of the match last week against Gloucester, 100% lineout accuracy in the last three weeks having played 237 minutes. All of the same skills, none of the discipline issues. Worth considering.

Out: Brad Barritt. In: Elliot Daly.

Jones seems to be hinting of a new era for England, a flowing, attacking era which utilises the backs creativity. Barritt does a job, he defends but he doesn't seem to fit the mould of a Henry Slade or a Daly. Besides, who wouldn't want to have a player who can handily chip in penalties from anywhere in their half? With Slade and Daly, you cover both sides of the field. 

Out: Calum Clark. In: Jamie Gibson

This is fairly straightforward: Clark hasn't played since the preseason games in September. Gibson has made the shirt his own since he made the switch to Saints. Clark is the closest to an out and out 7 in the Premiership (in my opinion) at his best, but Gibson has a balanced ability to play across the back row. His turnover stats are impressive and being named player of the month in his first month is quite the achievement.

Out:... In: Joe Simpson.

This is an interesting puzzle. Simpson is one of the best scrum halves in the Northern hemisphere and injury cost him his place in the World Cup. Now he's due his chance, possibly in the starting shirt. The question is who to drop. Ben Youngs, Richard Wigglesworth and Danny Care. The latter fell from grace with Stuart Lancaster, though not with much explanation. I have never been a fan of Youngs: his odd habit of holding the ball before he passes is dangerous enough at club level and potentially downright suicidal on the international stage. I'm surprised the fly halves haven't throttled him. Perhaps that's my choice to drop.

Out: James Haskell. In: Dave Ewers.

Haskell is a very strong player, but I think there's a chance for Ewers to overtake him and hold the position heading to the next World Cup. Ewers is a very effective ball carrier and a powerful scrummager. I wouldn't rule out Haskell, but Ewers has been impressive in the last couple of years and deserves his chance.

Out: Courtney Lawes. In: Maro Itoje.

Like Clark, Lawes hasn't played for a while, and whilst he's normally first on the team sheet, he'll need time to recover from his injuries. Itoje has a real potential. Able to pack down in several positions, just like Lawes. A former U20's captain, he's one of the players tipped to take the armband from Robshaw, but his flexibility and turnover stats are very impressive for a second row.

Out: Dave Wilson. In: Paul Hill.

The under 20's winner has massive potential to be a highly capped tighthead and could develop very quickly if given the chance. He has already proven himself at the Gardens behind Kieran Brookes (who will probably oust Dan Cole for the starting shirt.) Wilson, on the other hand, has not managed to settle to the new scrum engagement sequence. He has a high cap number but most of them from the bench behind Cole. The best move would be to bring the youthful players into camp and mould them to what you need.

Out: Chris Robshaw. In: Luke Wallace.

Robshaw has been a great servant in the Lancaster era, representing everything the head coach has stood for. Unfortunately, his position as England captain forced things at Harlequins. Luke Wallace was stuck in the 6 shirt whilst Robshaw seemed to have "7" tattooed to his back. Now Lancaster has left, Robshaw and Wallace have switched to their preferred sides and both are playing better rugby. However, Jones has previously stated that Robshaw doesn't add anything internationally, though he has since doubled back on himself. For me, without Jon Fisher or Clark, there are no other choices for a traditional openside and Wallace is a stunning player at his best. 

Out: Sam Burgess. In:...Wildcard.

This last spot is traditionally given to a front row player, in which case a third loose head prop would be summoned up. If this is the case, you would do well to consider Alex Waller. Understudy to Soane Tonga'uia and Alex Corbisiero at the Gardens, but now a fully fledged starter in his own right and a part of the Saints pack dominating in Europe and at home. 100 consecutive games does not come easily. If you wanted something more in the backs, Ben Foden is coming into his form missing in recent years and Semisa Rokogunduni and Chris Ashton are likewise building to impress. 

On a side note, yesterday's injury to Slade could spell a call up for Ollie Devoto or Sam Hill. Both are decent carriers and can cover a range of positions. There could be reason to call up George Lowe as an extra outside centre. The youth of the Premiership should be given their chances and allowed into camp to be nurtured. I personally think that Jones should break the protocol and call for all of his EPS and Saxons players to meet for camp before the Six Nations, so he can talk to each individuals concerned and see them train. Maybe even arrange in-camp tests to allow players to compete for a place in his team. We all look forward to seeing what's going to happen when the Six Nations rolls around and more importantly, who will #WearTheRose.

Premiership Launch - A chat with Saints

As the World Cup enters the knock out stages, something a touch more familiar is stirring. Across the road and in the shadow of the home of English rugby, the twelve representatives of their respective clubs show their faces and shirts for the first time. Save for Gloucester and Harlequins, all teams have brought their captains who stand together in the sunshine in the traditional preseason picture of unison. Welcoming back GJ Van Velze and Worcester to the Premiership, the captain's assemble before the press with their Directors of Rugby, prepared to answer whatever comes their way. 

I sat down with Jim Mallinder and Lee Dickson to discuss the upcoming season. I first wanted to know how they were feeling about it all.

"Very excited." A simple reply from Mallinder, so I asked about preseason.

 

"Preseason's so been good, different preseason for us because generally the teams that are successful at the end of the season, your preseason’s short. But this season has been a little bit longer, so been a chance to recover a little bit, do some extra conditioning, and hopefully give time for some of the new players to intergrate into the squad."

 

With new players joining the team, I wanted to know who's impressed? Dickson replied: "Jamie Gibson, he's come in from Leicester, London Irish as well, very intelligent player, good with ball in hand. He’s a grafter as well which we like at the club. He’s impressed me and not a new player, but Jon Fisher has really impressed me as well. He had a very good preseason this year. People with niggly injuries at the end of the season have got themselves fit, got themselves excited,  and in the last two games (against Saracens and Wasps) he’s been exceptional."

Has there been any stick for Gibson, coming from Leicester? 

"No, hasn't been mentioned. That’s just you lot!"

 

Saint have a rotation policy at scrum half, which Mallinder had previously mentioned won't be affected by Dickson's captaincy. But with the arrival of JJ Hanrahan, I was curious if there would be rotation around fly half?

Mallinder said "the season's now set out so that it’s very demanding with the league and Europe,  just every single week now with no weeks off. You can't win a premiership with just 15 players, you’ve got to have a squad where you’ve got strength in depth in every position and that’s something that we’re always looking to achieve and hopefully we’ve been getting stronger in that area."

 

Finally, the World Cup players came up. 

Jim said "it's been a massive target and focus for them for the last few weeks, months, that they’ve been looking forward to. But that’s now gone, and one of the good things about professional sport is that there’s always other challenges. For them, they’ve now got to put that behind them and got to really refocus and hopefully focus on Northampton Saints and starting well."

 

The England and Samoa players have returned earlier and there are plans to bring them back sooner:

"We’ll be taking everybody individually. Clearly some players who have played every week and played 80 minutes, and some of our other players who have hardly played, even though they’ve been travelling with the teams. We’ll take everyone individually and see how they are physically, but more importantly mentally." This weekend will see the first examples of this, with the Pisi brothers, Fotuali'i and Kieran Brookes in the match day 23 for this weekend against Worcester.

 

Calum Clark came off against Wasps with what looked like a shoulder injury, but Mallinder said "he's fine. Obviously very disappointed to not make the England squad, like Luther, like Dicko. But they've put that behind them and are determained now to prove to the England selectors that they’re good enough to be in that squad."

 

With so much uncertainty over how the Premiership will play out, one thing is clear: this is the biggest season yet. Players will be competing harder than ever for their shirts, knowing they will have no respite until April (the European Cup quarter finals) and for two teams, the end of May. The goal is the same, the squads are bigger than ever before and with the return of the England players earlier than expected, prepare to see something amazing this year.

Re-writing the Law Book part 1

World Rugby has a way of coming full circle. Every four years, the World Cup rolls around and then the laws are tweaked. Remember when you could throw the ball back into the 22 and kick it away to touch? Now the powers that be are running law trials over a whole host of topics and I'm going to try to explain what the variations are and how they're going to improve the game. 

Law 3.5(h) Front Row Replacements and Substitutions.

This variation is designed to discourage teams from going to uncontested scrums. In the event of teams losing suitable front row players due to sending off or injury, the match continues with uncontested scrums with both teams supplying eight players. This would force one of the backs to come in as a flanker and would leave the defensive line reduced. Bath almost had to play with 14 men last season against Northampton when both hookers were injured. Instead the reserve tight head stepped up, and scrums continued contested. This variation would hopefully cause more of the same. 

Law 5.7(e) Other Time Considerations.

Currently, if a penalty, free kick or mark is given when time has expired, play goes on until the ball next goes dead. The problem comes when a penalty is given too far away from the posts to have a shot or you're more than 3 points behind, and you want to go for touch to have the lineout. The lineout would be killing the ball so the game is over. The variation will let the lineout take place and the game continues until the ball goes dead. 

Law 8.1(a) Advantage in Practise.

Law 9.A.1 Points Values.

We all love watching tries being scored and get bored with teams just endlessly kicking at the posts. So now the trial is to alter the points scored. Now the scoring will be like so:

Try - 6 points

Conversion - 2 points

Penalty kick - 2 points

Drop Goal - 2 points.

Further, in the event of a penalty try being awarded, the kick is ignored and an automatic eight points is awarded. 

Law 13.3, 13.7, 13.8, 13.9 Kick-off and Restarts.

To keep the ball in play as long as possible and to punish poor kicking, as in Sevens, a kick which does not go the necessary 10 meters or goes directly into touch, a free kick at the centre spot is awarded. No scrum option is given, which means the ball goes live immediately rather than waste time on a scrum.

Law 19 Touch.

Law 20.1(g) Forming a Scrum.

The success of a reduction impact to the front row after the change in scrum commands have lead to another change to be trialled. The completions rate still remains low at the top level, despite a reduce in impact and injuries. So now the following will happen:

The referee calls "Crouch" then "Bind."

At "Crouch" the front rows will be shoulder to shoulder with their opposite number, stable and supporting their own weight without pushing. 

"Bind" will call the props to position their arms in the correct position as per the current laws.

All players tighten their binds and set for the throw in.

Law 20.5 Throwing the Ball into the Scrum.

This one is designed to encourage the hooker to hook. The hooker gives a signal to his 9 saying he is ready for the ball to go in, giving an advantage to the team throwing in. But there's another change...

Law 20.6 How Scrum-half Throws the Ball into Scrum.

The scrum half must throw the ball in straight. (Side note - yes I know, it doesn't really happen, but stay with me.) The trial keeps the straight rule, but where it previously was "any part of the ball must touch the centre line," the scrum half can now align his shoulder with the centre line and put the ball in straight. This means that any crooked feed would go straight underneath the second row and would be glaringly obvious. It may also bring the rare beast of a scrum half with excessively broad shoulders.

Law 20.11 Wheeling the Scrum. 

Law 22.13 Attacking Infringement with Scrum Sanction.

Basically a knock on/forward pass in goal. This variation is giving an option to the defending team - either the traditional scrum 5 metres out or a 5m drop out, with the same rules as a 22 drop out. This is interesting, as it takes away the risk of successive penalties going against the defending team, and it means the ball can be cleared away from the goal line. This also affects Law 22.16 (Infringements in Goal) which would say the same thing as above. 

There are some more variations with the ball going into touch, wheeling the scrum and advantage in practise which I have alluded to, but not gone into detail. This is because this post has had a lot of detail about the minor ones and the other variations took me and my dad (who is also a referee) half an hour to pick out the specifics and how these would affect the game. So to save my typing fingers, I will publish another article later today which will also tell you where these trials will take place. We won't be seeing them in the Premiership but you may want to follow them because we will see them in the Under 20's World Cup next year.  See you soon!

Have England prepared correctly or has a trick been missed?

Yesterday, Stuart Lancaster revealed his thirty one strong side to take on the world. Many people will go into "why has he chosen X and left out Y?!" "Is he the right fit for the team?" or "where is that guy?" I'm more interested in the preparation aspect of the selection. Lancaster and his team picked the squad, partially aided by an old fashioned closed door in-house contest. Obviously, we haven't been able to follow the team all the way to the States and back, but we have been able to make judgements based on opinion and how players played in the warm up tests. But I think more could have been done and the RFU and management teams have missed a trick. 

If you want supporters to get behind a team, you need to see them play. Club supporters will have wanted to support their national side and watch them improve.  The World Cup prices have had people moaning about being priced out of the game so the RFU could have done something about it. Perhaps they SHOULD have done something and given the fans a chance to watch their England side play live. 

My thinking is this: we have twelve Premiership teams sitting idly by, training for next season. They can't start fully until mid-October, so give them something to do. So to give them a chance to run out against an England side, I would have suggested creating five Barbarians sides, one for the five Premiership regions. Ok, I know we aren't divided into regions but stay with me. If we wanted to divide up the teams to create Barbarians sides, there's a great way to do it. Compass points and then London. Up in the North, Newcastle and Sale could take over the AJ Bell stadium for a day. In the West, Wasps and Worcester can hit the Ricoh Arena. The huge stadium could also host Northampton and Leicester as the East Midlands side for a double header over a weekend. The South West is dominated by Exeter, Bath and Gloucester who have a choice of three stadiums to go to. Finally the London group of London Irish, Saracens and Harlequins who could go to Twickenham but would be better off using the Madejski Stadium. 

How much fun could we have had watching Lancaster trial combinations against the best of the Premiership not selected for international duty? Many of the club mates of the international players have been pressing on the heels of the wider squad. Who wouldn't have enjoyed see if Alex Waller against Alex Corbisiero would show a need to get some extra scrum drills that week? Or if Christian Wade would outpace and tackle harder than Jack Nowell? Or even if Chris Pennell and Ben Foden could recreate their magic from the Crusaders game? A grand opportunity was missed in my view. But what I'd like to know is... If you were to pick a regional Barbarians squad, who would you have chosen to play against England? And would you go to those matches? Get in touch and let me know. And finally, this September and October, make sure you #WearTheRose!

Singha 7's Pool C - Harlequins, Northampton, Saracens and Wasps Part 2

If you've just joined us, you've missed out on some exciting fixtures, so feel free to go back and check Part 1 here. For those who are desperately seeking the final three matches of Pool C's matches in the Singha 7's last Friday, you're in luck!

Wasps v Northampton.

Wasps seemed intent on settling the Premiership clash against Northampton from the trip to the Gardens in March. A well worked 1-2 between Wade and Daly set the former in for his fourth. From there, Saints looked rattled with a frantic passage which ended with a turn over to allow Macken in. The flood gates opened, with the dancing feet of Wade avoiding two defenders on his way to the line, and Macken’s vision on the outside gave Wasps their bonus point before the half. Lozowski’s boot proved he is the man to replace Andy Goode next season.

Wade departed at the half, but the flow of tries kept going with Bassett scoring early on in the first minute. There is some overconfidence as passes are fired amongst Wasps players, forcing a fumble. Northampton tried to counter-attack but some loose play gave a scrum to Wasps, from which Lozowski scored his only try of the evening. He dutifully converted his own score, but Northampton decide to at least get a consolation score. An over-lap goes begging but it is worked back the other way as Alex Moon takes the ball and dives for the line. The final try goes to Thomas Young, with Lozowski finishing off the game 49-5. Wasps were now guaranteed to head to the Stoop the next week for the finals.  

Northampton v Harlequins.

The final game for the Midlanders and the Londoners started badly for the Northamptonians. Two early tries through Marchant and Nairn put Quins ahead, but an interesting tactic was deployed by the Quins to utilise a sweeper. This meant they stood as 6 men in a line, with the seventh player as a full-back. A risky move, and proved costly as Northampton utilised the space on the wing, allowing Emery to score his second try of the evening. Olver converted, reducing the gap to just 5. Magical feet from Calum Waters showed the talent in the Quins academy. Neither team were able to complete moves from chips ahead, with Harlequins opting to end the half after a scrum.

In the second half, Northampton tried to use the defensive strategy of Harlequins to their advantage, but in an attempt to force the overlap, a powerful tackle against Emery left Northampton a man down. As Harlequins turn the ball over, Northampton were penalised and in a fit of pique, Alex Mitchell was sent to the sin bin. During the two minutes depleted, Northampton pressurised Harlequins but Sam Aspland-Robinson eventually broke through the defensive line to score. Mitchell returned to the pitch, but his return did not stop Harlequins from scoring again with Waters using his footwork again to pick a line through the Northampton defence. Undaunted, Northampton attacked in the dying minutes, using their offloading abilities to gain a consoling score through Hutchinson. The final result – 26 v 12 to the hosts of the finals.

Wasps v Saracens.

The final match of the evening started as all the others Wasps matches started – with a try from Christian Wade. He received a wide pass and sprinted around the defender to finish the score. Saracens tried to counterattack after the score, but a loose ruck meant Wade could pinch the ball. 40 metres up the field and the very next phase saw Wade targeted and floored. However, he offloaded to Young who finalised the move. Saracens tried furiously to keep hold of the ball, but eventually were forced to kick ahead through and into touch. A quick lineout and a counter kick downfield gave the ball to Matt Gallagher who forced his way over the line. The conversion went wide, giving a half time score of 12-5 to the hosts.

A far closer contest than Wasps were used to so far did not last long, and Robson quickly got his name on the scoreboard for this match. Saracens were desperate to take the spot at the finals day from Harlequins and Dom Morris managed to evade Wade’s speed to dot down, closing the cap to 9 points. The try was almost replicated moments later, but a fumbled pass found only touch. From a penalty, Wade receives the ball where, surprisingly, only the referee kept up to watch Wade score his seventh try of the night. As Wade left, the stadium rose to their feet to wave him off, clearly Man of the Round in my eyes. Saracens, meanwhile, were struggling to break the gainline. A dogleg in the Wasps defence did give them a chance, but the final pass went forward. Apologies in advanced for the upcoming pun. The Wasps substitutes swam the field (I warned you) and the fresh legs take advantage. Conor Dolan turned the ball over and offloaded to Bassett who sprinted along the wing to score the final points of the day. The final result was a clean sweep for Wasps and 33-10 to the hosts. 

So the final victors are Wasps and Harlequins who head to Twickenham Stoop to compete with Newport Qwent Dragons, Scarlets, title holders Gloucester, Exeter Chiefs, Newcastle Falcons and Sale Sharks for the first silverwear of the season. For Northampton and Saracens, there are some bright stars waiting for their opportunity and they did well for their clubs. The class Wasps were able to call upon put them beyond the other clubs though and it will be interesting to see if the other teams choose to rotate their squads. But hey, that's 7's for you! Ciao for now!

Singha 7's Pool C - Harlequins, Northampton, Saracens and Wasps Part 1

I love a bit of 7's. I was born in Hong Kong and my first experience of rugby was the shortened form of the game. For those who don't know otherwise, 7's is to rugby as 20:Twenty is to cricket or 5-a-side is to football: a shorter and quicker version of the game. 7 players on a team, 7 minutes each way and much, much more space to run around in. From a referee standpoint, the game is essentially the same, with the exception of time-wasting being an instant yellow card and scrums are only 6 man contests. This particular 7's contest was the Midlands based round, with Wasps hosting Northampton, Saracens and Harlequins at the Ricoh arena. 7203 people flocked into the Ricoh, the smallest audience they've had since moving as a fun fact! And boy, were they entertained! Now, because there's so many games in one go, I've had to split the games up into two parts. So here are the first three matches kicking off with:

Harlequins  v Wasps.

Quins and the hosts Wasps started us off. An very early yellow card against Guy Thompson for throwing away the ball gives Quins a 2 minute advantage. They fail to sustain the pressure however and they knock the ball on. Wasps take the scrum, then give away the ball to Christian Wade who sprints for the line, virtually the length of the pitch, with Alex Lozowski converting the try.

Harlequins retaliate and a dubious pass to captain Joe Marchant sees him in on the left hand side. Luke White evens the scores, and further tries by both Wade and Marchant, and a conversion each side kept them level. The game showed a lack of defence from both teams as all the tries seemed to come from second or third phase ball. Proving this point, Brendan Macken darted over on a second phase, taking the score to 14-19 to the hosts at half time.

Wasps kept up the scoring in the second half, working from a 5 metre scrum with Wade finishing off for his hattrick. Despite a golden opportunity for Harlequins, Wasps added to their tally with a try utilising the dancing feet of Dan Robson and a final score through Josh Bassett gave Wasps a final score 40 – 14. The boot of Lozowski kept the scoreboard ticking over and the clinical attack kept the hosts away.

Saracens v Northampton Saints.

Saracens opened their account early, moving first left then right after a lineout and captain Tom Whitely finished the move. Saracens kept up their poor kick offs, giving a free kick to the Saints. With the Midlanders unable to keep hold of the ball, Matt Hankin broke away then offloaded to Dom Morris. Whitely converted the score, but from there, Northampton decided to fight back. Will Allman started the comeback by tying up several defenders, creating the space for Tom Emery to crash over the line. Sam Olver took the next try for himself, having previously converted Emery’s score. A beautiful dummy and a high rate of pace, despite the chasing Nathan Earle, give Northampton the lead at half time.

Winning the kick off, Northampton ship it to Rory Hutchinson, the Scotland U20 fly-half finishing off a team try. His second try came shortly after as Olver mimicked Brian O’Driscoll’s antics when he last visited the Gardens – a pass through the legs to set the Scotsman up for the double. Inaccurate passing from both teams shows the stain the shortened format puts on players, but eventually after a sprint from James Grayson and a penalty against the Premiership Champions gave a final try to Alex Rayman. The conversion hit the uprights, so the final score ended with 12-31 to the Saints.

  

Saracens v Harlequins.

Saracens opened the scoring account, despite both teams showing early intent. Whitely finished off a well worked move on the right hand side and converted his own try. From there, the characteristic defence of the Champions held the Londoner’s away from the try line. A XV’s style chip and chase from Saracens was a gamble, but as the last Quins defender fails to release, Kevin Barrett takes the quick tap to finish the move. A final score before the half off the back of the Saracens scrum has Nathan Earle add to the tally.

With a 19 point gap to overcome, Quins attacked early, taking advantage of a Saracens fumble and using clever hands of Luke White gave Marchant his third of the evening. Reclaiming the kick off on the left, Quins work across the field allowing Robbie Nairn to cross for his first of the evening. With conversions off the table for Harlequins for now, both teams gave away penalties before James Tirrell darted down field with Marchant chasing. The Saracens man wins the foot race however, and stretched the lead again to 14 points. The final points would go to the men in white, as Nairn sprinted away before allowing Senitiki Nayalo the chance to finish in the next phase. Too little, too late for the Londoners as Saracens run the clock down. Final score 24 – 17 to the Premiership champions. 

As we go into the interval, of my own writing, Wasps are leading the way on points difference and have a game in hand before they face up to their new neighbours. Stay tuned for more 7's excitement!