Week 4: Roundup
Tight Five Team of the Week Round 4!
HARLEQUINS 52 - 24 BRISTOL BEARS
MOTM: Alex Dombrandt
Top Performers: Dombrandt, Esterhuizen, Lynagh, Kenningham, Smith
Top Performers: Purdy, Harding
Summary
Bristanbul 2.0 really was the nightmare revisited for Bristol fans. Quins got off to a good start but a disallowed try flipped the game on in its head and the Bears got off to a handy 21 point lead. Flashbacks to May’s semi-final began as Quins made another outstanding comeback playing some excellent Rugby and piling 52 points on a hapless Bristol side that looked distraught. The biggest standout was how much fitter Harlequins looked than the Bears in the second half.
Harlequins
Harlequins were nothing short of exceptional on Friday night. Their attack craves go-forward ball and when they get it they are almost unstable. Their forwards provide so many options around the ruck and are well-connected with each other with tip passes and they often are in pods with a ball-player who can link up with the backs quickly. The diversity of Harlequins’ point of attack makes them so hard to defend. Quins played off 9 48% of the time and off 10 37% of the time.
Despite their endeavours, Quins were little imprecise in the first half and they paid the consequences dropping down 21-0 seemingly out of nowhere. Their imprecision in the Red Zone (RZ) cost them an ability to get a lead early on. The second half was a different story. Harlequins’ RZ was exceptional and they took advantage of the fast-paced tempo to punish any weakness in the Bristol defence. The Londoners showed through a combination of superior fitness, big ball carrying and ruck speed what their all out attack can bring. Do not challenge them to a shootout. With just 101 carries they ran for 706 (SEVEN-HUNDRED-AND-SIX) metres, 22 clean breaks and got over the gainline 53% of the time. Their ability to turn defence into attack has been their main focus in 2021 and their defensive flaws are mainly present because of their intent to defend to turnover. They fly up in defence and challenge the breakdown aggressively in the wide channels. The 8 turnovers won were all quickly utilised as attacking opportunities.
On the other side of the ball, well Quins were typically Quins. Their one-on-one tackling is great, and the influence of Paul Gustard in the last few years can still be appreciated. Their 91% tackle success rate continues their exceptional rate to start the season. Quins’ defensive tactic is to defend for as little as possible and aggressively seek for a turnover. Friday night was no different. They struggled when Bristol got momentum and could not stop their strong runners, they were also caught ball-watching in some occasions in their 22 which led to Bristol’s tries. However, when their defence clicks it is very effective. Their tackle technique is excellent, often driving their opponents back, quick rollout from the tackler, and ‘if it's on’ they challenge the breakdown aggressively. Their defensive structure is quite unique. They really push hard in the middle of the defensive line and if they get beaten outside they really trust their slide defence. Lastly, their discipline was great, just giving 9 penalties and their fitness really shone late in the game.
Bristol Bears
Bristol, as good as Quins were, did not play well and never mounted a serious challenge to the reigning champs. Their early season struggles continued, and bar a 10 to 15 minute patch where they looked like the Bristol of old, they were bang average for most of the game. The 15 minutes where they turned it on they were class, for three simple reasons: quick ruck ball, straight ball carries and the threat out wide. However, most of the time they strayed away from that game plan. Kicked the ball far more than they usually do (51% of possession kicked) and are still far too lateral as a consequence of their lack of go forward. Their ball retention in attacking rucks is still far too lethargic and their fitness was exposed in the second half. Bristol must lay the platform better, because when they do get quick ball and their forwards roll around the corner at pace they are very good and Randall and Sheedy play with a lot of variety.
Defensively Bristol missed a lot of tackles, gave away far too many penalties and struggled to challenge at the ruck effectively. Their line speed slowed down as the game wore on and a mixture between fitness and effort made the wheels fall off the bus in the final quarter of the match. The Bears only made 82% of their tackles and generated just 4 turnovers. For a team that thrived off counter attack ball, they really did not give themselves the opportunity to do so and they also were never able to interrupt Harlequins’ momentum. Their discipline was also quite poor, giving up 15 penalties which did not help their chances of keeping Harlequins outside firing range.
EXETER CHIEFS VS WORCESTER WARRIORS
MOTM: Sam Simmonds
Top Performers: Jonny Hill, Dave Ewers, Tom O’Flaherty, Luke Cowan-Dickie
Top Performers: Matt Kvesic
Summary
This game was a nightmare from start to finish for the Warriors. Exeter took advantage of the countless opportunities that Worcester provided and allowed them to capitalise on an embarrassing defensive display. Against a team like the Chiefs, you can’t afford to squander attacking chances and keep giving the ball back to them, which is exactly what Jonathan Thomas’ side did.
Exeter Chiefs
The Chiefs attack definitely didn’t live up to its full potential in this fixture, yet they still managed to pile on 42 points, their highest amount of the season. The Chiefs couldn’t quite find their attacking rhythm in the first half. As they tried to move the ball and create those one on one matchups in the wide channels, there were inaccurate passes and sloppy hands halting their efforts. Nevertheless, the attack around the ruck was excellent. The Chiefs benefited from lightning-quick ball all afternoon, this was complemented with the likes of Ewers, Simmonds and Cowan-Dickie hitting that diagonal line back into defenders at pace. These perpetual carries from the Exeter back ensured quick ball that the Chiefs continued to capitalise off. Their 57% gainline success rate was the highest mark Rob Baxter’s men have achieved this season. Whilst the Chiefs attack didn’t flow perfectly, they took full advantage of Worcester’s ill-discipline in their 6 try performance.
On the defensive side, the Chiefs were barely tested. Early on Worcester were able to get into the Red Zone on numerous occasions, but continual unforced errors meant that Exeter’s defence was never in real danger of conceding. One noticeable strength of Exeter’s defence was their counter rucking, the Chiefs attacked the rucks hard when Worcester couldn’t get enough support to the ball carrier. The 13 turnovers Exeter amassed is no doubt an impressive amount. Whilst the 83% tackle success rate would not have pleased Rob Baxter, conceding 5 points is a very good effort against any side.
Worcester Warriors
Unfortunately, there weren’t many positives to take out of that Warriors performance in all aspects of play. In attack, Worcester’s Red Zone efficiency of 0.56 just about says it all. The Warriors had many chances in the 22 early in the game, but unforced errors killed all of their momentum. Time after time just as you thought Worcester could string some phases together and put some pressure on the Chiefs defensively, there would be an error gifting the ball back to the home side. The set-piece was another issue, missed lineouts and scrum penalties/free kicks on their own ball continued to allow the Chiefs to clear from their own territory and start mounting attacks. In defence, Worcester simply couldn’t win collisions. Exeter always made metres after contact with their carries, along with that, on too many occasions guards at the ruck drifted too wide leaving that inside ball as an option for the Chiefs as we saw with the Facundo Cordero try. Overall, the 19 penalties conceded by the Warriors along with the constant errors meant that Worcester couldn’t get a foothold in this game. Big changes are needed going forward for this side if they want to compete for those coveted European places.
GLOUCESTER RUGBY VS SALE SHARKS
MOTM: Adam Hastings
Top Performers: Meehan, Gotovtsev, Rees-Zammit, Singleton
Top Performers: JL Du Preez, Dan Du Preez, Aaron Reed
Summary
Kingsholm hosted a good old fashioned shoot between the Cherry & Whites and the Sharks. In a contest that Gloucester seemed to have wrapped up, Sale went on to score 17 points in the last 6 minutes of the game with a chance to win it after the siren. It wasn’t meant to be as Tom Curtis missed the conversion giving Gloucester the one point victory.
Gloucester
Similar to last week, the Cherry and Whites got their maul rolling again. George Skivington’s men have turned their maul into a serious scoring threat and with Hastings punishing Sale penalties with pinpoint kicks into touch, they converted amply scoring chances from it. Gloucester’s attack flourished in this contest, the identification of space was excellent from Hastings and Meehan throughout the game, the Jonny May linebreak in the first half was a perfect example. Hastings realises it’s a 3v3 matchup in lots of space with two Sale forwards having one on one matchups with Jonny May and Chris Harris. So, instead of kicking for territory Hastings shifts the ball into the space and Jonny May takes care of the rest. Gloucester taking advantage of overlaps was a theme for the afternoon, Louis Rees-Zammit took full advantage with his two tries. Under penalty advantage, Ben Meehan was once again excellent at pushing the pace and looking for space in behind, as seen by the Jack Singleton try. The attacking platforms were set up off the back of Meehan’s brilliant box kicking. Whether it was on the left or right foot, the Australian’s kicks were always contestable and close to the touchline to give Gloucester’s chasers a chance to drag the catcher out of play.
Gloucester’s defence held strong for 75 minutes. The forwards were once again outstanding in the tight, Kirill Gotovtsev led the way with an impressive 19 tackles in his 60 minute stint. Conceding only 6 penalties on defence is a major effort, considering three of those came in the last 5 minutes. Since their loss against Leicester, the Cherry and Whites defence has looked vastly different. Players are staying connected in the line but with great discipline, their outside defenders are winning their one on one matchups and the set piece defence has been very good. Now, all of this wasn’t true in the last 5 minutes of the contest. Whether it was the majority of their forwards being subbed off or complacency because of their 18 point lead, the Gloucester defence was almost non-existent in the dying stages of the game. Whilst Skivington will no doubt make sure his side learns from the last 5 minutes, as a whole, it was still a very solid defensive outing for the home side.
Sale Sharks
If you’d have told Alex Sanderson in the 75th minute that his side would get two bonus points out of this game, he would’ve laughed you out of the room. Yet, the Sharks somehow came away from Kingsholm with the two points and a chance to win the game at the death. For the majority of the game, the Sharks couldn’t build attacking sets because of their ill discipline. Sale continued to give Gloucester easy exits early on with a variety of needless penalties. The Sharks first two tries came from out of nothing, some magic from Raffi Quirke and the pouncing on a loose ball from Aaron Reed is what kept Sale in this game. As the 75th minute ticked over, Sale’s attack came to life. Playing off the back of what felt like a nonstop penalty advantage, Sale took advantage of some lazy Gloucester defence with the Du Preez brothers making big inroads. The three late tries are a testament to the mentality Sanderson has brought into the club, whilst back up fly half Tom Curtis couldn’t drain the winning kick, the head coach will undoubtedly be happy with his side’s fight. In defence, the high penalty count forced the Sharks into pressure situations. With Hastings finding the corner well from these penalties, Sale were made to defend Gloucester’s powerful maul close to their line. Sale failed to contain the Cherry and Whites maul for most of the game, giving the hosts a number of scores off the back of it.
LONDON IRISH VS LEICESTER TIGERS
MOTM: Hanro Liebenberg
Top Performers: Ben Loader, Agustin Creevy, Adam Coleman
Top Performers: Harry Wells, George Martin, Nemani Nadolo, George Ford
Summary
The Brentford Community Stadium hosted yet another high-quality contest on Saturday afternoon. Whilst these sides are at opposite ends of the table, this game was a tight-knit battle right until the end. Leicester managed to hold on and extend their unbeaten start to the seasons as the Exiles continue the wait for their first win of the season.
London Irish
This was no doubt London Irish’s most complete performance of the season. In a game where both sides kicked on over 70% of their possessions, Paddy Jackson’s kicking game needed to be on point. The Irish fly-half gave the Exiles constant opportunities to contest for high balls and continuously found the grass in the Leicester 22, including an early 50/22. With ball in hand, the London Irish forward carried well all day. Against one of the best defences in the league, the Exiles managed to retain the ball brilliantly only giving the Tigers 4 turnovers at the ruck, their lowest amount of the season. Although we didn’t see loads of linebreaks and offloads, this Irish attack continued to plug away at a strong Tigers defence all game without many unforced errors.
In open play defence, the Exiles were much improved. The line speed was good and Leicester weren’t able to find many holes to punch their way through as Irish held a 91% tackle success rate. Against a potent attack, Declan Kidney will no doubt be happy with the improvements he saw. One issue defensively however was the maul. Almost all of Leicester’s points stemmed from their attacking maul whether that was a try (Liebenberg and Dolly) or an infringement that gave Ford a shot at goal. London Irish, for all their effort, let this game slip away by losing the key moments. The last ten minutes saw the Exiles concede two needless penalties to give Ford his two late shots at goal. Nonetheless, it was a performance that should instil confidence into London Irish fans.
Leicester Tigers
Leicester’s attack showed it’s versatility once again. After the flair we saw against Exeter and Gloucester, the last two weeks have shown the Tigers have the ability to win games against strong defences. Steve Borthwick’s side simply have so many options off 9 and 10, there are always forward runners in position to carry, Wells and Martin were particularly impressive in that department. More importantly, these runners are always taking the ball in stride and challenging the defence. It’s made more effective with Youngs, Ford and Wigglesworth’s excellent passing games. With some of the backline moves being clunky in parts, the Tigers quickly reverted to a forward heavy attack spearheaded by their maul. The maul was been a weapon for Leicester all season and this game was no different. The structure of the Tiger’s maul is excellent, no players get pulled out of the front, every player stays low, every player drives straight and Dolly at the back of it is patient, this maul has Steve Borthwick’s fingerprints all over it and the Exiles were yet another team who couldn’t deal with it well. In a kick-heavy contest, the Tigers were also on the money with a smart kicking game. Each kick was made with a plan to either contest it hard or put it in space and chase well, they reaped the rewards with an astounding 63% territory to finish the game.
In defence, Leicester’s line speed was once again exceptional. The Tigers constantly put the Exiles forwards under pressure and forced them backwards. The 87% tackle success continued Leicester’s brilliant defensive start to the season. One area the Tigers did struggle with was their discipline, particularly in their own half. All 3 of Paddy Jackson’s kicks at goal came from needless penalties rather than ones the Tigers were forced into from sustained pressure.
SARACENS VS NEWCASTLE FALCONS
MOTM: Jamie George
Top Performers: Malins, M.Vunipola,
Top Performers: Schreuder, Brown
Summary
Saracens were tested by a valiant Newcastle side, but in the end the former European and Domestic champions showed their class to win convincingly. Newcastle’s gritty style kept them in the game for very large patches of the game and there was a moment where it could have gone either way. However, their difficulty to truly break down a defence like Saracen’s cost them the chance to win.
Saracens
Saracens looked rusty at times in attack, even flustered at times with Newcastle’s relentless line speed and pressure at the breakdown. The North Londoners, however, showed their class as the game wore on and resorted to their rolling maul and territorial advantage to eventually turn pressure into points. They strayed a little from their typical game plan kicking far less possession than they usually do, and this perhaps was part of the reason that they made so many errors in the first half. However, in the second half they started making the most of their 51% gainline success rate and began pressuring the Falcons into penalties and eventually tries. Saracens’ set-piece was also typically on-song and was their main weapon in both attack and defence.
The Wolfpack defence that Saracens pride themselves on was a little less water-tight than it usually is. They ‘allowed’ Newcastle to get a real chance in the game early on because of their poor tackle success at just 84% and conceding 6 clean breaks as well as having 21 defenders beaten. However, their discipline was exceptional. Giving up just 9 penalties Sarries did not give the Falcons a chance to get easy points.
Newcastle
The Falcons could not improve their winning record to three consecutive wins, however they demonstrated that they are going to be a tough side to beat this season. Offensively they have really found new fire in their backline. The combination of outside threats that Radwan, Earle and Brown pose keeps defences on their toes, whilst the Newcastle forwards work through unspectacular but beautiful phases in the tight. At the base of the ruck there are always forward hitting lines with intent and their ball retention is of the highest quality. They have a clear identity, they know their role and game plan and execute it very effectively. Nonetheless, despite their newfound attacking prowess they are still missing the ability to score ‘easy’ tries. Their set-piece was typically solid but it does not seem to be a basis from which Newcastle can score. Furthermore, despite really challenging Saracens’ defence making 6 clean breaks, beating 21 defenders and making 6 offloads, they still were only able to score 23 points in 10 visits to the Sarries 22.
On the defensive end, usually Newcastle are vacuum-sealed. However, in this occasion they let Saracens get far too much front foot ball which led to their gradual dominance throughout the game. They also kicked 74% of their possession which meant that they had for too much defending to do and despite a respectable 86% tackle success rate and 9 turnovers won they conceded 37 points, of which the last 20 in what seemingly felt like a blink of an eye. Whilst Newcastle definitely has a number of work-ons, they equally have a lot of positives from their first trip to the StoneX this season.
WASPS RUGBY VS NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
MOTM: Thomas Young
Top Performers: Gabe Oghre, Elliott Stooke, Dan Robson
Top Performers: Sam Matavesi, Juarno Augustus
Summary
Wasps handed Northampton their first loss of the season in a gritty, unspectacular affair. Northampton came out firing and strung together some excellent phases without scoring many points, which ultimately cost them as Wasps managed to get the scoreboard to tick throughout the match. Saints will be disappointed because they could have blown Wasps out of the picture in spectacular fashion in the first 20 minutes, instead, they got caught up in a slow, set-piece battle, which Wasps won.
Wasps
Wasps’ attack has an ability to go from 0-60 rapidly. They’ve got ball-handlers all over the park and finishers in both the forwards and backs. They put this to full-effect once again to register their second home victory of the season. Wasps’ attackers are always looking to keep the ball alive and in play, they look for offloads and when there are opportunities they make the most of them. Whilst this game had the lowest ‘Ball in Play’ time of the round, their ability to score tries was what got them over the line in this contest. Wasps beat 14 defenders and made 8 clean breaks which helped them score an average of 1.55 points in their 11 visits to Northampton’s 22. In a contest where both teams kicked over 55% of their possession away and the game was won and lost at the set-piece and with discipline, that try-scoring ability that Wasps possess was the difference between the two. The experienced boot of Jimmy Gopperth also helped in steering the team to victory when Umaga could not hit the mark in the last 15 minutes of the match.
Wasps were far from perfect defensively in this game and their 82% tackle success showed that. Although Northampton were kept to just 15 points until the last play of the match, it could be asked whether it was Northampton’s poor execution rather than Wasps defence that stifled the Saints’ attack. This game was truly won neither in attack, nor defence nor with discipline, but at the set-piece. Wasps went 100% from Scrum and Lineout and limited Northampton to just 40% of scrum success and 87% lineout success. Late in the game this proved crucial to Wasps’ ability to play in the right areas and keep the scoreboard ticking.
Northampton
Northampton started this game looking real flash. They were getting quick ruck ball, hitting the gaps between defenders and timing their running lines really well. Northampton’s attack, when on song, has rapid ruck speed and everyone presents themselves as an option running playable lines. They are also particularly effective at attacking the wider channels with the first receiver standing further than usual, usually Furbank takes this role, which really spreads the defence. However, despite their good first 20 minutes, they were never able to turn pressure into points. Their overall Red Zone efficiency was a season-low of 1.21, showing that they really struggled to get points to show for their early endeavours. It is particularly disappointing for Saints fans because they did create opportunities to score or put the points up. They beat 23 defenders and had 11 clean breaks, as well as a total of 23 offloads, they must convert these opportunities better. Biggar did not have his best game and never managed to take over, neither with his kicking nor by unlocking the running game of his teammates around him. Nonetheless, despite lamenting the loss Saints fans will be happy that they came away with the losing bonus point, especially considering that they lost key players early on. Chris Boyd, on the other hand, will not be considering those as valid excuses and will put the Northampton lads through their paces over the bye week.
Defensively Northampton were unable to contain Wasps’ electric flashes and their second half ill-discipline and shaky set-piece accumulated into what eventually was their first loss of the season. The 17 penalties they conceded gave Wasps far too many chances to play in their half and get out of jail. In a game that was slowed down and got physical, you would have expected that Northampton would be better at the nitty gritty, but that is exactly where they got beat. Courtney Lawes mentioned in an interview on the Rugby Pod that they had won their first three games without playing their best rugby, this game was a step below their last three performances as they were possibly thinking already ahead to the bye they have this week.
Tight Five Highlighted Player of Round 4 - Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)