Week 6: Roundup
Tight Five Team of the Week Round 6!
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 66 - 10 WORCESTER WARRIORS
MOTM: Alex Mitchell
Top Performers: Biggar, Skosan, Freeman
Top Performers: None
Summary
Friday Night saw Worcester’s start to the season go from bad to worse. With Mitchell and Biggar pulling the strings, Northampton dismantled the Warriors in their best performance of the season. Worcester are in a dire situation, this was once again an abysmal performance and the Warriors have now conceded 114 points in their last two games. For Northampton, they were firing on all cylinders, putting together something Chris Boyd has been calling for all season, a complete performance.
Saints
The Saints set their stool out early on in this game, the intention to play expansive and from anywhere was evident from the get-go. The attacking sets from the Saints were amazing all game, the ability to play expansively was amplified by Mitchell and Biggar’s slick distribution. Constantly hitting runners in stride allowed Northampton to pull together waves of attacking phases. The attacking play from Northampton in this game was near enough to perfect, runners were constantly in motion at pace, passes were on point and their dynamic backs in Skosan and Freeman finished chances. While Worcester’s defence was lacklustre at best, the Saints took full advantage with their elite attacking play. The scoreline truly defines how the Saints ran riot. They accumulated 737 run metres in 141 carries, beat 24 defenders and made a ridiculous 16 clean breaks. The aim for Chris Boyd and the Saints boys will be to replicate this type of performance every week. They have shown signs of doing so, but this could be a confidence booster for them to take into the international window, where wins are worth their weight in gold.
In defence, the energy was outstanding. Although it was easy to defend against at times, the shape of the defensive line held throughout the match as the line went up staying connected but at speed to stop the Warriors ball carriers. They dominated 22% of collisions and won 7 turnovers. There’s not much else that can be said, this was a resounding performance in attack and defence.
Worcester
As was the case last week, there are little to no positives to take out of this performance. Almost everything that could have gone wrong, did. Apart from a Will Chudley charge down try early on, this Warriors attack offered nothing. With players not able to get over the gain line, Worcester are not able to lay the platform for any dangerous attack. A 41% gainline success rate paints the picture, they got stumped backwards and could never get back into the game neither territorially (45%) nor with possession (43%). Worcester must get back to the drawing board and look to get their ball-carriers into more space, speed up their ruck speed and look to stretch defences in ways that force defenders to make decisions. If they don’t do this, they’ll continue to struggle as they did against Northampton this week.
Defensively, the problem with Worcester was both their inability to stop Northampton ball-carriers as well as their inability to hold possession. The dual issue results in their defence not creating turnover opportunities nor their attack giving their defence any relief. They crumbled last week after relentless pressure and did the same this week. They need their pack to be more aggressive and dominant in the collision area.
EXETER CHIEFS 21 - 33 LONDON IRISH
MOTM: Matt Rogerson
Top Performers: Hoskins, Pearson, Tuisue, Hassel-Collins, Loader
Top Performers: Hendrickson
Summary
The Chiefs have now lost twice at Sandy Park in three outings at their home fortress. That means that even more credit must be given to London Irish, who had not registered a win yet this season, and did so at Sandy Park in incredible fashion. The Exiles were ruthless from the get go and finally strung together an 80 minute performance combining their best attacking and defensive attributes.
Chiefs
Exeter looked lethargic from the get go. Their attacking performance lacked creativity and apart from a couple of determined attacks the rest was quite easily absorbed by a resilient Irish defence. Credit must be given to the Exiles because Exeter’s ball retention was strong and they managed to string together numerous phases on a number of occasions, but they lacked the go-forward and outside threats to stretch and punish Irish’s defence. As they could not get good front-foot ball over the gainline, their attack was susceptible to being far too lateral for most of the game - when Harvey Skinner came on late, he sparked a much more direct and threatening attack, but it was too little and too late. Exeter really rued the absence of their ferocious ball-carrier, Dave Ewers. Furthermore, despite their lack of gainline success, they still found themselves in London Irish’s 22 quite often, but their RZ efficiency has really taken a hit with the new laws on latching and goal-line dropouts taking away their go-to scoring option. Although they are still successful at scoring in this manner, the ‘penalty’ for failing to score is quite ‘salty’.
The story of this game, however, was not about Exeter’s lack of attack. It was their poor defence, which has been a recurring feature to start this season. Exeter have built their success on the foundation of a very solid defence, yet it has been nowhere to be seen in 2021/22. They missed tackles, and their defensive structure suffered off the back of a number of Exile carries which easily surpassed the gainline. The 88% tackle success is not terrible but considering they had 61% of possession and that just 13% of their hits were dominant, it paints a more realistic picture. The Chiefs had to defend on the back foot and could not stifle Irish’s momentum neither with big-hits nor with any real success at the breakdown. They must improve in this area of the game because at the moment their attack is not firing on all cylinders and their defence has some kinks in its armour - they were deservedly beaten by an impressive London Irish side.
Exiles
Although Exeter did not play their best game, all the blame should not be put on the South West club. London Irish were quality, and they pressured Exeter into their defensive mistakes, they defended valiantly and combatted for 80 minutes to come away with an historic win and their first W of the season. Before this game, the preview said that Irish had the talents and qualities to beat sides of the calibre of Exeter, but they had not yet strung together a full-performance, instead either fading late or starting slowly in their previous 5 fixtures. This was not the case at Sandy Park. Their attack fired from the get-go and their defence took them home in the last quarter. An impressive performance.
In attack the intent and purpose of their ball-carriers was impressive. The likes of Oli Hoskins, Albert Tuisue and Curtis Rona exploding on to the ball at pace and really earning every metre in attack. Off the back of this platform Jackson exploited their strengths out wide and together with Nick Phipps orchestrated tries for both their young and talented wingers.
On the other side of the rock, this was easily Irish's best defensive performance. Their goal line defence was out of this world. Willemse, Pearson and Rogerson led the way with some solid hits, but it was the structure, composure and discipline that stood out, a real testament to the coaching staff and to the players’ execution. They ignored the breakdown for much of the game, bar a few incredible Steve Mafi go-go-gadget turnovers and decided to absorb Exeter’s defence for the majority of the Chiefs attacking sets. The key to this tactic was their line speed and especially their discipline. They did that effectively for 80 minutes and Exeter was unable to stretch them.
GLOUCESTER RUGBY vs NEWCASTLE FALCONS
MOTM:
Top Performers:
Top Performers:
Roundup Coming Soon: Unfortunately have not had time to watch this game yet. It will be up by the end of the day! Thanks for your understanding!
HARLEQUINS 31 - 17 BATH RUGBY
Tight Five MOTM: Andre Esterhuizen
Top Performers Harlequins: Smith, Marchant, Green
Top Performers: Underhill, Ojomoh
Summary
At the Twickenham Stoop, the reigning champs posed a formidable challenge to the struggling Bath. Bath needed a reaction, and they had one albeit for only a quarter of the game. Bath’s two tries came in the period where Quins were down to 14 men and despite starting the second half with a 12-17 lead they could not finish off the job. Once again there are individual performers that excel in the Bath side, but as a unit they really lack the attacking direction and defensive cohesion to challenge top sides. Harlequins, are continuously making life difficult for themselves, and whilst their never say die attitude and flamboyant comebacks are both great to watch and galvanising the squad, they must improve their control on games or it will bite them at some point in the season.
Quins
Harlequins roared off to a 12 point lead off the back of two Esterhuizen tries which were just too easy. The South African inside center is the fulcrum of this Quins side. His attacking threat as a ball-carrier and offloader paired with his stonewall defence and turnover capabilities is a unicorn in an otherwise elusive backline. Quins’ attack once again thrived off the back of his go-forward and the team's capability to use turnovers as their first point of attack. This was a game where they punished Bath’s mistakes and used their star-players finishing capabilities to score tries from, seemingly, nowhere. What makes their attack so dangerous is not about brutal carries, but how they shift defences to make their carriers find half-gaps, opening up offloading opportunities or quick ruck speed. This week Quins attacked off 9 and kicked a greater share of their possession than they normally do. Despite 57% of attack off Danny Care, first receivers range from backrowers ball-carrying tight and wide to props acting as ball-players that link up with Smith. Their attack is constantly in motion and tries to isolate defenders making them make split second decisions. Smith’s try is the perfect example of this. Whilst it seems like brilliance from the maverick, it has a lot to do with what the players around him have done, and then credit to the hot-stepper for taking the opportunity. Off a scrum inside the Bath 22 Dombrandt links with Care who peels to the midfield and has two crash ball options coming from opposite directions, Left wing Murley and Esterhuizen, but chooses to link with Smith who faces a 3-on-3, but McConnochie’s fear of Tyrone Green’s pace, and Smith’s ability to find Lynagh outside quickly makes him jump the gun a split second early and Max Clark is left for dead. It is really hard to defend because each Bath defender is isolated and it really isn’t a 3 on 3 but more like 3 one on one’s.
Defensively, Quins have once again shown that they are not a poor defensive side, but that when they aren’t able to find defensive success they leak tries. Their defence is a spearhead of their attack, and the 9 turnovers won is a testament to their ability to pressure sides into errors. I can’t wait to see this side when Will Evans is back to make the breakdown even more of a nightmare for opposition sides. However, their 83% tackle success rate shows that sometimes their one-on-one tackling and their defensive structure when on the back foot still has a lot of progress to make. The most impressive stat from this game, and from their season so far is their discipline. Just 8 penalties conceded, the main ingredient to success in rugby in my opinion.
Bath
Bath have a lot of work to do. The biggest concern is the way they are losing games, and the clear lack of any identity. A side that has talked up their attacking prowess over the offseason, and brought in a new attack coach should not be limited to 0 second half points by Quins, one of the most porous defences this year and last. Furthermore, their two tries came during Marler’s sin bin and outside of those tries their attack looks pieced together rather than a true means to an end. Last year their issue was defence and consistency, so far they haven’t patched either, if anything, their attack has suffered. Whilst Orlando Bailey is still a young prospect, I don’t see how they can give him the keys to the attack now, unless they intend to go on a full-fledged rebuild. But with the squad they have on their salary sheets especially considering the fact that they just paid Danny Cipriani this summer as a marquee signing. Bath need to do some soul searching, because they have the quality in their side. In my opinion, they should scrap the idea of playing ‘jouè’ rugby, and instead embrace a physical and hard nosed approach. Lay the platform, make it very hard for teams to play against their international pack and play hard direct rugby. Simplify the playbook, clean up the defence and let the talent shine in broken play with heads up rugby, only, when the opportunity arises.
At the moment, they do not play in this way. They try too much before earning the right to do so and their defensive ill-discipline paired with their attacking errors is their Achilles heel.
LEICESTER TIGERS 19 - 11 SALE SHARKS
Tight Five MOTM: Jasper Wiese
Top Performers: Montoya, Genge, Liebenberg, Potter
Top Performers: Lood De Jager, T. Curry, Gus Warr
Summary
A test match atmosphere at Welford road for what was a test match level clash. The Tigers and Sharks faced off in an attritional battle that impressed for its physicality and tactical battle. Whilst the execution was not perfect from both sides, the intent and passions were flaring and it did not fall short of its ‘modern classic’ billing.
Tigers
Leicester were very impressive once again. Their defensive resilience was outstanding, and their ability to win games despite differing conditions is impressive. This game was all about physicality and defensive discipline, and Leicester beat Sale at what they typically do so well. The line speed was strong by Leicester and their Collision Dominance at 28% was solid, but what was most impressive was their cover defence and kick chase. All of Ford’s kicks were made even better by a menacing Leicester chase, Harry Potter and Marco Van Staden the standouts on this front. This ensured that Leicester had an edge in their defensive sets, despite not dominating the territorial battle. Yet Leicester’s most impressive feature during the season and in this game is their Red Zone defence. They limited Sale to a 1 point per RZ visit (with Sale scoring a maul try at the death) and have demonstrated time and time again that they are going to be a tough team to score against. Their ability to alternate between ignoring the breakdown to absorb attacking sets and attack the breakdown aggressively when it's on and in moments of need is what makes their defence so successful. Sale never managed to understand the variety in Leicester’s defence and it ended up being a game with plenty of turnovers and chances gone begging (for both sides).
On the offensive end, Leicester were just more clinical than Sale. Their ball-carriers were industrious, Genge, Liebenberg and Wiese making a nuisance of themselves and their backs combined pace out wide with the threat of hammering down the middle effectively. Freddie Steward and Harry Potter’s injections of pace into the line when they chose to attack out wide proved dangerous, and Ford’s kicking game kept Sale’s line speed honest throughout the clash. Not to mention, the accuracy on his cross-field kicks to Nadolo. Ford’s kicking game was probably the decisive factor in this game as the threat of his kicks just occupied the Sale defence’s thoughts for the split second which helped good carries become half-breaks. In addition to the diverse kicking game, strong ball carrying and excellent ruck retention, Tigers’ set piece was strong. Once again proving to be a source of clean ball from which they laid the platform for the only try of the match.
Sharks
The Sharks travelled down with the intent to upset an in-form Tigers side and, to use my favourite cliche, they got ‘close, but no cigar’. Sanderson’s men went route one and set out to impose their brutal physicality on an equally physical Leicester pack. Initially they asserted their dominance with the likes of Dan Du Preez, Cobus Wiese and Bevan Rodd making inroads in Leicester’s defence whilst the likes of Curry and Lood De Jager were a menace on the other end of the ball. Sale’s game plan was working fantastically as they managed to dent Leicester’s defence and attack frequently from within Leicester’s half. Their defence was equally brutal as they halted Leicester’s ball-carriers for most of the game and attacked the breakdown effectively, getting out of jail and getting penalty opportunities on a number of occasions. The biggest issue for Sale, and the reason why they faded as the game wore on, was their inefficiency in the Red Zone. They struggled to convert their territorial advantages into points, squandered easy goal kicking opportunities, and they have made a habit of running out of ideas when the crash-ball option is no longer a threat (i.e. inside the 22). Thus, Sale managed to reach Leicester’s 22 frequently, but they flattered Leicester’s goal line defence because they never strung together dangerous moves that really tested Leicester defenders’ decision making or their defensive cohesion. Admittedly, missing their two main 10s (MacGinty and Bob Du Preez) puts more pressure on the young Wilkinson, but they need to create more opportunities with forwards and backs moves aimed at stretching defences once they have gained precious momentum - something they do very easily. I’d like to see them incorporate some moves off the back of lineouts where they exhaust the openside with all their forward runners except two and the 9 peels back to the blindside, to test the awareness and defensive positioning of their opposition. They did not do anything of this sort and thus their attack was one-dimensional, brutal, but easy to defend and Leicester are a side capable of absorbing the physical battle - which they did.
SARACENS 56 - 15 WASPS
MOTM: Max Malins
Top Performers Saracens: George, Itoje, Maitland
Top Performers Wasps: T.Young, Gopperth
Summary
Saracens are making a habit of demolition jobs and did just that to an understrength but valiant Wasps side. This was not the most exciting game as the result seemed a foregone conclusion from early on, but it did show that Lee Blackett has depth and culture in spades, whilst also confirming that Saracens are still their ruthless, clinical selves.
Saracens
Saracens’ attack is simple but incredibly effective. They attack quickly, carry over the gainline and hold possession. If there are opportunities to go wide, they do not hesitate and usually execute well. In this game they put this plan to effect, though the execution was not to their typically high standard. In this game, they did lay the platform very well and generated a number of line breaks as a result of the quick ball and clean service at the base of the ruck. Once they got momentum, and quick ruck ball, there were several spaces outside to exploit and Sarries x-factor players took no prisoners, Malins finding himself on the end of four tries. In general, as the game wore on the quality of Saracens players, their fitness levels and the possession toll led to tries off line breaks and individual skill rather than tactical disposition.
Defensively, it was Saracens world-renowned defence, which has suffocated the best of teams, that contained Wasps throughout the match. Their only tries coming off defensive errors by Saracens, Malins misread and a fantastic misspass by Ali Crossdale in the case of Gopperth’s try and a wild loose pass from Itoje leading to a 100 metre Kibirige footrace, once again off the vision of Crossdale.
Wasps
Lee Blackett went for a full-rotation in this clash, and Wasps were severely undermanned to compete with the likes of Saracens, and frankly would have struggled against all Premiership sides. Although they did put in a valiant defensive effort, making a nuisance of themselves at the breakdown and in the tight, the overall skill and pressure from Saracens made this game a matter of how long it would take rather than a genuine contest. In attack, Wasps never really constructed many try-scoring opportunities, but continued to demonstrate their ability to score tries in the blink of an eye if given an opportunity. Despite the resounding loss, Wasps will have a lot of positive takeaways from this game and their rotation players will have benefitted from the experience.