The 13th round of Gallagher Premiership fixtures saw some cracking games. The second-choice west country derby did not disappoint, Northampton made the Friday night appetiser more appealing than many expected and Exeter provided plenty of late drama to finish off the Saturday portion. On Sunday, two big beast of English rugby tor chunks out of each other for 80 minutes until an injury-struck Saracens emerged victorious. Below are the major takeaways from each fixture before the quick European break.
Scores
Sale Sharks 27-24 Northampton Saints
Exeter Chiefs 17-15 Newcastle Falcons
Bath 47-28 Harlequins
Gloucester 53-28 Bristol Bears
Leicester Tigers 22-29 Saracens
Pollock shines as valiant Saints fall short
The Saints travelled North beleaguered by injuries and rested stars. Added to the usual cast of missing men was Fin Smith, who was given his mandatory rest with a Champions Cup game against Clermont coming next week. That meant that Fin Smith, Charlie Savala and George Makepeace-Cubitt were all missing so the second-choice scrum-half, Tom James, stepped in to an unfamiliar position and performed admirably - despite an early yellow card. The star for Northampton was Henry Pollock who scored his first Saints try in the Gallagher Premiership with a superb individual,kick-chasing effort to keep Northampton in the game. However, Sale were the stronger side and ultimately came out on top in a tough encounter which basically ended Northampton's title race for 2024/25.
Harlequins show why they have a ceiling
Harlequins are a team littered with stars, boasting huge collective potential but the side is not amongst the favourites for the league title. Why is that? Well, on the evidence of Saturday's defeat and other difficult moments this season it comes down to a lack of power. Before the season, I highlighted the potential vulnerability of losing the power of Andre Esterhuizen in midfield as well as the scrummaging ability of Will Collier up front. These issues have only deepened since the departure of Joe Marler in the middle of the season. The game against Bath showed that, whilst having incredible backs matters, everything else is rendered useless if you cannot at least achieve neutrality up front. Against the biggest teams they are not able to do that consistently so if they face Bath once again, or the likes of Leicester and Sale things might get tricky come crunch time.
Falcons leave Exeter filled with frustration
In another world, this game would've been monumental; in the real world its importance mainly came down to pride. Newcastle were winning until the final minute when Greg Fisilau crossed in the left corner to break northern hearts. There were four potential penalties directly within the build-up of that try including a possible forward pass and a definite act of foul play at a ruck. These incidents lead Steve Diamond to claim that the game was decided by the officials in his post-match interview. Whatever the truth is, Newcastle lost once again and Exeter got away with one.
Bristol lose control once again
For the second week in a row, Bristol were in a game which went mad straight out of the gate. This time things didn't go their way. Gloucester took charge early on, scoring several times in the opening part of the game. Bristol worked their way back into proceedings but Gloucester pulled away once again in the second half once again in a game which probably puzzled many in Bristol. The Bears have been the side consistently sitting just behind Bath in the table whilst playing expansive, attacking rugby as they would usually do. However, Saturday's loss may have presented some potential vulnerabilities around structure and the flow of matches that teams could exploit. The Bears are nowhere near a position in which they should panic, particularly with the return of MacGinty, and are still in a good position more generally. Gloucester are showing themselves to be the dark horses of the Gallagher Premiership season so far.
Tigers let another opportunity pass them by
Leicester have had some big wins this season and have been in the top four for many of the weeks so far but haven't quite cemented their position at the top of the table. Games like this show why. After a massive win over their rivals (Northampton) Leicester had the chance to really put their foot down and make a run for the playoff places against a side packed with serial winners but still not as strong as it once was but they couldn't take the opportunity. Saracens also struggled with injures up front within the game and lost Lozowski in the second half but Leicester never took charge. The Tigers are a good side but with the players at their disposal things need to start looking more controlled very soon.
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