Gallagher Premiership: Five Talking Points from Round 15

Luke Cowan-Dickie scores for Exeter in their 22-32 win over Sale Sharks on Friday (without throwing up)

Credit: Robbie Stephenson/JMP/REX/Shutterstock

As Premiership Rugby restart continued, the race for top four spots is tighter than ever as just seven points now separate 2nd to 6th after a fascinating Round 15.

There were tries, cards and big tackles aplenty as a superstar announced himself to the league and a fallen giant dropped to new depths as the club suffered another poor defeat. Buckle up, because the games are going to come thick and fast.

Here are our Five Talking Points from the latest set of games in the Premiership.

Chiefs show Sharks the bar

Friday’s clash at the AJ Bell Stadium was, for some, a potential dress rehearsal for the final at Twickenham on October 24. However after two losses on the bounce, Sale Sharks now look in a precarious position.

The Manchester men were taught a lesson by an Exeter Chiefs side who have been moulded into gritty, serial winners after a decade trying to keep up with the Saracens juggernaut. 

At half time it looked as though the big names were finally clicking for the Manchester outfit.

Faf de Klerk’s pin , point box kicking gained the Sharks territory and Manu Tuilagi’s rumble, before Ben Curry’s dart over the line, showed Steve Diamond’s men have learned to use the big centre more wisely than the week before at The Stoop. 

Then, Chiefs happened. With the Devon outfit 17-10 down their forwards, as they always do, gave them a platform to get a foothold in the game.

The West Country men enjoyed 57% of the ball and 55% of the possession, with their pack providing this foundation for the win to be built.

From the moment Jacques Vermeulen went over, after a sustained barrage on Sale’s tryline, the visitors always looked like running away with it. 

Sam Simmonds crosses for Exeter’s opening try inside the opening two minutes

Credit: Nick Potts/PA

Far from being just brawn however, the Chiefs showed they can really throw it around.

Stuart Hogg’s try was a fine bit of backs play and Sam Simmonds score early in the first half was a stunning team try which will be in contention for try of the season. 

Once Luke Cowan-Dickie scored the bonus point score (thankfully not throwing up either) it was clear how big a task the Sharks have in reaching Chiefs’ level.

A fine try from Denny Solomona put gloss on the scoreline, but Sale were shown what champions look like. 

As the great Ric Flair said: “If you want to be the man, you go to beat the man.”

The Sharks need to bounce back from their disappointing restart - quickly - in order to get another crack at the Chiefs come playoff time. 

Bears’ first-half blitz with Radrada the difference maker

Another team who shook up the enforced break was Bristol Bears and after a workmanlike win against Saracens a week earlier, they were finally able to unleash their set of new toys in their relatively comfortable 24-33 victory over Gloucester at Kingsholm on Friday night. 

Saracens loanee Max Malins scored for the Bears, while Ben Earl and Kyle Sinckler also put in impressive performances for the in form side.

The real highlight though was Semi Radrada’s brilliant performance, which allowed his team to put the game to bed before half-time. The Fijian flyer made 147 metres in a brilliant individual display, being a constant threat all night.

After putting Mallins in for the first score, Semi did what Semi does with his second assist.

Breezing past Billy Twelvetrees in his own half, the big Fijian sucked in both Louis Rees-Zammit and Jonny May before flicking a gorgeous out the back offload to Henry Purdy who finished well.

With a well taken try of his own, smashing over from close range, it was a breakout Premiership performance for the superstar. 

Gloucester should be given credit for how they bounced back, with Chris Harris particularly impressive for the Cherry and Whites, and showed there are defensive frailties in Pat Lamb’s team which could be exploited.

For the most part, however, this was an extremely assured and dominant performance by the Bears. 

As  fixture congestion becomes an issue for all teams, we wait to see if Bristol have the depth to make it to the playoffs in only their second season after promotion. 

Same old story for shaky Harlequins

It was typically infuriating stuff for Harlequins supporters in the early Saturday kick off at Allianz Park as they allowed inconsistency to again blight a positive opening win over Sale last week.

Meanwhile, Saracens showed they wanted to leave the Premiership with a statement as all of their big players showed up. 

Harlequins stayed in the fight for the first 30 minutes of the game, focusing on not making mistakes but, in the process, kicking away a lot of ball.

They looked to capitalise with their chase and put pressure on promising young full back Elliot Obatoyimbo, who lined up for Sarries in Alex Goode’s absence.

Quins had some early success with Martin Landjao pulling the strings from halfback. After Alex Dombrandt dropped a ball with the whitewash calling, the ruthless Sarries took over.

A 10 minute blitz before half time, including tries for the excellent Maro Itoje and Aled Davies, put the game to bed as the Quins entered half-time 22-3 down. 

Wales International scrumhalf Aled Davies goes over for a try on the stroke of halftime in Saracens win over Harlequins

Credit: Getty Images

Their Director of Rugby Paul Gustard will have been furious with the way they let an opportunity to win at Allianz go to waste, but can at least take heart from the comeback.

The introduction of Paul Lasike gave Harlequins added impetus and were pushing for a draw when they unluckily conceded a freak Alex Lewington try late on. 

Ultimately, they put themselves in a position where they had to chase the game and need to develop greater consistency if they have any hopes of the top four.

Saracens are preparing nicely for their European showdown with Leinster next month, with the Wolfpack back on form as they shut out a dangerous Quins; making 153 tackles in the process.

Saints get the job done after a shocking first half

It took a while for the Northampton Saints vs London Irish game to get going but, by the end, we had seen some quality performances and some cracking scores.

London Irish will have been pleased to go into half time at 3-3 and had Ollie Hassell-Collins been more accurate, they could have headed into the break a score up. 

After a lethargic first half, Saints finally came out of their shell in the second.

Aided by back to back yellow cards for London Irish, and a man of the match performance by Nick Isiekwe, they finally found some form and got their push for a top four position back on track.

It was a win built on a powerful scrum, with two penalty tries coming due to forward dominance after Sekope Kepu dropped a rolling maul powering to the line and Irish were later pushed over by the Saints front row.

Ehren Painter and Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi both climbed off the bench to good effect as Northampton won 14 out of 14 of their own scrums, with Irish conceding 20 penalties in the game - a large portion coming at the set piece.

Before that, Tom Collins opened the scoring for Saints with a particularly eye-catching try shortly after the break.

The nifty winger finished well after darting a kick behind the London Irish defence, with the Saintsmen probably told to buck up their ideas by coach Chris Boyd at half time.

Ahsee Tuala’s fantastic try wrapped up a bonus point win for Saints could also prove crucial further down the line. 

This 27-3 result wasn’t a looker, but it’s five points which will be extremely welcome to Northampton after a disappointing loss to midlands rivals Wasps last week.

London Irish are still waiting for their first win after lockdown, but just staying the division is a success for them in their first season back.

Contrasting fortunes for English giants as top four race heats up

Josh Matavesi sells Tomas Lavinini a dummy en route to Bath’s sixth try in their dominating 16-38 win

CREDIT: David Rogers/Getty Images

Wasps and Leicester Tigers, two staples of the English game who, in recent times, have failed to find the success which catapulted them to the top.

This season, however, it’s been clear that only one team looks likely to leave the doldrums any time soon. 

Wasps had to overcome a big deficit to beat Worcester Warriors on Friday night. At 14-3, things looked grim for the Coventry outfit. However, three second-half tries finally secured the 32-17 bonus-point victory for a side firmly on the up.

As Head Coach Lee Blackett told BBC Sport after the game: “Six months ago we’d probably have found a way of losing that.”

While Wasps push for a playoff spot, on the flip side, things could get even grimmer at Welford Road.

A 38-16 home loss brings further misery to a team which was already struggling. Bath cut through the Tigers with ease and had a bonus point wrapped up before half time.

Two consolation tries put gloss on a scoreline, which underplayed just how outmatched Leicester were as Bath ran double the amount of metres the East Midlanders did.

So although both of these former powerhouses are not where they want to be, Wasps seem to be taking the small steps to getting back to the big time.

Leicester, meanwhile, will be considered relegation contenders for next year. Imagine saying that five years ago.