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Gallagher Premiership XV of the Week - Round 21

Will Skelton draws three defenders as he carries at Allianz Park. (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

The penultimate round of the 2018/19 Gallagher Premiership season was one to forget for Newcastle Falcons who, despite putting up a gutsy effort at Kingsholm, had their relegation to the Greene King IPA Championship confirmed.

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Northampton Saints stole a march on Harlequins for the final playoff spot, with a bonus point win over Worcester Warriors, although the Londoners kept pace, defeating Leicester Tigers at the Stoop.

With just one more round of the regular season to go, we’ve rounded up the top performers from a busy weekend of Premiership rugby.

  1. Charles Piutau, Bristol Bears

Another timely flash of what Piutau can bring to Bristol if he can stay fit next season. The former All Black was a consistent threat anytime that Bristol were able to generate quick width on the ball and his decision-making with the ball in his hand was excellent. He was on hand to score in the first half, before creating Alapati Leiua’s five-pointer after the interval. Anthony Watson was also lively, as he continues his comeback from a lengthy injury.

  1. Denny Solomona, Sale Sharks

Like Piutau, Solomona was also a potent threat at Ashton Gate on Friday evening. His pace and power brought him plenty of gains down the right wing and his footwork was typically effective. The battle between he and Leiua was worth the admission fee alone. A mention, too, for the late impact and clinical finishing of Joe Cokanasiga, who’s second half score put Bath in pole position for a Heineken Champions Cup qualifying spot.

  1. Dom Morris, Saracens

Morris didn’t even start the game at Allianz Park, but it’s a mark of the impact he had that he features here. His reading of the game in defence was excellent and resulted in a try, whilst his stepping in the midfield left plenty of Exeter defenders clutching at thin air. He grabbed two tries and tormented the opposition in a Premiership debut to remember.

  1. Gaby Lovobalavu, Wasps

A close call, with Ben Te’o and Johnny Williams also having very good games. Lovobalavu just has the edge, however, with the Fijian repeatedly punching holes in the Bath defence and offering an efficient and composed passing and offloading option beyond the gain-line. He set up first half tries for Nizaam Carr and Nathan Hughes and was unlucky not to have a hat-trick of assists when his pass to Josh Bassett was adjudged to be forward.

  1. Taqele Naiyaravoro, Northampton Saints

Honourable mentions are due for Alex Lewington and Matt Banahan here, but Naiyaravoro’s rampaging runs were just too hard to ignore. Just as he did a week ago, the Australian was once again the spearhead for a high-tempo, sharp Northampton performance. When Saints get him involved early and positively into their game, he seems to shine and he came off the Franklin’s Gardens pitch on Saturday with a brace of tries.

  1. Max Malins, Saracens

The case to increase Malins’ playing time gained even more traction on Saturday, as he orchestrated a dismantling of Exeter Chiefs at Allianz Park. With Owen Farrell and Alex Goode rested for the Heineken Champions Cup final, Malins took on duties at fly-half and exposed Exeter as a carrier, a distributor and a mix of the two as he repeatedly broke the gain-line and unleashed his teammates at the second level of the defence.

  1. Danny Care, Harlequins

Care was at his sharpest as he helped Quins heap further misery on Tigers at the Stoop, although he was run all the way by a livewire performance from Faf de Klerk. Care’s snipes around the fringes, refined kicking game and swift and accurate service from the base and at the ruck all helped facilitate an incisive Quins win.

  1. Joe Marler, Harlequins

Marler turning in brutally-efficient performances has become the norm this season, as he and Quins have thrived from his absence from the England team. His tussle with former international teammate Dan Cole was one to savour at the Stoop and one that Marler came out on top in. He and Matt Symons had the left-hand of the Quins scrum on top for much of the game on Friday night.

  1. Harry Thacker, Bristol Bears

Speaking of consistency in the front row, Thacker delivered again for Bristol, running a smooth lineout and picking up a lot of the ball-carrying slack. Sale did a relatively good job of keeping him from any big breaks, but he was consistently able to evade or break the first tackle and bite off chunks of five or six metres, prompting the Sale defensive line to then have to retreat.

  1. Kyle Sinckler, Harlequins

Sinckler had a few issues early with Ellis Genge, before asserting his dominance as the game went on. He brought plenty in the loose, too, as he kept Quins moving forward and running onto the ball, something which Care and Marcus Smith profited from.

  1. Will Skelton, Saracens

If there were one European-based player Michael Cheika would love to have later this year, it could well be Skelton. The lock was a dominant carrier and consistently denied Exeter front-foot ball with colossal tackles on the gain-line. He did pick up a yellow card for a tackle on Phil Dollman in the air, but it didn’t prove pivotal, with Saracens in control of the game throughout.

  1. Franco Mostert, Gloucester

Another tireless performance from the South African second row who is showing no signs of fatigue, despite a short offseason following his Super Rugby and international commitments. Every time Newcastle carried within 10m of the breakdown, Mostert seemed to be there, ready to repel them on the gain-line. He and Ed Slater’s complementary skill sets again helped Gloucester to a valuable win, as they build momentum ahead of the playoffs.

  1. Ruan Ackermann, Gloucester

Just as with Mostert, Ackermann’s work rate and endurance at Kingsholm was a sight to behold. Defensively he was every bit as industrious as the lock, whilst he also stepped up as one of Gloucester’s primary carrying options. His ability to break the first tackle and draw in defenders was one of the most impressive aspects of his side’s win over Newcastle.

  1. Ben Curry, Sale Sharks

A small victory for Ben in his battle with twin brother Tom, as he makes this XV at the expense of the England international. Tom had a good game, too, but Ben was able to have a slightly more dynamic influence on proceedings, repeatedly able to take advantage of holes in the Bristol defensive line, most notably when he sprung de Klerk for the South African’s second half try.

  1. Zach Mercer, Bath

It was an almighty duel between Mercer and Nathan Hughes at the Rec, not to mention Ben Morgan and Ben Earl both coming close with excellent displays of their own. The Bath man was as lively in attack as he has looked this season, running incisive lines and using his power and footwork to consistently put defenders in difficult positions to tackle him. His two tries in the second half not only secured a win for Bath, they also brought a winning bonus point, something which could see Bath secure European qualification.

Watch: Michael Leitch discusses Japan’s prospects at this year’s Rugby World Cup

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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