Round 11 of the Aviva Premiership saw victories for London Irish, Bath, Northampton Saints, Leicester Tigers, Saracens and Wasps. Here are my Top 5 Talking Points After Round 11.
Five Talking Points After Round 11 of the Aviva Premiership
1: Three Week Ban Frees Hartley For Six Nations
Northampton Saints hooker Dylan Hartley has been handed a somewhat lenient three week ban following his red card against Leicester Tigers in Round 10. Hartley, who has 61 English caps, pleaded guilty to a striking charge in the disciplinary hearing on the 23rd December.
The New Zealand born hooker’s place in the England squad for the Six Nations would have been under threat if he had received a longer ban but he is now available for the tournament. Since the incident, there have been calls for Hartley to be removed from the England set up due to his ongoing disciplinary issues.
Hartley has faced previous bans for eye gouging, verbally abusing a referee in the 2013 Premiership Final, biting as well as several other offences. England Coach Stuart Lancaster has declared that he will hold talks with the Saints star following his latest sending off.
2: Ford The Force As Bath Topple Chiefs
George Ford continued his excellent form with another top class performance as the Exeter Chiefs became the latest team to feel the force of Ford. The 21 year old out half pulled the strings as Bath overcame a strong challenge from their top four rivals.
Tries from Horacio Agulla, Kyle Eastmond, Dave Attwood and Anthony Watson saw Bath extend their lead over third place Saracens to eight points. Ford slotted conversions to all four tries and added a second half penalty to take his game tally to 11 points.
The battle between Ford and Owen Farrell for England’s starting out half spot is certainly increasing in intensity with each game and with the Six Nations just around the corner, the pressure will continue to mount for both players.
3: Irish Win Battle Of The Exiles
London Irish beat London Welsh to claim bragging rights for the exile teams in London and in doing so claimed their first home win of the season. A crowd of 7,097 at the Madjeski Stadium saw the home side outscore Welsh by three tries to nil.
Alex Lewington, Tom Court and Geoff Crossed over for Brian Smith’s Irish side who ended a run of six successive defeats with the win. Tom Homer added nine points with the boot from full back. The first half ended in controversy with Welsh’s Tom May and Irish’s Daniel Leo receiving red cards.
May was given his marching orders after elbowing Leo off the ball. Leo’s reaction to the elbow was his the reason for his early bath. This was a much needed win for Irish who now move back ahead of Newcastle Falcons into tenth place.
4: Twickenham Sell-Out A Massive Boost For The Aviva Premiership
Harlequins decision to move their post-Christmas game against Northampton Saints from the Stoop to Twickenham proved to be a masterstroke by the club. The fixture was a 82,000 sell out and proved to be one of the best games of the season so far.
Saints won the game by five points but the big winner from this fixture is the Aviva Premiership itself. It proves that the product the Premiership is offering is a good one and that fans are responding in kind.
Going forward, other clubs may look to copy Quins by moving their own fixtures to nearby, bigger grounds. If this does happen, it can only be a good thing for players, fans, clubs and of course the Premiership. Either way there are exciting times ahead.
5: Tigers and Bath Face Off In Game Of The Weekend
Leicester Tigers will be gunning for revenge on Bath this weekend in the Aviva Premiership’s game of the weekend. The Tigers went down by 45-0 at the Rec in Round 3 and will need no motivation for the return game at Welford Road on Sunday afternoon.
This is a must win game for Richard Cockerill’s Tigers in their quest to get back into the top four. They are coming off a last gasp win against Sale Sharks last time and have only lost one of their last six matches and that was against top of the table Northampton Saints.
Bath will also come into the game full of confidence and hope to inflict only the Tiger’s second defeat in the Premiership at Welford Road since November 2013. The key clashes will be in the pack and I expect the Tigers to come out on top in this battle and subsequently the game.
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