Round Seventeen of the Aviva Premiership saw victories for Leicester Tigers, Bath, Exeter Chiefs, Harlequins and Saracens. Gloucester and Northampton Saints drew. Here are my Top 5 Talking Points after Round 17.
1: State of Play with Five Rounds Remaining
There are five games remaining of the regular season of the Aviva Premiership and Northampton Saints top the pile by nine points. There is a titanic struggle on for the other places in the top four with just two points separating Exeter Chiefs in second place and Leicester Tigers in fifth.
This season has been a struggle for Harlequins and it is surprising to see them in eight place. There have been promising signs for Newcastle Falcons in the last few months but London Welsh have had a nightmare season and after 17 games have only one point.
It is no surprise to see Northampton Saints dominating the league with only three losses so far. They have a great squad and Jim Mallinder has turned Saints into one of Europe’s best and at this stage it is hard to see anyone stopping them retaining the Premiership.
2: Chiefs Continue to Soar
It seems like it is every week Exeter Chiefs make their way into the Five Talking Points and on this occasion it is because they now sit second in the Aviva Premiership table. They do so due thanks to a 49 point win over London Welsh.
Welsh have obviously been the whipping boys but Exeter become more impressive with every game that goes by. Henry Slade has taken over from Gareth Steenson as starting out half in the last few weeks and the switch looks to have been perfectly timed by head coach Rob Baxter
The Chiefs have some terrific young players in Slade, Jack Nowell, Sam Hill, Luke Cowan Dickie and Dave Ewers. In the not too distant future we could see all five being in the England set up. Bright times seem to be ahead for both the Chiefs and England.
3: Manoa’s Late Try Earns Saints at Kingsholm
In arguably the most exciting game of the season Gloucester and Northampton Saints played out a 33 all draw with both sides scoring three tries each. It will be the Saints who will be delighted with the draw after Manoa’s 78th minute try.
Gloucester and their fans have plenty to hope for after watching this performance. James Hook is settling in at out half, Charlie Sharples is becoming one of most consistent wingers in the league and Matt Kvesic is up there with the best openside flankers in the Premiership.
An area they that they do have to improve is the amount of points they concede. They have the second worst defence in the league. To be fair David Humphreys had identified this and is taking current Ulster defensive coach Jonny Bell to Kingsholm from next season.
4: Redpath Leaves Sharks for Carnegie
A day after leaving his position at Sale Sharks, former Scotland captain Bryan Redpath has been announced as Yorkshire Carnegie head coach on a two year contract. Redpath replaces Tommy McGee who left the club by mutual consent last week.
Upon finishing his playing career, the former Scotland scrum half went on to be backs coach at Gloucester, eventually being promoted to head coach in 2009. Redpath resigned from that positon in 2012 and returned to Sale Sharks where he had a successful playing career, winning the European Challenge Cup in 2002 and 2005.
Speaking about his new role Redpath said: “I am excited about the massive opportunity and challenge we have here at Yorkshire Carnegie. There is a clear vision for what the club wants to do over the next few years and I want to be part of that project.”
5: Game of the Weekend: Leicester Tigers v Exeter Sharks
The Aviva Premiership has now taken a break after Week 17 and will not return until the last weekend of this month. When it returns we will see a repeat of this weekend’s LV Cup Semi Final between the Tigers and Chiefs.
Both teams have named their starting 15s for the game and it is safe to say that squad players are getting a run out in this game. Former Welsh International Ceri Sweeney captains Exeter on a rare start while Brad Thorn comes back into the Leicester starting team.
Whether this game has any bearing on the Aviva Premiership game in Round 18 is anyone’s guess right now. One thing is for sure though, with both sides gunning for a top 4 place in the league, their next meeting could be one of the most important of the season.
