The Final- It’s Leicester vs Wasps again…

I expected the Gloucester Leicester game to be extremely dull and not very high scoring. I thought that if Leicester did clinch it they would do so by playing some very boring rugby. This wasn’t the case at all. I was on the edge of my seat throughout most of the game. The first half had great rugby, but ended with a tryless score of 12-3. There were two yellow cards for Leicester who refused to conceed a try, especially when they were playing with 13 men. The second half bought even more quality rugby. The turning point was when Tuilagi broke through Vainikolo and steamrolled Lamb to put the ball down in the corner. Of course Goode didn’t miss the conversion on the touchline. There were two drop goals and a converted try in the last 15 minutes, every score tipped the balance in a different direction. Leicester had the last word though with a well struck drop goal from Goode. Gloucester 25- 26 Leicester.

The Wasps game, whilst I tipped it to be the game of the weekend, didn’t produce the sort of rugby that we’ve seen these sides play all season. My view may be marred by the incident in the second half, but I don’t think that the rugby was of the quality that these players can produce. Barkley made mistakes that were uncharacteristic of him, he made bad decisions and forced passes. Butch James played well though, and Bath attacked well through him, but they clearly missed Mears. I think that Wasps managed to close Barkley down through Rees and the man of the match Haskell. Cipriani was playing fairly well and everyone watching was expecting a bit of magic to come from him in the second half to seal the game. However, within the first ten minutes of the second half, he ended up getting trapped at the bottom of a ruck and badly dislocated his ankle. From then on, the game seemed to slow down. This could be because Van Gisbergen came on at fly-half and he plays a different brand of rugby. But I also put it down to Cipriani’s injury and players on both sides feeling anxious. Having said that, I failed to concentrate on rest of the game as I was concerned about the impact of this injury on the future of English rugby. I do know that Wasps scored another converted try and Bath scored a penalty. The score line shows that Wasps have got their old defensive mentality back as Bath’s only try came from Lewsey dropping the ball in the dead ball area. Wasps 14-7 Bath before Cipriani’s injury. Final score Wasps 21-10 Bath.

As for the final, Leicester will find it difficult to break through the London side’s renewed defence. Having said that Wasps need to think about how they themselves will break the gain line without fly-halves Walder and Cipriani. I think this one is too close to call. Wasps will be playing for Dallaglio and Cipriani- no matter what they say in the press and Leicester will be playing for each other in a way we haven’t seen a team do since England got to the 2007 World Cup Final. It’s amazing what the words of Cockerill can do to inspire a team.

 

Final Round of the Guinness Premiership

Wow! It was a very exciting day yesterday. Leicester just scraped into the top four, despite being written off by many, including Cockerill, although cynics would say that Cockerill is after Loffreda’s job. So my predictions for the top four were only one off thanks to a try from Varndell in the last 5 minutes.

It’s a shame that Quins didn’t beat Leicester as the semi-finals would be a rematch (albeit in different locations) of two of the best games of the season- when Bath played Wasps at the Rec and when Quins played Gloucester at the Stoop. Wasps and Quins winning those encounters.

I don’t think Leicester have what it takes to beat Gloucester at Kingsholm, it’s not an easy feat. They do have more of a chance than Quins would have though. But you can never write Leicester off.

I think that Stuart Barnes may be proved wrong this season- Gloucester’s defence at the moment can win big games. The Bath defence was solid too, hence the low scoreline (8-6). The Wasps defence on the other hand hasn’t been as good as it has been in previous seasons. Edwards will have to sort that out, if Wasps are going to take this title. I was at Headingley and I saw Wasps play a very open style of rugby. I think they will need more structure to beat Bath. Bringing Cipriani in at ten will help that. 

It is all very close at the moment, almost too close to call. Bath need to have a fully fit squad to choose from to beat Wasps. Stevens and Mears played very well yesterday, they worked the fringes well. I do think Wasps will win it though, purely because Cipriani’s vision can beat almost any defence. Sackey, Tindall Stevens and Mears are big injury worries in terms of both their clubs and England at the moment. Hopefully they’ll be fully fit for next week.

The quality of the rugby this weekend really showed why we don’t need new laws bought into our game. I look forward to next week. The quality of rugby from potential England players also showed that England have more than a good chance of beating New Zealand when they tour.

Quins 30-25 Gloucester

Top of the league Gloucester lost to an on form Quins side today. Gloucester really played well though and utilised their back three very well. Vainikolo was used more in the 80 minutes he played today than in the three games he has played for England. I’m certain the England management were watching this game. Vainikolo demonstrated how he has developed as a good rugby union player today through try saving tackles and getting involved at the breakdown, where necessary.

Care had a good game as well. Whilst Care’s runs didn’t open the gaps up straight away, they did suck up the defence at the fringes and this created gaps in the next phase. This was evident in Mike Brown’s try, where Care drew in some of the Gloucester’s defence and quick rucked ball allowed Mike Brown to score, from 20 yards out, picking it up straight from the base of the ruck and fending someone off- a prop, I think. Being a full back himself, he knew he was home free after taking it from that ruck. Balshaw’s runs, as per usual, cut through the Quins’ defence. Despite Balshaw having a good game, he still seemed like a winger playing full-back and he could learn a thing or two from Mike Brown under the high ball. It’s not just technique, it’s skill that Brown has over Balshaw.

Good game from both sides. Gloucester should have kicked their goals though as Quins failed to turn pressure into points in the first half. A good defense after Robson scored his first ever try won the game for the London team.