Allianz Premier 15s – Round One
The shock of the day: UWW trounce Quins at the Stoop. What a show from the team so recently threatened with extinction!
By design the league started later than usual, but not late enough for fans to see many of their heroes from the world cup. We’ll have to wait for at least another week before we can see the ten clubs restored to (near-)full strength. More recovery time needed.
It will be intriguing to see how the new league administrators respond to one element of the 10-year-strategy; it wants to see England-qualified players favoured. Quins are taking on three Aussies, so that’s three more team places endangered for young English players.
Results:
Saturday
Bristol Bears 62 Wasps 0 (attendance 2,513)
Exeter Chiefs 15 Gloucester-Hartpury 25
Sale Sharks 31 DMP Sharks 12
Sunday
Harlequins 14 University of Worcester Warriors 28
Saracens 34 Loughborough Lightning 21
Exeter Chiefs v G-H
For once the Chiefs were hamstrung by the absence of so much of their overseas talent.
Mo Hunt proved how wrong the England selectors were to overlook her; she had a stormer. Emma Sing knocked loudly on the Red Roses’ front door. Her kicking ability is always headlined, but here she reminded onlookers of her running and handling skills as well. G-H added to their remarkable successes at ‘Fortress’ Sandy Park.
Sharks v Sharks
Sale will be delighted to kick off with a bonus-point win. They welcomed Scarlett Fielding back after a year’s lay-off with an ACL injury, and she enjoyed herself.
It was good to see DMP reaching double figures on their first run out of the season. Their 12 points were 4 more than they had totalled across four previous meetings. But it was against the side that finished just one place above them last season. Here’s another handful of worries building up, not just for the club, but for those administrators who want to create a more level playing-field.
Bears v Wasps
Bristol Bears had as good an opening day as they could have wished for: another switch from Shaftesbury Park to Ashton Gate, a big crowd of 2,513, players’ names on shirts and an opposition unrecognisable from Wasps’ sides of the past two-three years.
For the visitors one crucial issue is whether their GB 7s and England 7s players (Meg Jones, Amy Wilson Hardy, etc) will be available for any part of the season. Without them, the outlook is as grim as this first round tousing by the Bears. They used to beat them regularly.
Sarries v Lightning
Lightning came so close to providing another shock. They had a losing bonus-point right until the closing moments. They had looked the better team for much of the game, with Lauren Bolger completing a splendid winger’s hat-trick on debut. But the old Sarries’ doggedness paid off in rhe end.
The forwards crushed the last few drops of air out of the visitors’ lungs to complete a traditional comeback with some style.
But we can be sure that Alex Austerberry wasn’t a happy man.
Quins v Worcester
Quins were kind enough to provide their own friendly coverage of the game, but, as in previous seasons it meant that commentator and co-commentator weren’t able to provide balanced knowledge of both teams.
It was sad seeing Quins using the caterpillar ruck again and again. That tactic has been as widely discredited in the men’s game as the incessant box-kick (here provided by Emma Swords). It is a surprise to find Amy Turner adopting this ploy; it was noticeably absent from the World Cup, but she wasn’t there. It slowed the game right down and provided little advantage.
Warriors were over the home line in the third minute from a fine catch-and-drive. Then a lovely grubber from Vicky Foxwell slid through behind Freya Aucken and Vicky Laflin (today’s honoured captain, was first there. Quins just held on till the half-time break as Warriors pummelled the line.
Bryony Cleall took a debut try from a line-out overthrow that fell into her lap. But UWW responded at once. Charlotte Wright-Haley was on the business end of another catch-and-drive.
So a 7-14 margin stretched away to 7-19. Quins had the greatest difficulty crossing the border into enemy territory; UWW were looking like a class side. They killed the game off with a second magnificent run by Laflin. She cut in from the far left to sweep past flailing arms and score beyond the right-hand post.
Vicky Foxwell was faultless off the tee and added a couple of searching kicks with her left foot too: a rare achievement.
There was a lot of whistle through the game, but it wasn’t the ref’s fault. It’s still very early season.
Jo Yapp must be proud beyond measure at this result.
A Bonus
Bonus points will be more vital than ever this season. G-H’s only cause for dismay at Sandy Park is they couldn’t manufacture a fourth try.
Bears, Sale, Sarries and Warriors did gain try-bonuses.
Coverage
BBC is showing one match per round, but not on a main channel. Finding your way through to one of the alternatives can prove a trial. And production values are lower than we would expect. Camera-work from producer and operators was less than perfect. The view from a hand-held camera at pitchside is always likely to be masked by a broad-shouldered AR. And replays were dodgy.
Loughborough Lightning’s name was wrongly spelt and Auntie listed the Sarries’ team back to front.
Thank goodness Nick Heath was on hand to sort things out for us.
The same goes for live stream coverage provided by England Rugby productions, but perhaps we should make greater allowance for them.
We can be grateful for the presence of cameras at the games, but I had hoped for last year’s teething troubles to be sorted out by now.
