Nanai didn’t mean to end May’s day
JONNY MAY received an apology from Worcester full-back Melani Nanai for the red-card offence that forced the England wing out of the game and gifted Gloucester a 44-15 victory.
The Cherry and Whites overturned a 5-0 deficit with six tries in George Skivington’s first match in charge following Nanai’s no-arms tackle on May, below, after 18 minutes.
“Just wanted to say sorry to @JonnyMay, my team mates, the staff @WorcsWarriors and all our fans for yesterday,” the Samoan tweeted. “It wasn’t my intention to tackle that way and sending my best to Jonny and the Gloucester team for the rest of the season.”
Worcester boss Alan Solomons admitted: “It clearly had a massive impact on the outcome.” Bath emerged from lockdown to end a two-game losing streak with new signing Ben Spencer starring in their 34-17 defeat of London Irish. The England scrum-half capped a fine display at the Rec with an 80-metre interception try. Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper said: ”Ben had a quality debut and showed what he brings to the game, especially the control and accuracy on his box kicks.”
Saracens expect Owen Farrell to be fit to face Harlequins on Saturday after missing the 16-12 defeat at Bristol with a thigh injury.
The Bears moved into second place with a late penalty-try winner. Bristol boss Pat Lam praised Bristol’s battling qualities, saying: “Our defence and scrummaging were huge.”