Exeter have the power to go all the way in title race, insists Solomons
In a game which ebbed and flowed, it was Northampton Saints who had that extra edge to tip the outcome in their favour over an ill-disciplined Bristol Bears side, earning just their second win of the season.
Ambition can take many forms. There is no doubting Bristol Bears’ aspirations to be more than just a promoted side clinging on for survival, while Northampton Saints are driven by new director of rugby Chris Boyd to adopt a more fluid style in an attempt to restore pride in the East Midlands after last season’s ninth-place finish.
Their meeting proved an entertaining but error-strewn encounter, with 11 tries, six for Northampton and five for Bristol including the opening try from outside centre Will Hurrell, who would go on to score his side’s penultimate try, which secured a try bonus point.
Saints badly needed this win. Their previous one came against Harlequins in the second match of the season, and a missed conversion caused them to miss out on a draw last week against Bath. But the overall mood from Boyd was more of frustration than joy. “It was a relief to get five points but apart from the win, I don’t suspect we are any more happy than parts of last week or the weeks before,” he said.
“Parts of it were good and parts of it were not so good. I would imagine both sides would be semi-happy with their attack, while both sides would be reasonably disappointed with their defence.
“It was a high-scoring game and from a purists’ point of view, they probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it. But if someone was sitting in the sun and if they wanted some entertainment, they probably would have enjoyed it. The game ebbed and flowed and it could have been deemed as entertaining but from a coach’s point of view, it was frustrating.”
In the early portion of the game, despite that early Hurrell try, Bristol looked somewhat disorientated, giving away easy penalties and allowing Northampton easy possession and territory which would lead to prop Ehren Painter’s try after 15 minutes. It would seem the absence of fly-half Ian Madigan, such a steadying presence in his side’s victory over Harlequins last week, was keenly felt, particularly in the first half, but his understudy Bears academy graduate Callum Sheedy grew into the game.
Bristol head coach Pat Lam conceded the loss of Madigan did put his side at a disadvantage but was not using it as excuse. “I have been in this game long enough where every year, someone fails a fitness test or someone gets hurt in the warm-up and that is what you have to prepare for, the next guy needs to step in,” he said. “Of course, it is never ideal. When you do all the training over the course of the week, once it happens, nothing should take you by surprise. Someone steps in and I thought Callum did well.”
The game was poised at 17-17 at 35 minutes, with Bristol hooker Harry Thacker exchanging tries with Northampton’s Andrew Kellaway, who came on as an early replacement after Piers Francis failed a HIA for a second consecutive week.
A potential turning point came when referee Luke Pearce disallowed scrumhalf Andy Uren’s score for the hosts after he deemed a tackle by his opposite number Cobus Reinach was good. Video referee Trevor Fisher had called it a try. Lam was diplomatic but thought the touchdown should have been given.
“I know it is a try – the TMO was cor- rect. He said it was a try, the touch judge thought it was a try as well but obviously Luke felt it wasn’t,” he said. “I know exactly what is going to be said when it goes to a review. But still huge credit to Northampton because we had chances to come back in that second half and we didn’t take them.”
Northampton flanker Lewis Ludlam scored just minutes later to shift the game in his side’s favour 24-17 heading into the break.
The second half was at times frantic and Bristol took it to a one-point game at 55 minutes via a try from former Wallaby Luke Morahan and a Sheedy penalty, despite Taqele Naiyaravoro taking Saints further ahead moments into the half.
But Bristol looked fatigued after 10 minutes, down to 14 men with back row Jack Lam sin-binned. Saints would later take advantage with tries from prop Alex Waller and replacement hooker Mikey Haywood coming in quick succession to give their side a 45-30 lead with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.
Yet such was the twisting and turning nature of the game, late tries from Hurrell and wing Alapati Leiua, who looked lively all afternoon, salvaged the losing and try bonus points for the hosts. Alan Solomons, Worcester’s director of rugby, believes the Premiership is now a two-horse race. The Warriors triumphed on their last visit to Devon in February and remain the only side to have won at Sandy Park in the league in almost two years, but they succumbed to Exeter’s power game, particularly in the second quarter, yesterday.
“In terms of the Premiership, everybody is massively competitive, but Saracens and Exeter sit slightly away from the rest of us,” said Solomons.
“Exeter just had too much power for us. We had a very good opening 20 to 25 minutes and dominated territory and possession. And full marks to their defence, we couldn’t convert any of that into points.
“Then in the 15 minutes up to halftime, they scored three power tries, with a driving maul and two pick-andgos, but we showed great resolve and resilience in the second half and there are a lot of positives for us to take.”
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter was far from pleased with his side’s second-half showing, with their Heineken Champions Cup opener against Munster only two weeks away.
“The second half was our sloppiest 40 minutes of the season,” he said. “We went through the gears the way we needed to in the first half, but after the break, for half an hour it was a waste of rugby in a lot of ways.
“I don’t think we progressed as a team or individuals, and that’s what we need to do if we want to keep advancing and winning big games.”
Worcester started full of confidence gleaned from their superb victory at Leicester last weekend and took an