Weekend Wrap up of Anglo Welsh Cup
On Sunday, Gloucester triggered to the top of their pool with an easy 30-16 bonus point win at Headingly against Leeds Carnegie. Leeds had defeated Gloucester on the New Years’ day, but the history didn’t want to repeat itself this time.
Tries from Tom Voyce and Lesley Vainikolo and a penalty from Freddie Burns plus a conversion gave Gloucester a 15-9 lead, while Ceiron Thomas booted three penalties for his side. Gloucester’s lead was stretched when Burns scored another penalty and Scott
Mathie’s storming try was negated shortly when Tim Molenaar and Nick Wood crossed the touch line to give Gloucester a bonus point. Win against London Irish next week will confirm their position in semi finals for a consecutive third year.
London Irish won their first Anglo Welsh Cup match this season very credibly by beating the current Anglo Welsh championsNorthampton Saints by 37-20. It turned out be a very interesting and entertaining affair at Madesjki Stadium between both sides. Even
though it was a turtle start to the game but Irish took hold of it pretty soon and undermined the Saints line up with the help of scoring from flanker Steffon Armitage, centre Dan Bowden and George Stowers and prop from hooker Brian Blaney. Saint’s came to
life in second half when hooker Brett Sharman scored a try and acted as a playmaker, but Saints couldn’t crush through the Exiles’ defense till the last minute try by Scott Armstrong. This win has given hopes to Irish for qualifying for the big matches, while
Northampton Saints will be looking forward to defeat Leeds Carnegie with a bonus point next week to make it to the semi finals.
Saracens showed no mercy to the new team Scarlets who got brutally thrashed by 34-7 on Saturday at Parc Scarlets. Former English prop Matt Stevens came back to the field for the first time after a complete two-year ban due to drugs. He came in as a substitution
in 49th minute, when Saracens had already cemented their victory with a colossal lead. Tries from lock Hayden Smith and winger James Short made a huge difference, while hooker Jamie George, winger Noah Cato and replacement Ban Ransom further scored the extras.
Scarlets didn’t lose their hope even after this mountainous defeat ad they can still qualify for semi finals if they beat Newport Gwent Dragons next weekend. Saracens made full use of the absence of Scarlets’ 20 players due to injuries or international duties.
Exeter Chiefs won a third match against Leicester Tigers, as critics still believe they got lucky. Exeter scored five tries against the visitors to earn a 35-10 victory and a top position in Pool 4.Exeter broke the famous Tigers deadlock and turned all the
tables and went against all the predictions. Chad Slade, Gareth Steenson, Andre Higgins, Neil Clark, Dave Ewers, and James Phillips all scored to add to the huge point difference.
Cardiff Blues were brutally thrashed by Ospreys, as the visitors gave a shock of 29-7 victory to their rivals at their home ground. Ospreys went down to 13 men, but didn’t let the physical numbers takeover the scoreboard figures. Blues enjoyed a great start
when Gavin Evans scored a try but after that it all went against them. Four penalties from Mathew Morgan and a two tries from Morgan Allan including a conversion concluded the score card in the favour of Ospreys.
Bath won against Newcastle Falcons by 11-6 in a tight and close match at a full Recreation Ground Stadium. Aaron Jarvis scored the only try of the game and showed some impressive skills throughout the match. Newcastle could only score through two kicks from
Jimmy Goperth.
Sale Sharks’ winning streak at last came to an end when Newport Gwent Dragons pushed the Sharks back with a 20-28 victory. Dragons led the game from the start with the help of Mathew Jones’ kicking. Aled Brew crossed the touch line after a converted try
for Dragons and prop Henry Thomas brought Sale Sharks to life in second half by running into Dragons twice.
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