LV= Cup, Rd Four wrap; Part 1
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:20
Northampton Saints booked a home LV= Cup semifinal with a 23-11 win over Leicester Tigers on Saturday, but they have to wait till Sunday to find out who they will play.
The victory at Franklin's Gardens sealed the Saints' status as number one seeding, but with three games still to play, their semifinal opponents could be one of four other teams.
If Saracens lose to Newport-Gwent Dragons at Vicarage Road in the final Pool One v Pool Four match, but earn a bonus point, then the Men In Black will make the trip to the Gardens. If Saracens lose and do not earn a bonus point, then Leicester will top Pool One and as fourth seeds will come back down the M1.
However if Saracens beat the Dragons, who themselves cannot qualify for the knock-out stages, then they will play Cardiff Blues, who are safe as second seeds thanks to their bonus-point win at Parc y Scarlets.
The Saints' opponents will then be either the Scarlets or Gloucester.
The Scarlets' home loss to the Blues means they remain on 11 points at the top of Pool Two. But although they are five points ahead of Gloucester they are far from sure of a semi-final spot.
Should Gloucester get a bonus-point victory from their visit to Harlequins, and have a winning margin of two or more points, then the Cherry and Whites will finish top of their pool and (provided Saracens beat the Dragons) be fourth seeds.
Confused?
Well come 19.00 on Sunday all the matches will have been played and the situation clarified considerably!
Bath 40 Sale Sharks 7
Sale Sharks were on the receiving end of a six-try hammering at the Recreation Ground on Saturday, with most of the damage done in the opening quarter - as Bath built up a big lead.
Sale Sharks found themselves 0-21 down within the first 17 minutes, with tries to Michael Stephenson, Matt Carraro and Pieter Dixon. Davis converted all three tries for Bath.
Sharks started to get their game together and Ormsby crashed over for a try on 28 minutes and Mark Atkinson reduced the arrears with the conversion to 21-7. Atkinson's conversion was his first points as a first team player having graduated through the Academy.
Bad news followed for Sharks when Ormsby hobbled off moments after scoring his try with a leg injury and was replaced by Chris Jones.
Bath scored their fourth try, when Stephenson collected a Butch James cross-field kick to touch down to the delight of the home fans. Ryan Davis made it four-from-four with his touchline conversion.
Stephenson completed his hat-trick when he followed up a Bemand grubber kick to touch down. Davis converted and kept his 100 percent record intact (35-7).
Late in the game Ben Cohen was yellow carded by the referee for dissent.
Bath scored their sixth try in stoppage time, after good work by Maddock, which Davis failed to convert with the final kick of the game in what was a miserable day in the West Country for the Sharks.
Sharks ended their LV= Cup campaign with one win in four games.
Scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Stephenson 3, Carraro, Cuthbert, Dixon
Cons: Davis 5
For Sale Sharks:
Try: Ormsby
Con: Atkinson
Teams:
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Jack Cuthbert, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Ryan Davis, 11 Michael Stephenson, 10 Butch James, 9 Scott Bemand, 8 Ben Skirving, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Daniel Browne, 5 Peter Short, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Duncan Bell, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 David Barnes.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Jonny Faamatuainu, 20 Josh Ovens, 21 Mike Baxter, 22 Tom Cheeseman, 23 Joe Maddock.
Sale Sharks: 15 Marika Vakacegu, 14 Oriol Ripol, 13 Jordan Davies, 12
David Bishop, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Mark Atkinson, 9 Chris Leck, 8 Kristian Ormsby, 7 David Seymour, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Sean Cox, 4 Dean Schofield (captain), 3 Martin Halsall, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Gavin Kerr.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Rob O'Donnell, 18 Dan Birchall, 19 Chris Jones, 20 Ian Kench, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Alex Cheeseman, 23 David Doherty.
Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Ken Stewart (England), Roger Baileff (England)
TMO: Matt Peters (England)
Northampton 23 Leicester 11
The Saints secured an LV= Cup semifinal at Franklin's Gardens with a comfortable victory in the Round Four East Midlands derby, thanks to a quick fire start, stout defence and the boot of Stephen Myler.
Franklin's Gardens was feeling the chill again, but things soon heated up as the action picked up on-field, Leicester Tigers the challengers to the Saints impressive home run.
Right from the moment Paul Diggin charged down an attempted clearance from Sam Vestry, the Tigers looked uncomfortable and just seconds later Myler reversed an inside pass to Diggin, who weaved his way through the Tigers defence for his second try in two games. Myler converted and gave the vociferous crowd just the start they wanted.
Ben Kay was ever-present for Tigers at the line-out but after the visitors made some midfield inroads Saints were happy for the ball to come back out on their side and cleared with a penalty.
Leicester were looking to keep the ball in hand - at least until a loose pass from Billy Twelvetrees - but decent kicks from first Lucas Amorosino and then Vesty gave the Tigers good territory. Although they continued to threaten around the Saints 22, Aaron Mauger was never likely to win a footrace against Chris Ashton when chasing his own chip, and the pressure amounted to nothing.
Nevertheless, when the pressure was put on once more, Saints defence strayed offside and Twelvetrees accepted the kicking responsibilities for his sides' first shot at goal. Despite some uncharacteristic yelling from the crowd, the centre thumped over the effort confidently and the Tigers were on the board.
Myler was orchestrating well for the Saints, though when his slid kick found Amorosino, the Argentine somehow danced between the chasing Saints. It was only a momentary respite however, another slicing midfield break had them retreating, this time Chris Mayor hit the gap.
Although the centre missed a great opportunity to slide in the flying Reihana outside him, Roger Wilson was superb in support and his offload found Alan Dickens, who shook off an indifferent start to the match to scamper home down the right touchline. Myler again converted well and with two attacks, the Saints had touched down twice.
The Premiership champions would hit back in style though. Myler's high kick floated just too far, and Amorosino again dazzled with his fancy footwork, racing from his own 22 to that of the Saints. Twelvetrees supported well, running in the score strongly and although Vesty was unable to convert from wide, the free flowing rugby and scoring continued from both teams.
Vesty was more accurate with his next kick, pinning the Saints into the corner, and an attempted quick line-out between Diggin and Reihana almost backfired when the latter's clearance was charged down. Dickens did well to dive on and secure the loose ball, taking a nasty looking blow for his troubles but shook it off and continued after Myler had cleared.
On halfway, Tigers were punished for not releasing in the tackle and Myler opted to kick the penalty to touch, though it was the away team who would soon be attacking again when the ball fell loose. Fortunately for the Saints, Joe Ansbro was quick enough to see off the chase of Matt Smith as momentum continued to sway between the teams.
Another spilled ball ended in another wasted opportunity for Leicester, Soane Tonga'uiha and Mark Easter were on different wavelengths and despite the ball bouncing in Alesana Tuilagi's favour, the big Samoan knocked on with the line at his mercy.
With Dickens presumably still feeling the effects of his earlier knock, Lee Dickson was on at the start of the second half - which began with a bit of aerial tennis.
Saints charged at the Tigers line just as they had done in the first half and when the ball was killed by the away defence, Myler maintained his 100 percent record for the day. A Saints scrum ended in a reversed penalty to the Tigers, but Twelvetrees' strike wasn't as pure as his first of the day and it fell into the arms of Reihana under the crossbar.
A further Saints penalty was kicked to touch and after moving through the phases, Ansbro at pace was somehow reeled in just shy of the line and three plays later the Saints were pinned for holding on.
Another attack provided another penalty for Myler, as the Saints stretched their lead out to 12 points.
A scrappy few minutes followed, though without points for either side as the Saints looked to consolidate their advantage.
However, Tigers pushed forward looking for a way back into the game and when Saints failed to release, Twelvetrees clipped over a simple penalty shot to bring it back to 9 points.
With a string of changes on both sides, the game lost some of its momentum, and the Saints continued to keep the Tigers at bay with more solid defence. It was left to replacement Barry Everitt to round off the game with a simple penalty in front of the posts, a comfortable Saints win.
The scorers:
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Dickens, Diggin
Cons: Myler 2
Pens: Everitt, Myler 2
For Leicester Tigers:
Try:
Twelvetrees
Pens: Twelvetrees 2
Teams:
Saints: 15 Bruce Reihana, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Joe Ansbro, 12 Chris Mayor, 11 Paul Diggin, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Alan Dickens, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Neil Best, 6 Mark Easter, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe (captain), 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Adam Parkins, 18 Alex Waller, 19 James Cannon, 20 Owen Giles, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Barry Everitt, 23 James Downey.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Lucas Amorosino, 14 Alesana Tuilagi, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Aaron Mauger (captain), 11 Matt Smith, 10 Sam Vesty, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Brett Deacon, 7 Ben Woods, 6 Ben Pienaar, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Dan Hemingway, 3 Julian White, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Boris Stankovich
Replacements: 16 Joe Duffey, 17 Robbie Harris, 18 Ryan Bower, 19 Rob Conquest, 20 Matt Everard, 21
James Grindal, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Geordan Murphy
Referee: David Pearson (England)
Assistant referees: Alan Hughes (England), Paul Dix (England)
TMO: Trevor Parlett (England)
Scarlets 23 Cardiff Blues 38
The Cardiff Blues secure a home semifinal in the LV= Cup with a 38-23 win over the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlet on Saturday.
The Scarlets kicked off the Welsh derby crunch match with the Blues fielding a very strong side knowing they needed a bonus point win to secure a semifinal spot.
It was a lively start from both teams, and the Blues came close early on with Sweeney kicking through to the left and Daf James doing well to take the ball forward. Warburton charged the ball down on the Scarlets try-line but Dan Evans gathered and cleared.
The Scarlets came even closer with Knoyle throwing a long pass out to Lee Williams who chipped ahead and took Dafydd James on the outside for pace, however, he couldn't gather the ball cleanly only yards form the try-line, and the Blues scrambled to clear.
The Blues again came close when Gareth Thomas gathered stray ball just inside the Scarlets half and sprinted for the line. He was tackled just short by Williams and the Blues failed to recycle quickly enough to score. With 25 minutes gone the score was still 0-0.
The deadlock was eventually broken following some Regan King magic. The Kiwi centre broke between Shanklin and Sweeny and with momentum the Scarlets carried the ball forward. It was eventually recycled and passed on to Priestland who had the power to force his way over and also added the conversion.
The Blues struck back instantly but as Sweeney dived over under the posts the ball was knocked from his hands. The Blues however had won a penalty and some good work by the forwards saw them carry the ball forward before Sweeney timed his pass perfectly for Shanklin to run onto and crash over for the try. Blair added the conversion.
It was an entertaining match and this time it was the Scarlets turn to respond. Again they spread the ball right and Lee Williams again chipped ahead and had the pace to beat the Blues defence and this time touch down. They came close again only minutes later with Dan Evans nearly scoring out on the right, but it was up to the forwards to claim the glory driving well from a line-out and David Lyons crashing over.
The Scarlets held a 17-7 lead at the break.
The Blues started the second half strongly, driving forward within fine yards of the try-line before wining a penalty and opting for the scrum. The ball was shipped out where Laulala showed his strength to force his way over. Blair converted.
The Blues added the third soon after. The Scarlets looked to spread the ball in the Blues twenty two but a stray pass landed in the lap of Casey Laulala who had the pace to sprint 70 yards and touch down under the posts for his second. Blair again converted.
The Blues got the fourth after Rush picked up from the scrum and kicked ahead into the Scarlets twenty two. Some slick hands interpassing between forwards and backs saw the ball move forward before Filise used his strength to force his way over. Blair maintained his 100 percent conversion record.
Priestland kicked two further penalties to bring the score to 23-28 with only ten minutes left but the Blues made sure of things with a late try. Shanklin and Filise did well to carry the ball forward and Tito popped up to dive over for the fifth Blues try of the day. Blair converted and added a further penalty to make sure of the win and a home semifinal for the Blues.
Scorers:
For the Scarlets:
Tries: Williams, Lyons, Priestland
Con: Priestland
Pens: Priestland 2
For the Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Laulala 2, Tito, Filise, Shanklin
Cons: Blair 5
Pen: Blair
Teams:
Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Lee Williams, 13 Gareth Maule, 12 Regan King 11 Andy Fenby, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Tavis Knoyle, 8 David Lyons (captain), 7 Josh Turnbull, 6 Rob McCusker, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Lou Reed, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Iestyn Thomas, 17 Emyr Phillips, 18 Rhys Thomas, 19 Vernon Cooper, 20 Johnathan Edwards, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Daniel Newton, 23 Joe Ajuwa.
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Gareth Thomas, 13 Casey Laulala, 12 Tom Shanklin, 11 Dafydd James, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Sam Warburton, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (captain), 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Gary Powell, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Taufa'ao Filise.
Replacements: 16 Rhys James, 17 Scott Andrews, 18 Ian
George, 19 Scott Morgan, 20 Andries Pretorius, 21 Tom Slater, 22 Sam Norton Knight, 23 Chris Czekaj.
Referee: Greg Garner (England)
Worcester 19 London Irish 9
Chris Pennell celebrated signing a new deal at Sixways in style as his early try helped Worcester Warriors to a 19-9 victory over London Irish in the LV= Cup.
Pennell, who this week penned a new two-year contract, blazed over in the opening five minutes to set the foundations for an impressive home display.
Flyhalf Willie Walker also slotted four penalties with a faultless kicking display, as Mike Ruddock's men gained some momentum going back into the Guinness Premiership in just seven days time at Wembley Stadium.
Warriors showed clear attacking intent from the start before Irish stripped the ball and Andy Perry made a line break before being hauled down by Jonny Arr.
A hectic and high-tempo start then saw Marcel Garvey get his hands on the ball and chip over Topsy Ojo. The Irish wing made his ground before slipping as he looked to pick up and almost allowing Chris Latham to benefit before Elvis Seveali'i hacked clear.
A huge scrum against the head to Warriors then saw the ball fly right with real pace and Dale Rasmussen burst past men and flicked the ball to Chris Pennell on his shoulder to race over and under the posts for a superb start from the hosts as Walker converted.
Craig Gillies stole line-out ball as Worcester continued to dominate the early exchanges and look to throw the ball expansively, with Rasmussen rattling into a tackle on Peter Hewat and Garvey first on the scene to force a penalty for holding on.
Latham kicked to the corner to set up another attack but Kai Horstmann was left exposed as he looked to recycle the ball and Irish won ball back.
Hewat was pinning Warriors back with his kicking game, but with Gillies in dominant form at line-out time the attacks were repelled until a penalty against Worcester at the breakdown saw Ryan Lamb get the visitors on the scoreboard.
Latham and Horstmann played quickly from deep to release space for Pennell as the home side looked to play from deep when given time. Adam Black popped up in the attacking line to add his weight to the forward momentum.
Greg King profited from another scrum against the head and there was more joy for Rasmussen before King out jumped Ojo out wide from Walker's cross kick but could not quite force his pass away.
The resulting line-out saw Warriors rumble up close before referee David Bodilly adjudged the ball had been held up. A series of scrums saw Worcester turn the screw up front before Arr spread the play and Garvey looked to dance past men only to meet a wall of Irish defiance.
The Worcester pack was completely dominating Irish as another penalty was won in front of the posts on an Irish put in and Walker stroked home the three points for a 10-3 lead just before the half hour.
Lamb cut the lead soon afterwards after a penalty awarded to Irish at the scrum before Chris Cracknell charged down a clearing kick from the Irish flyhalf that ran kindly to Ojo to mop up any danger.
Worcester were stringing some phases together across the field with Cracknell showing up as a ball carrying option and King also punching holes in midfield.
The home side were dealt a blow just before the break when the injured Lutui was replaced by Chris Fortey. But the Worcester momentum continued as Latham kicked in behind and Ojo needlessly gave away a line-out as he looked to shepherd the ball out.
The forward pack rumbled again and crashed over only to be held up for a second time in the half as Greg Rawlinson looked to blast over the try line. Another penalty on the stroke of half-time saw Walker give Worcester a 13-6 lead at the break.
Worcester opened the second half with a thumping hit from Rasmussen on Hewat as they looked to keep up the intensity and Latham went past men and fed Walker and King as Warriors aimed to break the line.
Irish pressed the selfdestruct button as Lamb was sin binned after referee Bodilly lost his patience with the flyhalf's indiscipline and, as Matt Mullan entered the game, it was Walker who made his indiscretion pay.
Matthew Jones came on for a limping King, with Walker switched to centre, as Worcester continued to scramble for ball as Seilala Mapusua coughed up possession in the tackle and Cracknell pounced.
Mullan's introduction paid off almost immediately as he won another penalty for Warriors at the set piece and Walker drilled the kick for a 19-6 lead.
Irish needed a try to get back into the game and had a platform when they won a penalty and Hewat kicked deep into the corner. The Worcester defence held firm but gave away another penalty that the Irish full back knocked over to cut the lead.
Irish began to throw the ball around with real ambition, but they could find no way past Warriors who continued to repeatedly put bodies on the line before crucially winning back ball before the visitors could build up speed.
Worcester threw the ball around with real pace and built an overlap that Pennell exploited before Sanderson's pass to Garvey saw the winger look to step off his wing and tear past men in his last action before Rico Gear entered the game.
Warriors looked for a try scoring finish to the game in the final minutes as more quick ball down the line saw Latham flip pass to Gear and the New Zealander bundle into men on the left wing.
The home side, now pushing the Irish pack around the park seemingly at will, continued to give the backs a strong platform to play from as they pushed for a late try to complete the game.
That nearly came as Jones chipped ahead in the dying seconds and picked up before knocking on with the line in sight as the desperate Irish tackles hammered in.
The scorers:
For the Worcester Warriors:
Try: Pennell
Con: Walker
Pens: Walker 4
For London Irish:
Pens: Hewat, Lamb 2
Teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Chris Pennell, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 12 Greg King, 11 Marcel Garvey, 10 Willie Walker, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Pat Sanderson (captain), 6 Chris Cracknell, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Greg Rawlinson, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Adam Black.
Replacements: 16 Matt Mullan, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Olivier Sourgens, 19 Will Bowley, 20 James Collins, 21 Ryan Powell, 22 Matthew Jones, 23 Rico Gear.
London Irish: 15 Peter Hewat (captain), 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Elvis Seveali'i, 12 Seilala Mapusua, 11 John Rudd, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Alfredo Lalanne, 8 Kieran Roche, 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Gary Johnson,
5 Andy Perry, 4 Matt Garvey, 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 James Buckland, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Danie Coetzee, 17 Clarke Dermody, 18 James Tideswell, 19 Kieran Low, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Chris Malone, 22 Peter Richards, 23 Jamie Lennard.
Referee: David Bodilly (Wales)
Assistant referees: Don Helme (England), Paul Burton (England)
TMO: Laurie Bryant (England)
Ospreys 21 Leeds 17
The Ospreys secured their first win of the 2009/10 LV= Cup campaign to kick-start the final round of Pool action.
Up against a determined Leeds Carnegie outfit, an understrength Ospreys scored three converted tries and recorded a 21-17 victory over their English opponents. The result had no affect on either sides competition ambitions, neither went into the fixture with any hope of qualification and, in all probably, they will still finish bottom of their respective Pools.
The scorers:
For the Ospreys:
Tries: Tandy, Nutbrown, Dirksen
Cons: Prydie 3
For Leeds:
Tries: Lund, penalty try
Cons: Ford 2
Pen: Ford
Ospreys: 15 Tom Prydie, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Jonny Vaughton, 10 Gareth Owen, 9 Jamie Nutbrown, 8 Tom Smith, 7 Steve Tandy, 6 Jerry Collins (captain), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andy Lloyd, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Marc Breeze, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Will Taylor, 19 Richard Kelly, 20 Conor McInerney, 21 Ben Lewis, 22 Rhys Webb, 23 Ben John.
Leeds: 15 Leigh Hinton, 14 Peter Wackett, 13 Henry Fa'afili, 12 Scott Barrow, 11 Lee Blackett, 10 Joe Ford, 9 Joe Bedford, 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Jon Pendlebury, 5 Marco
Wentzel (captain), 4 Erik Lund, 3 Peter Bucknall, 2 Andy Titterrell, 1 Gareth Hardy.
Replacements: 16 Vili Ma'asi, 17 Mike MacDonald, 18 Juan Gomez, 19 Phil Murphy, 20 Kearnan Myall, 21 Andy Gomarsall, 22 Ceiron Thomas, 23 Richard Welding.
Referee: Gwyn Morris (Wales)