Gallagher Premiership round 10 review

I'm pleased to say this round has been more of what I wanted to see after my moan last week!

Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins

Harlequins turned on the style late on to secure a 14-38 victory against a committed Falcons side who ultimately ran out of steam. Steve Diamond was visibly disappointed at the full time whistle and his comments echoed his frustration in his post-match. He saw this as a real chance for Falcons to take down Quins.

For Quins, James Chisholm's physical effort fully deserved his man of the match performance and they'll be delighted to come away from a cold Kingston Park with a bonus point victory.

Falcons wise, Tom Gordon was excellent in the first half but was unfortunate to pick up an injury that meant he didn't reappear in the second half. Gordon has been that good for Falcons since arriving from Glasgow, I'd like to think he's in contention for the Scotland Six Nations squad. Ironically the other Falcons player who caught my eye was his replacement Van Der Walt who carried incredibly hard in the second half.

Quins were fully deserving of their victory and Falcons couldn't cope with their maul.

Gloucester v Sale

This was the game I watched from the two games that kicked off at similar times on Saturday afternoon.

Gloucester led by Lewis Ludlow really took the physicality to Sale who were hit with the late withdrawal of Quirke at scrum half. They also really missed George Ford to run the game. Gloucester scored some really nice tries and were well marshalled by the continually impressive Tomos Williams at 9.

There has been a fair bit said about Jack Makepeace who made interesting decisions against both teams. I didn't feel he got the help of his Assistant Referee's or TMO. There was a decision to award a penalty against Chris Harris towards the end which was nothing more than a rugby incident.

Sale will be disappointed not to take something from Kingsholm and Gloucester will be delighted with a five point 36-20 victory. I'll admit I got this one wrong in my preview! Santi Carreras got a deserved man of the match with his usual footballing genius. Also Max Llewellyn bagged a couple of tries including his first, running a great line off the first phase of a lineout.

Leicester v Exeter

Exeter will be disappointed not to take something away from Welford Road as Leicester scored two late tries.

Leicester secured their 28-15 victory although will be concerned about an injury to Hanro Liebenberg, who adds a huge amount of grunt to their pack. Exeter were in this and will hope that Henry Slade has put his injury woes from the first half of the season behind him as they're a much better team with his calming presence around.

I think now that they have a win, Exeter will have enough to avoid finishing bottom and miss out on any possible relegation play off. If they can pull some results together, it's not completely crazy to think they could push for top eight. Although that would take a hell of an effort! For Leicester, they'll have the top four firmly in mind when they come back from Champions Cup action.

Saracens v Bristol

This one was a game where Bristol never looked like getting anything but managed to secure a four try bonus point in the last play of the game. Jamie George was superb on his 300th game for Saracens. But the star man and deserved man of the match was Tom Willis his carrying and defence were excellent. Continued performances like this are going to make it very difficult for Steve Borthwick to ignore him when the Six Nations squad is named.

Saracens had raced into a 22-7 half time lead in Barnet. Bristol were frustrated including Ellis Genge who looked to disagree with some of the penalties conceded at scrum time, but when do props ever not look frustrated when a penalty is given against them?! I thought that Fergus Burke had one of the best games I've seen him have in a Saracens shirt, his running game was top drawer.

Bristol scored a couple of late tries and did improve in the second half, Byrne came on for his debut. But the real star in the second half for Bristol was Ravovou who brought some Fijian sparkle to the game and got Bristol going.

Given how the game went Bristol will take what could be a crucial bonus point. Saracens, although being delighted with a five point victory will be disappointed that Bristol got a bonus point despite a 35-26 victory. Bristol could've had a losing bonus point if Byrne has nailed a difficult conversion with the last kick of the game.

Northampton v Bath

Well the conditions at Franklin's Gardens didn't look like they would produce much of a game, but how wrong am i?! The best game of round 10 was saved till last.

Northampton started off like a train with the impressive George Hendy shredding through the Bath defence. I thought Saints really fronted up here and my fear for them prior to this was Bath would beat them up.

Bath did come back into it but were still 26-12 down at half time. Looking at Johann van Graan coming off at half time, I think he gave them a bit of a rocket. Bath came out in the second half an Finn Russell started to get things moving. Bath eventually took the lead late on along with a Mitchell yellow for head contact on Lawrence, Saints looked done. But they managed to secure a penalty and Fin Smith stepped up to secure a big win for Northampton to keep them in touch with the teams above them.

One word for Anthony Woodthorpe who I thought handled the game very well in what was a very fast paced game.

Saints will be delighted with this one and Bath will be frustrated with how they got themselves back into lead and couldn't see it out.

Overall view on round 10

What a round of rugby, every game had something and Northampton v Bath has been the cherry on the top. Plus I'm always happier when Gloucester win!