There was a busy day of domestic rugby action on Saturday with four Aviva Premiership Rugby matches, two Guinness Pro14 derbies and plenty of drama in France.
With the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations just five weeks away the international coaches will have had plenty to ponder as they observe who’s firing at this crucial time of the season.
HARLEQUINS PERFORM
There was no shortage of Aviva Premiership action on Saturday but many eyes were focused on Twickenham for Big Game 10 where Harlequins hosted Northampton Saints.
A whopping crowd of 77,825 flocked in to the national stadium but perhaps most importantly among them was England head coach Eddie Jones, who watched several of his squad hit their straps against Saints.
Wasps’ Dan Robson had staked his claim at scrum-half on Friday night with an excellent display in their win at Bath, but Danny Care matched that level of performance and grabbed two tries in the 50-21 win.
Some would believe that England full-back Mike Brown is under pressure from Anthony Watson for the No.15 shirt but he gave an assured display – topping the metres made stats with 77.
Young Marcus Smith was named in Jones’ latest training squad as an apprentice but looked to be nothing of the kind at Twickenham as he pulled the strings all afternoon – sending out two huge passes for Tim Visser’s scores, creating breaks and displaying an astute tactical kicking game.
Chris Robshaw was at his hard-working best and although on the losing side, England lock Courtney Lawes did his NatWest 6 Nations chances no harm with an industrious display.
Elsewhere in the Aviva Premiership, Owen Farrell proved he’s still the man to trust from the kicking tee, with his 16 points accrued in Saracens’ 46-31 win over Worcester Warriors.
Meanwhile, the other two matches in England saw Gloucester Rugby beat Sale Sharks 20-16 whilst Newcastle Falcons triumphed away at London Irish with a 20-15 victory.
DERBY DAY REPERCUSSIONS
Saturday was an excellent day for Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend and Italy head coach Conor O’Shea, with large majorities of their squads pitted against each other in Guinness PRO14 derby matches.
At Scotstoun, there was vengeance for the Glasgow Warriors as they swept aside Edinburgh 17-0 following last week’s dramatic 18-17 loss to the same team.
Townsend will have been pleased to see fly-half Finn Russell kick four penalties to keep Glasgow’s noses in front of Edinburgh, with 29-year-old Scotland winger Lee Jones also going over at the death to put the result beyond doubt.
Centre Alex Dunbar and scrum-half Ali Price also impressed for Glasgow, whilst Hamish Watson and Grant Gilchrist stood out for Edinburgh.
Meanwhile in Parma, Italian outfit Zebre were also on a similar revenge mission but lost out 20-16 to Benetton Rugby, following last week’s 27-14 defeat in the first derby match.
The game featured many of the players that will make up O’Shea’s starting XV in the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations, with full-back Jayden Hayward grabbing many of the headlines with a classy display.
Hayward made his debut for Italy in 2017 and did his chances of earning future caps no harm with a try-saving tackle in the first half and an excellent try in the second.
For Zebre, Carlo Canna gave an excellent display, kicking two penalties and acting as the focal point for all the good things that his team did, also setting up a try for Italy teammate Mattia Bellini in the second half.
FRANCE
Into the French Top 14 where the story of the day was Brive’s crushing 29-10 win over Montpellier.
Brive currently sit 12th in the league but put Vern Cotter’s second-placed side to the sword thanks to tries for Francois Da Ros, Nadir Megdoud and Benjamin Lapeyre.
Bottom side Oyonnax almost caused a huge upset as they pushed Racing 92 close, eventually losing out 16-12 with France centre Henry Chavancy solid as ever in midfield for the Parisians.
Elsewhere, Baptiste Serin started at scrum-half for Bordeaux-Begles but couldn’t prevent his side losing 22-12 to Stade Francais, and La Rochelle’s irresistible march at the top of the division continued as they dominated Agen with a 47-6 win.
