Anglo-Welsh Cup Wrap: Saturday

Editor

Northampton, Sale, Saracens, Bath, Worcester, London Irish and Harlequins claimed victories in Anglo-Welsh Cup action on Saturday.

Sale Sharks 20-24 Northampton 

Northampton Saints claimed a hard-fought 24-20 victory over Sale Sharks at AJ Bell Stadium in Saturday’s early Anglo-Welsh Cup fixture.

Saints were made to work very hard for this win and they only secured the result in injury time when Nafi Tuitavake scored the match-winning try.

The home side led 8-0 at half-time thanks to a try from Sam Moore on the hour-mark and a Will Stephenson penalty but Saints fought back after the restart and led 14-8 by the 53rd minute after Ken Pisi and Ben Nutley crossed for tries which were both converted by James Grayson.

Luke James narrowed the gap for Sale before Grayson added a penalty for the visitors. Sale regained the lead in the 71st minute when Marc Jones dotted down but Tuitavake broke their hearts with his try shortly before full-time.

The scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: Moore, James, Jones
Con: De Klerk
Pen: Addison

For Northampton:
Tries:
K Pisi, Nutley, Tuitavake
Cons: Grayson 3
Pen: Grayson
Yellow Card: Stephenson

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Josh Charnley, 13 Will Addison (c), 12 Luke James, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 10 Kieran Wilkinson, 9 Faf De Klerk, 8 Sam Moore 7 Cameron Neild, 6 TJ Ioane, 5 Josh Beaumont, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Marc Jones, 1 James Flynn
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Jake Pope, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 Matt Postlethwaite, 20 David Seymour, 21 George Nott, 22 Will Cliff, 23 Cameron Redpath

Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Nafi Tuitavake, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Ben Nutley, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 David Ribbans, 5 Christian Day (c), 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Reece Marshall, 1 Francois van Wyk
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 James Grayson, 23 Tom Collins

Referee: Greg Macdonald (England)
Assistant referees: John Meredith (England), Greg Garner (England)

Saracens 40-21 Dragons

Saracens got their campaign on track when they secured a deserved win over the Welsh region at Allianz Park.

Max Malins slotted an early penalty for the hosts but the Dragons struck back with a well-taken try from their captain, Harrison Keddie. After that, it was all Sarries and tries from Mark Flanagan, Nick Tompkins and Rotimi Segun gave them a 20-7 lead at the break.

The hosts continued to dominate in the second half and a Matt Gallagher try and another Malins penalty extended their lead before the Dragons fought back via a Lloyd Fairbrother five-pointer.

Sarries sealed the win with tries from Sean Reffell and Tom Whiteley before Fairbrother added some respectability to the score when he scored his second try.

The scorers:

For Saracens:

Tries: Flanagan, Tompkins, Segun, Gallagher, Reffell, Whiteley
Cons: Malins 2
Pens: Malins 2

For Dragons:
Tries:
Keddie, Fairbrother 2
Cons: Kirchner 3

Saracens: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Oli Morris, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Reuben Bird-Tulloch, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Max Malins, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Ben Earl (c), 6 Jack Nay, 5 Mark Flanagan, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Kieran Longbottom, 2 Scott Spurling, 1 Hayden Thompson-Stringer
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Titi Lamositele, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Danny Cutmore, 20 Sean Reffell, 21 Nic Stirzaker, 22 Dominic Morris, 23 Alex Gliksten

Dragons: 15 Carl Meyer, 14 Pat Howard, 13 Sam Beard, 12 Connor Edwards, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Zane Kirchner, 9 Dan Babos, 8 Robson Blake, 7 Harrison Keddie (c), 6 James Sheekey, 5 Rynard Landman, 4 Max Williams, 3 Nicky Thomas, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Sam Hobbs
Replacements: 16 Ellis Shipp, 17 Gerard Ellis, 18 Lloyd Fairbrother, 19 Henri Williams, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Callum Morris, 22 Jarryd Sage, 23 Calvin Wellington

Referee: Simon Harding (England)
Assistant referees: Michael Patz (England), Nigel Carrick (England)

Bath 21-8 Newcastle Falcons

Bath claimed a 21-8 win over Newcastle Falcons with all the points coming in the second half of an Anglo-Welsh Cup clash at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

It took 51 minutes for any scoring to take place as both sides kept their discipline well and did not give away too many penalties.

Bath finally broke the deadlock when Grant went over at the back of a driving maul. Freddie Burns added the conversion.

Falcons fly-half Joel Hodgson responded with a penalty a minute later to cut the deficit to four.

Darren Atkins and Matt Banahan combined to free Charles in support to cap off a great team try. Burns converted to make it 14-3 after 64 minutes.

Four minutes later, the ball went loose from the Bath scrum and Falcons capitalised with a great team try as Radwan flung the ball in field for Willis to score.

A magical cross-kick from Bath playmaker Burns found Wilson in the corner to dot down as Bath completed a confortable 21-8 victory but unfortunately couldn’t come away with the bonus point.

The scorers:

For Bath:
Tries: Grant, Charles, Wilson
Cons: Burns 3

For Newcastle Falcons:
Try: Willis
Con: Hodgson

The teams:

Bath: 15 Darren Atkins, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 James Wilson, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Jeff Williams, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Paul Grant, 7 Josh Bayliss, 6 James Phillips, 5 Luke Charteris (c), 4 Levi Douglas, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Michael van Vuuren, 1 Nick Auterac
Replacements: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Will Vaughan, 18 Sam Nixon, 19 Will Britton, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Max Green, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Jack Wilson

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Belisario Agulla, 13 Dominic Waldouck, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Adam Radwan, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Ryan Burrows (c), 7 Simon Uzokwe, 6 Ally Hogg, 5 Andrew Davidson, 4 Glen Young, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Sam Lockwood
Replacements: 16 Ben Sowrey, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Jack Payne, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Ruaridh Dawson, 22 Tom Penny, 23 Craig Willis

Referee: Mike English (Wales)
Assistant referees: Lionel Spooner (England), Andrew Jackson (England)
Television match official: Geoffrey Warren (England)

Worcester Warriors v Exeter Chiefs

Worcester Warriors claimed a remarkable 31-21 come-from-behind victory over Exeter Chiefs at Sixways in Anglo-Welsh Cup action on Saturday.

Tries from Josh Adams, David Denton, Tom Howe, and Luke Baldwin proved too much for Exeter Chiefs who scored through Tom Lawday, Harry Strong and Shaun Malton.

Lawday opened the scoring after four minutes as Joe Simmonds converted for an early 7-0 lead. The visitors doubled their lead on the 20-minute mark when Strong bashed over.

A yellow card for Ollie Atkins changed the course of the game, however, as Worcester capitalised on their numerical advantage with tries from Adams and Denton before half-time cutting the deficit to two points at 12-14.

Howe’s try after 49 minutes gave the hosts the lead for the first time in the game but in the 63rd minute Malton restored the lead for the visitors.

But tries from Adams and Baldwin put the game beyond doubt as Warriors ran out 31-21 winners.

The scorers:

For Worcester Warriors:

Tries: Adams 2, Denton, Howe, Baldwin
Cons: Shilcock 3

For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Lawday, Strong, Malton
Cons: Simmonds 3

Worcester Warriors: 15 Josh Adams, 14 Tom Howe, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 David Denton, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Matt Cox, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c), 3 Gareth Milasinovich 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Anton Bresler, 20 Andrew Durutalo, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Ben Howard

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Harvey Skinner, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Pete Laverick, 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Harry Strong, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Kai Horstmann (c), 5 Toby Salmon, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Elvis Taione, 1 Moray Low
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 James Kenny, 18 Jack Owlett, 19 Wilhem van der Sluys, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Sam Morley, 23 Sal M’Boge

Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
Assistant referees: Simon McConnell (England), Peter Allan (England)

Harlequins 35-7 Scarlets

Harlequins retained their unbeaten record in the competition when they registered a convincing victory over their Welsh visitors at Twickenham Stoop.

James Lang led the way for Quins with a 15-point haul courtesy of a try and five conversions and the Premiership side’s other tries were scored by Henry Cheeseman, Dave Lewis, Archie White and Ross Chisholm.

The hosts led 14-0 at half-time thanks to Cheeseman and Lewis’ tries and turned on the style in the second half before Bryce Morgan scored a late try for Scarlets.

The scorers:

For Harlequins:

Tries: Cheeseman, Lewis, White, Lang, Chisholm
Cons: Lang 5

For Scarlets:
Try:
Morgan
Con: Maynard

Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Ross Chisholm, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Henry Cheeseman, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 James Lang, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 James Chisholm (c), 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Archie White, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 Stan South, 3 Phil Swainston, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Mark Lambert
Replacements: 16 Charlie Piper, 17 Cameron Holenstein, 18 Josh McNulty, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Dino Lamb, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Max Coyle, 23 Cadan Murley

Scarlets: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Corey Baldwin, 12 Tom Hughes, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Jacob Botica, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Jack Condy, (c) 7 Dan Davis, 6 Stuart Worrall, 5 Chris Long, 4 Josh Helps, 3 Simon Gardiner, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rhys Fawcett
Replacements: 16 Taylor Davies, 17 Phil Price, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Bryce Morgan, 20 Lloyd Pike, 21 Alex Schwarz, 22 Jack Maynard, 23 Morgan Griffiths

Referee: Elgan Williams (Wales)
Assistant referees: Michael Hudson (England), Roy Maybank (England)

London Irish 66-7 Wasps

The Exiles were in a rampant mood at the Madejski Stadium as they outscored their visitors 10 tries to one with Joe Cokanasiga leading the way with a deserved hat-trick.

Alex Lewington, Scott Steele, Oli Hoskins, James Marshall, Saia Fainga’a, Piet van Zyl and Asaeli Tikoirotuma also dotted down for Irish, who led 33-7 at half-time, with Nick Foster scoring Wasps’ only try midway through the half.

London Irish turned on the style after the interval with Cokanasiga securing his hat-trick with two late five-pointers.

The scorers:

For London Irish:

Tries: Cokanasiga, Lewington, Steele, Hoskins, Marshall, Fainga’a, Van Zyl, Tikoirotuma
Cons: Marshall 5, Bell 3

For Wasps:
Try:
Foster
Cons: Umaga

London Irish: 15 James Marshall, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Theo Brophy Clews, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Max Northcote-Green, 6 Arno Botha, 5 Mike Coman (c), 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 David Paice, 1 Ben Franks
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma

Wasps: 15 Nick Foster, 14 Taju Atta, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Sam Spink , 11 Owain James, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Craig Hampson, 8 Tom Willis (c), 7 James Seabrook, 6 Will Owen, 5 Guy Borrowdale, 4 Tim Cardall, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Gaby Oghre, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 TJ Harris, 17 George Thornton, 18 James Higgins, 19 Cameron Gray, 20 Andy Saull, 21 Josh Nott, 22 Connor Eastgate, 23 Cameron Anderson

Referee: Matthew O’Grady (England)
Assistant referees: Robert Warburton (England), Simon Adams (England)

Leicester Tigers 24-12 Cardiff Blues

Leicester Tigers scored three tries and ran out 24-12 victors over Cardiff Blues in Anglo-Welsh Cup action on Saturday

Tries from Will Evans, Jordan Owolofela and Luke Hamilton proved too much for Cardiff Blues who scored through Jack Roberts and Lewis Jones.

Leicester exerted plenty of pressure on Cardiff Blues in the opening exchanges and enjoyed the majority of the territory and possession.

Corey Domachowski was sent to the bin as the Blues infringed repeatedly at the lineout. Evans profited from the advantage played by the referee to dot down for the game’s first try. Joe Ford added the extras.

In the 34th minute the hosts doubled their lead through Jordan Owolofela, who scored within two minutes of coming on when he danced through a gap in the defence to score on the right. Ford made it two from two with the conversion as the Tigers took a 14-0 lead in to the interval.

Cardiff Blues responded in the 53rd minute when Roberts scythed through a hole to finish in the right corner. Shingler converted to cut Leicester’s lead to 17-7.

Soon after, the Blues had their second. Leicester conceded a penalty at a close-range lineout and scrum-half Lewis Jones caught them napping to scoot over. Shingler missed the conversion but Blues were still only five points behind at 17-12.

But the hosts closed the victory out with a Luke Hamilton try from a driving maul.

The scorers: 

For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Evans, Owolofela, Hamilton
Cons: Ford 3
Pen: Ford

For Cardiff Blues:
Tries: Roberts, Jones
Con: Shingler

Leicester Tigers: 15 George Worth, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Charlie Thacker, 11 Jonah Holmes, 10 Joe Ford, 9 Sam Harrison (c), 8 Fred Tuilagi, 7 Will Evans, 6 Luke Hamilton, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Joe Maksymiw, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Jake Kerr, 1 Facundo Gigena
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Sam Lewis, 20 Valentino Mapapalangi, 21 Harry Simmons, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Jordan Olowofela

Cardiff Blues: 15 Rhun Williams, 14 Blaine Scully (c), 13 Aled Summerhill, 12 Jack Roberts, 11 Corey Howells, 10 Steven Shingler, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Alun Lawrence, 7 James Botham, 6 Macauley Cook, 5 James Down, 4 Ben Murphy, 3 Anton Peikrishvili, 2 Kirby Myhill, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Owen Lloyd, 20 Joe Miles, 21 Scott Gibson, 22 Ben Jones, 23 Max Llewellyn

Referee: Jack Makepeace (England)
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England), Wayne Falla (England)