Round Seventeen of the Premiership what a weekend, we got two wrong as Wasps lost away at Warriors but the big one was Exeter Chiefs doing the double over Harlequins by 16-27.
The weekend opened with Bath and Gloucester the good old local derby. Bath won it 31-25, though it was good to see Freddie Burns back on the park. Half-time here was 20-15. next up and Worcester Warriors out muscled London Wasps 29-23. This was 15-6 at the break and Wasps did well to secure the losing bonus point.
Saturday and Leicester Tigers inflicted the expected lesson to Sale Sharks 48-10, from 27-3 at half-time. next up and Northampton Saints came from behind to pulverise London Irish 40-14. This was 14-9 at the break and Saints ran away with it in the second period. next up and the big surprise as harlequins were out thought, out muscled and out played by Exeter Chiefs worthy winners at the Stoop 16-27. The move from 10 to fullback may have disrupted Quins but would not have changed the result 10-9 at the break unfolded to the big loss.
One game on Sunday as Saracens moved to the top of the log with a convincing win against a spirited London Welsh 35-14. This was close at 16-11 at half-time but indiscipline and some bad luck conspired to see off the visitors.
So two wrong calls this week as we thought Harlequins would do for Exeter and Wasps Worcester. Here are all the results:
Results Round Seventeen
Fri 01 Mar 20:00 Bath 31-25 Gloucester Recreation Ground ESPN
Fri 01 Mar 20:00 Worcester Warriors 29-23 London Wasps Sixways
Sat 02 Mar 15:00 Leicester Tigers 48-10 Sale Sharks Welford Road
Sat 02 Mar 15:00 Northampton Saints 40-14 London Irish Franklin’s Gardens
Sat 02 Mar 15:15 Harlequins 16-27 Exeter Chiefs Twickenham Stoop Sky
Sun 03 Mar 14:15 Saracens 35-14 London Welsh Allianz Park ESPN
A couple of weeks off making it tough to call again but here are our predictions as usual in bold:
Fixtures Round Eighteen
All times UK
Fri 22 Mar 20:00 Sale Sharks v Bath Salford City Stadium
Sat 23 Mar 15:00 Gloucester v London Welsh Kingsholm
Sat 23 Mar 15:00 London Irish v Worcester Warriors Madejski Stadium
Sat 23 Mar 15:15 London Wasps v Northampton Saints Adams Park Sky
Sat 23 Mar 17:00 Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers Sandy Park ESPN
Sun 24 Mar 14:00 Saracens v Harlequins Allianz Park ESPN
Highlights itv4 Sunday 21:00 itv1 Mon 00:30 ESPN Monday 23:30