The Aviva Premiership Rugby 2013/14 Season Round Three was played out with a mixture of results. Some went as expected and some did not. Conditions in the main were OK for running rugby and the teams made the most of it.
The weekend opened with two games on Friday night and first we travel to Sixways and Worcester Warriors versus Harlequins.In front of a 7,000 plus crowd Quins ran in winners 13-37 having been 6-20 to the good at the break. This was the thirteenth win in a row for Quins and biggest at Sixways. Next the AJ Bell Stadium and Sale Sharks v London Wasps. This one was the Cipriani show as he came on on twenty minutes and proceeded to control the game clocking up twenty-one points as the home side ran out 26-22 winners, from 13-3 at the break. For Wasps poor Alex Goode had another final kick miss whilst Cipriani converted his this being the difference on the final whistle.
Three games were contested on Saturday and the first of these was; Leicester Tigers hosting new boys Newcastle Falcons. This was not the winning return that Dean Richards would have liked. However, his team were not humiliated in any way as they went down 31-6 in front of a good house of almost 20,000. This was 17-6 at the break. Next and London Irish welcomed Exeter Chiefs to Reading and looked on course for the spoils but Chiefs had other ideas eventually running out
23-29 winners. Half-time here was 10-9. Gloucester Rugby hosted Northampton Saints and all the chat was about the Saints pack coming with a dominant game. Wrong Gloucester competed up front and thus although they were behind at the break 8-10. There were signs that they had more in the tank. So it was that the home side who eventually ran out winners 26-24. The irony on this game was that refereeing errors could be blamed for the result though giving away seventeen penalties could not have helped Saints cause. Last up and dominant Saracens hosted Bath Rugby and gave them a stiff lesson in all areas running out winners 31-17. This was another bonus point win and surprising that 31-3 at the break was not added to for the second period.
So two wrong calls with London Irish and Northampton Saints going down. Here are all the results:
Results Round Three
Fri 20th Sep 13 19:45 Worcester Warriors 31-37 Harlequins Sixways BT Sport
Fri 20th Sep 13 20:00 Sale Sharks 26-22 London Wasps Salford City Stadium
Sat 21st Sep 13 15:00 Leicester Tigers 31-6 Newcastle Falcons Welford Road
Sat 21st Sep 13 15:00 London Irish 23-29 Exeter Chiefs Madejski Stadium
Sat 21st Sep 13 15:15 Gloucester 26-24 Northampton Saints Kingsholm BT Sport
Sun 22nd Sep 13 14:00 Saracens 31-17 Bath Allianz Park BT Sport
Round Four and a few tricky ones but check out all our picks below in Bold:
Fixtures Round Four
All Times Local
Fri 27th Sep 13 19:45 Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks Franklin’s Gardens BT Sport
Sat 28th Sep 13 15:00 Bath v London Irish Recreation Ground
Sat 28th Sep 13 15:00 London Wasps v Worcester Warriors Adams Park
Sat 28th Sep 13 15:15 Harlequins v Saracens Twickenham Stoop BT Sport
Sun 29th Sep 13 14:00 Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers Sandy Park BT Sport
Sun 29th Sep 13 15:00 Newcastle Falcons v Gloucester Kingston Park