Round 10 was always going to be a feisty affair as it was the last round before Christmas and the time to secure a strong position heading into the New Year and the business end of the season. The great British weather tried its best to dampen spirits however the fans still were out in force and the players showed some steely resilience to score points galore regardless. This morning the transfer news formed a lot of the headlines however let’s focus on the pitch and review all of the Aviva Premiership Round 10 action. 

In horrendous conditions on Friday night home advantage prevailed and Sale ran out 15-4 winners over a frustrated London Irish. Irish's first killer blow was the injury to new signing CJ Van Der Linde who was bought specifically to sort out their scrum time issues. The second was the steady tally of points that Sale notched up in their first half... 12 points may not sound like a lot however in the horrific conditions it may as well have been 120. As the rounds continue Sale march onwards, each week they look more assured than the last and the memories of their disaster season last year are almost gone. Individuals are shining; Paterson, Braid and Cipriani to name but a few and collectively they are showing Top 6 credentials. Irish on the other hand are hurting, after the game Brian Smith highlighted his teams’ ambition and with all of their off the field ducks in a row you would hope that on the field things will start to fall into place too. James O’Connor continues to perform at full back, however the rumour that he has signed at Toulon is getting louder. 


Bath are in form… its players are loving their rugby and this weekend’s win over Harlequins was their 11th on the bounce! They are a team that is really starting to shine and show that they have it all. In the forwards a few individuals are leading the way, the likes of Carl Fearns, Matt Garvey and Rob Webber and in the backs although the spotlight is constantly on George Ford, Jonathan Joseph is coming back into form and Anthony Watson continues his journey towards the top flight. Next stop for the men in black, white and blue is a trip to Franklin’s Gardens and this will certainly test exactly how far they have come since Round 1. For Harlequins it was a frustrating afternoon, once again they felt very hard done by after referee Martin Fox flatly refused to go to the TMO to have another look at Tom Guest’s last minute ‘try’. Quins have enjoyed a significantly better run of form since their trip to Clermont Auvergne on 20th October so a bump in the road was to be expected at some point. It was great to see the likes of Ollie Lindsay – Hague and Nick Kennedy getting more game time on their road back to full match fitness however ultimately Bath didn’t let them into the game and Quins left with nothing. This won’t worry Conor O’Shea or his team too much as they are off to Twickenham for the Big Game 6 in Round 11 and in front of a packed house they usually deliver. 
London Wasps versus Northampton Saints, a tasty encounter on paper and an even better one on the pitch. The head to head clashes were tempestuous, Jones versus Dickinson, Goode versus Myler and Burrell versus everyone and true to form it went right down to the wire. Which team came off the best? Well sitting on the fence I would say both… Northampton will put a tick in the W box and be satisfied with the narrow victory... it was always going to be a challenging game after such an intense time in Europe, both emotionally and physically and a couple of days off for Christmas will be a welcome break. For Wasps, well they won’t be too disheartened by the result as ultimately they delivered a 'winning' performance and massively stepped up their game. Saints head home to take on Bath in a huge top of the table clash and Wasps go on the road to Newcastle in search of a strong away win. 

Exeter Chiefs have been playing well, very well; they have been turning heads and making a huge name for themselves so it may surprise you to know that they have lost their last 5 games in all competitions. However let me add a little context to this as they have played Toulon twice, Bath and Saracens during that time! On Saturday the Chiefs were led from the front by a fit again Gareth Steenson who delivered a nearly faultless kicking performance and as usual their big men, Dean Mumm, Dave Ewers and co fronted up well.  Newcastle didn’t really get into the game; or rather I should say that they weren’t allowed to get into the game. Dean Richards sighted the execution of their first phase as something to work on however all in all I don’t think that the Falcons will be too unhappy. Their first 10 rounds have been solid… they are not bottom of the Premiership and they are gaining points. One thing that they will want to put right in 2014 is the fact that they have only scored 3 tries to date... let’s hope that Santa puts a few in their Christmas stockings shall we!?


The Tigers first visit to Allianz Park was one that they will want to forget as quickly as possible, they were embarrassed as the home team brushed them aside like an annoying fly. The conditions were atrocious and certainly rivalled the AJ Bell for the worst of the weekend award however it made little difference to Sarcaens who were simply outstanding. The first half was a competitive affair and at 13-10 going into the break you will be forgiven for predicting a similar second half… however Mark McCall's men had other ideas. 5 tries, 4 conversions and a penalty later they inflicted the heaviest defeat that the Leicester Tigers have felt in a long, long time. Owen Farrell was masterful before he was stretched off with a nasty looking blow to the head however thankfully he was back out a little later to watch his team finish the job in style. Steve Borthwick is clearly determined to end his career with a bang and the two wingers; Chris Ashton and Jack Wilson were on fine, try scoring form. For Tigers well it was a tough one, Kitchener’s yellow just before half time did not help but ultimately they were outclassed by Saracens. This morning Cockers’ took the blame saying that “I picked the team, I got it wrong and I take the responsibility” however there are 23 hurting Tigers today who will all feel that the blame is entirely theirs and will want to rectify this at Welford Road against Sale in Round 11. 

The final game of the weekend was at Kingsholm and it was a huge bottom of the table clash between Gloucester and Worcester... both teams had a lot to prove and it was always going to be a dogged affair. The main selection news before kick-off was that Nigel Davies had picked Billy Twelvetrees to start at 10 in place of Freddie Burns, whose future certainly is a little uncertain. They say that preparation is key and a 30 minute delay due to a broken cross bar isn't really ideal... however we were in the West Country therefore a tractor was on hand to help rectify the situation!!!! The match itself was an arm wrestle from start to finish; it was tense and played with a huge amount of heart and emotion. Both teams gave it absolutely everything that they had and more and Gloucester just managed to get away with the win. Their scrum was more solid than we have seen it in a long time and that old work horse Mike Tindall was absolutely everywhere. Worcester were bitterly unlucky... it was there for the taking and they just didn't quite finish the job. It was without a doubt their best performance of the season and they should take a lot from that however survival does seem quite a large ask given their situation at the bottom of the table.

So there you have it... this weekend has been one of the most eventual of the season so to date and after a couple of Christmas days we will be doing it all over again. Round 11 is jam packed with brilliant fixtures including a Big Game at Twickenham and a huge bottom of the table clash between Gloucester and London Irish. It has certainly been an outstanding competition to date and the great news is that we are not even half way through the Aviva Premiership season!!!