Tag: Rugby

Former Leinster forward Dominic Ryan has been forced to call time on his career at the age of 28 due to his ongoing battle with concussion.

Ryan made 113 appearances for Leinster before joining Leicester Tigers last season. Leinster confirmed the news on their official Twitter account.

Speaking in the Irish Times, Ryan said: “It’s a weight off my shoulders…with a bit of distance I can see it was a no-brainer to retire. I can see now I was literally putting myself in harm’s way.”

Ryan won one cap for Ireland in 2014.

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Check out the highlights from Australia’s victory over South Africa in Brisbane.

Video credit: rugby.com.au

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Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has blamed individual errors for his side’s 23-18 defeat to the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

The Springboks were 15-7 up only for a a couple of bad mistakes to creep in to their game derailing their hopes of gaining a crucial away win.

Erasmus admitted that hooker Bongi Mbonambi, who was replaced after over-cooking a lineout that led to Matt Toomua’s game-changing try, was “struggling”.

“Bongi has not played a lot and you could see he was struggling,” Erasmus told Sport 24.

“You can ask the guys, the deal is everyone plays as long as he can and as soon as you start struggling, the sub comes on. I substituted my captain [Siya Kolisi] a few times during the June Tests.

“We tell the guys to empty the tank, see how far you can go and then we will bring the guy on the bench on and he will try to finish the match. It definitely was not for the overthrow because that was more a combination between Siya and the guys. It definitely wasn’t his fault.

“To gift 14 points on a platter to a team, you’re (always) going to struggle to win the game.

“I thought our mauling went very well compared to last weekend, the scrums were good in the first half, but then there were moments when we lost vital scrums and lineouts, so it was a mixed bag of different mistakes,” was Erasmus’ assessment of the match.

Having more than held their own in the opening stanza, the Boks faded away badly in terms of the possession and territory stakes in the second half.

“We were awful in the second half and played better in the opening half,” stated the Springbok mentor.

Erasmus admitted that facing the New Zealanders in their own backyard will be a daunting task: “We are playing the best team in the world, we’ve just lost two matches in a row so the pressure is on us.”

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Director of rugby Dean Richards rued his side’s slow start as Newcastle Falcons fell to a 49-33 Premiership defeat at Leicester Tigers on Saturday.

The Falcons shipped four tries inside the opening half-hour to give themselves a mountain to climb, winning the second half but having to make do with a four-try bonus point.

Richards said: “You just can’t give a team a head start like that in a league like this, and we were always going to pay for that.

“Big players made big errors, and even though we actually won the second half we still missed a boat-load of opportunities for further tries.

“We knew there was going to be a reaction from Leicester after everything that has gone on this week in terms of changing their head coach, but we didn’t go out there with the right intentions. We gave ourselves too much to do after that opening half-hour, by which time they were four tries up.

“There were so many opportunities out there for us to get out of it more than what we did, and we’re nowhere near satisfied with a bonus point. We should have had a penalty try, we missed a load of other chances but we’re not making excuses. The truth is that we just didn’t turn up at the start.”

Showing plenty of spirit during a second half in which they were the dominant force for long spells, Richards added: “At half-time we said it was quite easy to score tries against them, but the sad thing was it was even easier for them to score against us.

“The Premiership is a great competition and there’s simply no respite. Worcester away will be a tough game next weekend, but we’ll pick ourselves up and look to get that win.”

Fly-half Toby Flood, having played against his former club, echoed Richards’ frustration, saying: “I don’t think anyone in our team can honestly hold their hand up and say they had a good game – myself included.

“We made key errors, and lots of them. The most annoying thing was that during the times when we strung some phases together we scored tries quite easily, but we didn’t do it for anywhere near long enough.”

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Clermont, Lyon, Racing and Toulouse secured wins in Saturday’s Top 14 action, while Bordeaux’s game against Montpellier ended in a stalemate.

Results

Saturday
Bordeaux-Bègles 9-9 Montpellier
Toulouse 33-26 La Rochelle
Perpignan 16-22 Lyon
Racing 92 59-7 Agen
Clermont Auvergne 42-20 Stade Francais

Bordeaux-Bègles 9-9 Montpellier
Stade Chaban-Delmas

Johan Goosen kicked a late penalty as Montpellier went away from the Stade Chaban-Delmas with a creditable 9-9 draw against Bordeaux-Bègles.

It was a pretty turgid affair which rarely sparked into life and it was the respective kickers who came to the fore. Baptiste Serin was particularly prevalent in the opening period and gave Bordeaux a 6-0 buffer going into the latter stages of the half.

That was where the visitors gained a foothold and earned a penalty, which Ruan Pienaar converted, to reduce the deficit at the interval.

Serin restored UBB’s six-point buffer in the early stages of the second half after Bismarck du Plessis had been yellow carded, but Vern Cotter’s men began to control proceedings when the hooker returned.

Goosen added to their nerves via a three-pointer with 15 minutes remaining before the fly-half repeated the trick late on as the teams had to settle for a share of the spoils.

The scorers:

For Bordeaux:
Pens: Serin 3

For Montpellier:
Pens: Pienaar, Goosen 2
Yellow Cards: Fall, B Du Plessis

Bordeaux: 15 Romain Buros, 14 Eto Nabuli, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Ulupano Seuteni, 11 George Tilsley, 10 Brock James, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Afaesetiti Amosa, 7 Alexandre Roumat, 6 Mahamadou Diaby, 5 Cyril Cazeaux, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Florian Dufour, 1 Jefferson Poirot
Replacements: 16 Adrien Pelissie, 17 Thierry Paiva, 18 Cameron Woki, 19 Jandré Marais, 20 Jules Gimbert, 21 Nathan Decron, 22 Nicolas Plazy, 23 Lekso Kaulashvili

Montpellier: 15 Henry Immelman, 14 Vincent Martin, 13 Yvan Reilhac, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Benjamin Fall, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Kelian Galletier, 7 Wian Liebenberg, 6 Julien Bardy, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Konstantin Mikautadze, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Vincent Giudicelli, 1 Gregory Fichten
Replacements: 16 Bismarck Du Plessis, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Julien Ledevedec, 19 Kevin Kornath, 20 Julien Tomas, 21 Arthur Vincent, 22 Gabriel Ngandebe, 23 Antoine Guillamon

Referee: Ludovic Cayre
Assistant referees: Herve Lasausa Lespy Labaylette, Jacques De Lemos
TMO: Denis Grenouillet

Toulouse 33-26 La Rochelle
Stade Ernest-Wallon

A superb first half performance by the hosts laid the platform as Toulouse secured their second victory of the campaign after defeating struggling La Rochelle.

The visitors have looked a shadow of the team that were so impressive in 2016/17 and they found themselves 19-0 down going into the break.

Julian Marchand, Zack Holmes and Yoann Huget all crossed the whitewash to open up a comfortable buffer at the interval before Toulouse added to that score early in the second period.

Alban Placines touched down and by that stage their victory was effectively secured. Although Eliott Roudil responded for the visitors, Thomas Ramos restored Les Rouge et Noir’s 26-point buffer.

To La Rochelle’s credit, they didn’t cede and, after Roudil had touched down for his second try, Arthur Retiere’s quick-fire brace gave them hope of a losing bonus-point, but they could not force another score.

The scorers:

For Toulouse:
Tries: Marchand, Holmes, Huget, Placines, Ramos
Cons: Ramos 4

For La Rochelle:
Tries: Roudil 2, Retiere 2
Cons: West 3

Toulouse: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Maxime Mermoz, 12 Romain Ntamack, 11 Sofiane Guitoune, 10 Zack Holmes, 9 Sébastien Bézy, 8 Jerome Kaino, 7 François Cros, 6 Rynhard Elstadt, 5 Joe Tekori, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Charlie Faumuina, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Lucas Pointud
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Piula Fa’asalele, 19 Alban Placines, 20 Pierre Pages, 21 Pita Ahki, 22 Arthur Bonneval, 23 Dorian Aldegheri

La Rochelle: 15 Jeremy Sinzelle, 14 Arthur Retiere, 13 Brieuc Plessis-Couillaud, 12 Pierre Aguillon, 11 Marc Andreu, 10 Ihaia West, 9 Alexis Balès, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Lopeti Timani, 6 Kevin Gourdon, 5 Jone Qovu, 4 Romain Sazy, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Dany Priso
Replacements: 16 Hikairo Forbes, 17 Mike Corbel, 18 Mathieu Tanguy, 19 Zeno Kieft, 20 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 21 Jules Favre, 22 Eliott Roudil, 23 Arthur Joly

Referee: Maxime Chalon
Assistant referees: Julien Castaignede, Frederic Chazal
TMO: Akim Hadj-Bachir

Perpignan 16-22 Lyon
Stade Aime Giral

Perpignan succumbed to a third successive loss on their return to the Top 14 following a narrow defeat to one of last season’s top-six.

After a difficult first match at home, where they were thrashed by Stade Francais, Christian Lanta’s men appear to be finding their feet at this level and improved here, but it was not enough once again.

Lyon had the better of the first period, going 10-3 ahead via Dylan Cretin and Jonathan Wisniewski’s penalty, but the home side battled well.

Paddy Jackson kicked two penalties – the second after Xavier Mignot had been sin-binned – as they kept themselves in the contest at the break.

The newly-promoted outfit started the second period impressively, despite another Wisniewski effort off the tee, and Jean-Bernard Pujol rewarded their endeavour by crossing the whitewash.

Jackson then took Perpignan ahead for the first time in the match but the visiting fly-half put the game in the balance once more. The match was level going into the final quarter but Lyon pulled away as Wisniewski kicked two late three-pointers to snatch the win.

The scorers:

For Perpignan:
Try: Pujol
Con: Jackson
Pens: Jackson 3

For Lyon:
Try: Cretin
Con: Wisniewski
Pens: Wisniewski 5
Yellow Cards: Mignot, Kaabèche

Perpignan: 15 Enzo Selponi, 14 Jean-Bernard Pujol, 13 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 12 Sione Piukala, 11 Mathieu Acebes, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Tom Ecochard, 8 Genesis Mamea, 7 Alan Brazo, 6 Lucas Bachelier, 5 Berend Botha, 4 Tristan Labouteley, 3 Sylvain Charlet, 2 Seilala Lam, 1 Enzo Forletta
Replacements: 16 Raphael Carbou, 17 Yassine Boutemane, 18 Shahn Eru, 19 Mike Faleafa, 20 Sadek Deghmache, 21 Jonathan Bousquet, 22 Julien Farnoux, 23 Gert Muller

Lyon: 15 Charlie Ngatai, 14 Xavier Mignot, 13 Rudi Wulf, 12 Thibault Regard, 11 Noa Nakaitaci, 10 Jonathan Wisniewski, 9 Jonathan Pélissié, 8 Liam Gill, 7 Patrick Sobela, 6 Dylan Cretin, 5 Hendrik Roodt, 4 Felix Lambey, 3 Clement Ric, 2 Jeremie Maurouard, 1 Raphael Chaume
Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Hamza Kaabeche, 18 Etienne Oosthuizen, 19 Manuel Carizza, 20 Baptiste Couilloud, 21 Jean-Marc Doussain, 22 Toby Arnold, 23 Francisco Gomez Kodela

Referee: Jonathan Dufort
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset, Jean-Luc Rebollal
TMO: Patrick Dellac

Racing 92 59-7 Agen
U Arena

Racing provided an excellent response to last weekend’s heavy home defeat to Clermont Auvergne by thrashing Agen.

Against a side that conceded over 60 points in their last away game, the Parisians unsurprisingly dominated and almost reached the half-century by the interval.

Virimi Vakatawa set the hosts on their way before Donnacha Ryan increased their buffer. Although Nicolas Metge got a score back for the visitors, the home team continued to control the match and Louis Dupichot extended their advantage.

Vakatawa secured his brace and Joe Rokocoko then followed him over the line to make it 42-7. They could even afford a yellow card handed to Rokocoko as Racing increased their lead when Camille Chat barged across the whitewash.

The second period was far quieter but Simon Zebo and Dupichot did manage to score to complete a comfortable win, although they ended the match with 14 men after Rokocoko’s second yellow.

The scorers:

For Racing:
Tries: Vakatawa 2, Ryan, Dupichot 2, Le Roux, Rokocoko, Chat, Zebo
Cons: Russell 7
Red Card: Rokocoko (two yellows)

For Agen:
Tries: Metge
Con: Verdu

Racing: 15 Louis Dupichot, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Joe Rokocoko, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Teddy Iribaren, 8 Fabien Sanconnie, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Vasil Kakovin
Replacements: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Boris Palu, 19 Antonie Claassen, 20 Xavier Chauveau, 21 Ben Volavola, 22 Simon Zebo, 23 Cedate Gomes Sa

Agen: 15 Loris Tolot, 14 Nicolas Metge, 13 Julien Heriteau, 12 Tamaz Mchedlidze, 11 Benito Masilevu, 10 Leo Berdeu, 9 Hugo Verdu, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Jessy Jegerlhener, 6 Andres Zafra Tarazona, 5 Mickael De Marco, 4 Tom Murday, 3 Xerom Civil, 2 Marc Barthomeuf, 1 Giorgi Tetrashvili
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Morgan Phelipponneau, 18 Denis Marchois, 19 Loic Hocquet, 20 Lucas Rubio, 21 Thomas Vincent, 22 Clement Laporte, 23 Corentin Chabeaudie

Referee: Tual Trainini
Assistant referees: Vincent Blasco-Baque, Sebastien Hebert
TMO: Cedric Marchat

Clermont Auvergne 42-20 Stade Fracais
Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin

Clermont Auvergne made it three consecutive victories to start the campaign by overcoming Stade Francais at the Marcel Michelin.

It was a match between two rejuvenated clubs and they certainly produced the most entertaining first half of the day.

However, it took a while for the try-scoring action to start, with the boot dominating proceedings. Morgan Parra opened the game’s account with successive three-pointers before Jules Plisson reduced the deficit.

Camille Lopez kicked a drop-goal but Plisson’s second effort off the tee meant that Les Jaunards only held a 9-6 advantage. That was soon extended, though, when George Moala marked his debut by going over, leaving them 16-6 in front after 33 minutes.

Although Gael Fickou immediately responded for the Parisians, Clermont had found their rhythm and Morgan’s Parra try and conversion gave them a 10-point buffer at the interval.

Franck Azema’s men took that momentum into the second period and Wesley Fofana made Stade’s task even harder by crossing the whitewash.

After Tony Ensor was red carded, it ended the game as a contest and Moala and Judicael Cancoriet secured the bonus-point victory for the hosts, despite also being reduced to 14 men after Etienne Falgoux’s sin-binning. Stade then had the final word through Julien Delbouis but it was very much Auvergne’s evening.

The scorers:

For Clermont:
Tries: Moala 2, Parra, Fofana, Cancoriet
Cons: Lopez, Parra 2, Laidlaw
Pens: Parra 2
Drop-goal: Lopez
Yellow Card: Falgoux

For Stade:
Tries: Fickou, Delbouis
Cons: Plisson 2
Pens: Plisson 2
Red Card: Ensor

Clermont: 15 Isaia Toeava, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 George Moala, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Peceli Yato, 7 Alexandre Lapandry, 6 Judicael Cancoriet, 5 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 4 Arthur Iturria, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Loni Uhila
Replacements: 16 Yohan Beheregaray, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Damien Chouly, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 Patricio Fernandez, 22 Apisai Naqalevu, 23 Davit Zirakashvili

Stade: 15 Kylan Hamdaoui, 14 Waisea Nayacalevu, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Tony Ensor, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Clement Daguin, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Ryan Chapuis, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Paul Gabrillagues, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Remy Bonfils, 1 Heinke van der Merwe
Replacements: 16 Laurent Sempere, 17 Elias El Ansari, 18 Alexandre Flanquart, 19 Tala Gray, 20 Arthur Coville, 21 Morne Steyn, 22 Julien Delbouis, 23 Paul Alo-Emile

Referee: Laurent Cardona
Assistant referees: Cyril Lafon, Richard Duhau
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure

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Bath and Gloucester were forced to settle for a share of the spoils, while Exeter, Leicester and Saracens secured victories in England’s top-tier.

Wasps 31-42 Exeter

Exeter made it two Premiership bonus-point victories in a row to start the new campaign with a solid performance at Wasps keeping them atop the table.

Wasps led 24-21 at the interval following a thrilling first-half of Premiership rugby in Coventry, with each side crossing the line for three tries.

Elliot Daly got the hosts moving in the third minute with a try but nine minute later Santiago Cordero hit back for Exeter with a good finish.

Josh Bassett would make it 14-7 shortly after the restart before Exeter responded once again, this time Sam Simmonds powering over to make it 14-14 in a see-saw start to the game.

Henry Slade sliced through from 25 metres but Wasps fly-half Billy Searle’s penalty and a converted Nathan Hughes try sent his side in ahead.

Exeter turned the screw early in the second-half with another Simmonds try via the maul and an intercept score from Slade making it 35-24.

And they would have one final try to their name late on, with Don Armand powering over from close range as the Chiefs proved too strong.

The scorers:

For Wasps:
Tries: Daly, Bassett, Hughes, Robson
Cons: Daly, Searle 2, Sopoaga
Pen: Searle

For Exeter:
Tries: Cordero, S Simmonds 2, Slade 2, Armand
Cons: Steenson 6

Wasps: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Juan De Jongh, 12 Gaby Lovobalavu, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Joe Atkinson, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ben Harris
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Will Stuart, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Rob Miller

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Greg Holmes, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Toby Salmon, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Alex Cuthbert

Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Simon McConnell
Television match official: Trevor Fisher

Leicester 49-33 Newcastle

Manu Tuilagi scored an excellent individual try as Leicester Tigers’ first game under Geordan Murphy ended in a thrilling 49-33 triumph over Newcastle Falcons.

The Midlanders were superb early on and touched down four times in the opening 23 minutes, with George Ford, Jonny May, Adam Thompstone and the aforementioned Tuilagi going over.

Ford was also successful off the tee six times, kicking three conversions and penalties apiece, while Sonatane Takulua responded for the Falcons.

At that point, Dean Richards’ men were 32-7 in arrears but they did well to reduce the deficit via a couple of Vereniki Goneva tries.

May went over for his second on the stroke of half-time but Mark Wilson and Sami Mavinga efforts gave Newcastle hope in the second period. However, three further Ford penalties kept the visitors at arm’s length and meant that Murphy’s reign got off to an excellent start.

For Leicester:
Tries: Ford, May 2, Thompstone, Tuilagi
Cons: Ford 3
Pens: Ford 6
Yellow Card: Veainu

For Newcastle:
Tries: Takulua, Goneva 2, Wilson, Mavinga
Cons: Flood 4

Leicester: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 David Denton, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Mike Williams, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 David Feao, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Jordan Olowofela

Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Callum Chick, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Will Witty, 4 Calum Green, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Sami Mavinga
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Jack Payne, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Alex Tait

Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Wayne Falla
Television match official: Claire Hodnett

Saracens 44-23 Bristol

George Smith’s red card proved crucial as Saracens eventually secured a comfortable victory over newly-promoted Bristol at Allianz Park.

Wallabies legend Smith was sent off for a dangerous tackle with the scores level at 18-18 after the West Countrymen had given the champions a fright in the opening period.

Pat Lam’s men were excellent in the first half and, despite Matt Gallagher going over early on for the Londoners, the visitors moved 10-7 ahead thanks to Alapati Leiua’s try and Callum Sheedy’s penalty.

Sheedy extended their buffer before Farrell responded from the tee with successive three-pointers, but Bristol were playing some excellent rugby and Leiua rewarded their endeavour by crossing the whitewash.

However, Sarries increased the intensity in the second period, levelling matters via Alex Lewington. Smith was then red carded and the hosts duly completed a bonus-point victory through Billy Vunipola, who was returning from injury, and Liam Williams’ hat-trick.

Nick Haining did gain some consolation for Bristol but the red card ultimately hampered their chances in the second half.

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Gallagher, Lewington, B Vunipola, Williams 3
Cons: Farrell 4
Pens: Farrell 2

For Bristol:
Tries: Leiua 2, Haining
Cons: Sheedy
Pens: Sheedy 2
Red Card: Smith

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Matt Gallagher, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Liam Williams

Bristol: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Jack Lam, 7 George Smith, 6 Steve Luatua (c), 5 Joe Latta, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 Lewis Thiede, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jordan Lay
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 John Afoa, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Nick Haining, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Tom Pincus

Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady, Robert Warburton
Television match official: Stuart Terheege

Bath 31-31 Gloucester

On his return to the Rec, ex-Bath wing Matt Banahan went over with three minutes remaining as the West Country rivals were forced to settle for a draw.

Bath had produced a superb comeback and led 31-24 late on, despite being 21-0 in arrears at one stage, but Banahan, who departed the club in the summer after over a decade’s service, inevitably had the final say.

Buoyed by their excellent start against Northampton Saints last weekend, the Cherry and Whites began this contest confidently and dominated the match.

Once again, Danny Cipriani was orchestrating proceedings and Johan Ackermann’s men opened the scoring after 15 minutes. It was his son, Ruan, who got on the scoreboard, touching down from close range, before the back-rower notched a double after Cipriani found him with a superb pass.

Todd Blackadder’s outfit were evidently rocked and Callum Braley added to their woes, but Semesa Rokoduguni’s try at the end of the first half lifted spirits at the Rec.

Bath began the second period on the front foot and a mistake at the lineout allowed Tom Dunn to cross the whitewash before a nasty-looking injury to visiting wing Charlie Sharples halted the game for several minutes.

The hosts’ momentum could have stalled, but, if anything, their intensity increased and Dunn remarkably levelled matters with 16 minutes left.

Billy Twelvetrees and replacement Rhys Priestland then traded penalties, but Elliott Stooke went over in the latter stages and appeared to have completed an outstanding turnaround.

However, inside the final three minutes, Cipriani floated another excellent pass which gave Jason Woodward a chance to send Banahan across the whitewash. Twelvetrees converted as the teams went away with three points each.

For Bath:
Tries: Rokoduguni, Dunn 2, Stooke
Cons: Burns 2, Priestland 2
Pens: Priestland

For Gloucester:
Tries: Ackermann 2, Braley, Banahan
Cons: Twelvetrees 4
Pen: Twelvetrees

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Max Green, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Zach Mercer, 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Aled Brew

Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Mariano Galarza; 4 Ed Slater (c), 3 Fraser Balmain; 2 James Hanson, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Jake Polledri, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Tom Hudson

Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson, Roy Maybank
Television match official: Geoff Warren

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The Golden Lions scored 33 unanswered first-half points on their way to a 47-14 victory over the Free State Cheetahs in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Tries from Marvin Orie, Howard Mnisi, Hacjivah Dayimani and two apiece from Sylvian Mahuza and Shaun Reynolds proved too much for the visitors, who scored through Louis Fouche and Rudy Paige.

The Golden Lions began on the front foot, playing an attacking brand of running rugby and were rewarded with the game’s first try. Marvin Orie’s delightful offload freed up Howard Mnisi, who in turn fed Mahuza, the winger showing a brilliant stop-and-go to bamboozle his defender for the finish as Shaun Reynolds converted for the 7-0 lead after eight minutes.

Seven minutes later, the Free State Cheetahs were penalised for a deliberate knockdown and Reynolds kicked for the corner. The fly-half would go over after the ball went through a couple of phases from the lineout, converting his own score to make it 14-0.

Soon after, the hosts had their third try as Mahuza showed excellent pace and a neat sidestep to grab his second, beating two defenders in the process. The visitors were losing their structure on defence and the Golden Lions were running them ragged out wide.

It was becoming all too easy as first Orie went over after a good lineout and a good set. Then, Reynolds bagged his brace, after some poor tackling from the men from Bloemfontein. The hosts’ fly-half converted his fourth attempt from five to give the home side a 33-0 lead heading into the interval.

After the break, the away side showed some fight, applying pressure on the Golden Lions before and hitting back with two five-pointers. First, Fouche crossed the whitewash before captain Paige dotted down after a give-and-go with Ali Mgijima.

With five minutes to go, Mnisi got in on the act for the Golden Lions as he showed good awareness when not held in the tackle to get himself over the line as Reynolds converted.

Dayimani was not to be denied a try in the closing stages, adding to his impressive tally of five for the season Reynolds converted to cap off a 47-14 victory.

The scorers:

For Golden Lions:
Tries: Mahuza 2, Reynolds 2, Orie, Mnisi, Dayimani
Cons: Reynolds 6

For Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Fouche, Paige
Cons: Fouche 2

The teams:

Golden Lions: 15 Sylvian Mahuza, 14 Madosh Tambwe, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Howard Mnisi, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Shaun Reynolds, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Hacjivah Dayimani, 7 Len Massyn, 6 James Venter, 5 Marvin Orie (c), 4 Rhyno Herbst, 3 Jacobie Adriaanse, 2 Pieter Jansen, 1 Sti Sithole
Replacements: 16 Corne Fourie, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Stephen Bhasera, 19 Reinhard Nothnagel, 20 Vincent Tshituka, 21 Bradley Thain, 22 Wandisile Simelane

Free State Cheetahs: 15 Adriaan Carelse, 14 Ali Mgijima, 13 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Lloyd Greeff, 10 Louis Fouche, 9 Rudy Paige (c), 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Stephan Malan, 6 Abongile Nonkontwane, 5 Dennis Vissier, 4 Louis Conradie, 3 Gunther Janse van Vuuren, 2 Reincah Venter, 1 Kevin Stevens
Replacements: 16 Jannes Snyman, 17 Johan Kotze, 18 Luigy van Jaarsveld, 19 Nardus Erasmus, 20 Dian Badenhorst, 21 Vuyani Maqina, 22 Reinhart Erwee

Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys, Eduan Nel
Television match official: Lesego Legoete

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Sale Sharks responded from last week’s loss to Harlequins with a 21-15 Premiership win over Worcester Warriors at AJ Bell Stadium on Sunday.

First-half tries from Josh Beaumont and Denny Solomona saw them to the four points while AJ MacGinty slotted 11 points off the kicking tee.

For Worcester it was a game of two halves as they were poor in the first but scored two in the second through Bryce Heem and Chris Pennell.

Sale took the lead as early as the seventh minute thanks to a penalty from MacGinty, this coming after Francois Venter had strayed offside.

It was all the Sharks in the opening quarter and eventually the try came on 20 minutes as a poor pass out to wing Marland Yarde saw number eight Beaumont wrap around his team-mate for the crossing on the left wing. MacGinty could not add the extras but Sale were looking strong.

They almost added to their lead five minutes later but tighthead prop WillGriff John lost the ball over the line after a short-range carry.

However a further three points from MacGinty after Marco Mama came offside and then intercept try from Solomona saw Sale into an 18-0 lead.

To their credit Worcester finished the half strongly as they set up camp in the Sharks’ 22. But even 38 phases couldn’t result in any score.

Heem changed that in the 48th minute when he powered over Will Cliff from close range to cut the scoreline to 18-7 with plenty of time left.

Worcester scrum-half Jonny Arr came agonisingly close to doubling his side’s tally when he reached out for the post protector shortly after. However, referee JP Doyle adjudged him to have not made it so the Warriors had to settle for three points from Duncan Weir for an offside.

MacGinty did respond two minutes later from distance to make it 21-10 to Sale. But Worcester then continued their dominance of the second-half when Josh Adams’ superb offload after another 38-phase attack saw Pennell dive over on the right. The Warriors were now 21-15 adrift.

Sale though managed to hold on for the victory which is their first of the campaign while for Worcester it’s back-to-back league defeats.

The scorers:

For Sale:
Tries: Beaumont, Solomona
Con: MacGinty
Pens: MacGinty 3

For Worcester:
Tries: Heem, Pennell
Con: Weir
Pen: Weir

Sale: 15 Byron McGuigan, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 James Phillips, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 Alexandru Tarus, 18 Joe Jones, 19 George Nott, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Gus Warr, 21 Luke James, 23 Paolo Odogwu

Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 GJ van Velze (c), 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Marco Mama, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Pierce Phillips, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Ashley Beck

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Paul Dix
Television match official: Keith Lewis

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Check out the highlights from Round Four of the Mitre 10 Cup. 

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New Zealand have confirmed that both Brodie Retallick and Ngani Laumape have been ruled out of next week’s fixture against South Africa.

The duo came off injured in the 10th minute of the 46-24 win over Argentina, with Retallick having a shoulder issue and Laumape a knee complaint.

Lock Retallick is set to have a scan this week to determine the extent of his injury while centre Laumape is ruled out for “at least a couple of weeks”.

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen confirmed that Auckland second-row Patrick Tuipulotu has been called into the squad as cover for Retallick.

“Patrick will come in and Brodie will get scanned on Monday and then we’ll have a better idea how long he’ll be, but it could be a maximum six weeks,” he said.

“Hopefully that will be all. Minimum maybe three, so he’ll be out for a wee while. Ngani’s got grade-one ligament damage so he’ll be two to three weeks.”

It is likely that the All Blacks will bring Sam Whitelock back into their starting team alongside Scott Barrett in the second-row while Anton Lienert-Brown could earn a start at inside centre after impressing from the bench in recent matches.

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