2GS The Sunday Times June 5, 2022 17Rees-Zammit touches down
DAVID ROGERSoutstanding Fijian was given a magnif-
icent ovation. It is also wonderful to
see the Saints back up there. They
were the first English club to truly get
to grips with professionalism. And
when they are depowered the whole
of the English club game tends to miss
them. They will, though, have to win
two colossal battles to take the title.
Star man Tommy Freeman.
Northampton: Tries Matavesi 2 (8min, 22), Coles
(18), Mitchell (32), Freeman 3 (40, 62, 67),
Hutchinson (59), Skosan (73), Ludlam (78). Cons
Biggar 6. Pen Biggar Newcastle: Tries: Chick
(27min), Blamire (53), Radwan (56), penalty try
(46). Cons Hodgson 2.
Northampton Saints G Furbank; M Proctor,
F Dingwall (T James 51min), R Hutchinson,
T Freeman, D Biggar, Mitchell (sin-bin 47; C
Skosan 57); A Waller (E Iyogun 57), S Matavesi
(M Haywood 57), P Hill (E Painter 21); A Coles
(B Nansen 67), A Ratuniyarawa (D Ribbans 61);
C Lawes, A Hinkley (J Augustus 57), L Ludlam.
Newcastle Falcons A Tait, A Radwan, M Orlando
(W Haydon-Wood 58), L Burrell (G Wacokecoke),
M Carreras; J Hodgson, C Nordli-Kelemeti (J
Blackett 76); A Brocklebank (L Mulipola), G
McGuigan (J Blamire 51), T Davison (C Kenny 58),
G Peterson (sin-bin 40, S Robinson (sent off 59); G
Graham (C Fearns), J Basham, C Chick (capt), G
Peterson.
Referee K Dickson.PW D L F A B Pts
Leicester 24 20 0 4 726 452 14 94
Saracens 24 17 1 6 769 509 17 87
Harlequins 24 15 0 9 647 554 20 80
Northampton 24 14 0 10 764 639 19 75
Gloucester 24 13 1 10 685 525 19 73
Sale 24 12 3 9 559 495 14 70
Exeter 24 13 0 11 584 534 17 69
London Irish 24 9 5 10 660 666 17 63
Wasps 24 11 1 12 614 600 14 60
Bristol 24 8 0 16 573 718 16 48
Worcester 24 6 1 17 451 814 9 35
Newcastle 24 6 1 17 436 660 8 34
Bath 24 5 1 18 461 763 10 34A record crowd of 14,876 at Sandy
Park saw Exeter finish their season
in style by beating Harlequins
47-38 in a 13-try thriller. Despite
being guaranteed a finishing spot
of third, Quins still fielded a full-
strength line-up before next
week’s semi-final at Saracens, but
on this occasion they just lost out
to determined Chiefs.
However, even with the bonus
point, Exeter still finished seventh
in the Premiership table, the first
time they have missed out on a
play-off spot since 2015.
Sale marked the departures of
South Africa duo Faf De Klerk and
Lood De Jager in perfect fashion
as they recorded a 42-19 win over
Bristol at the AJ Bell Stadium.
De Klerk has become a Sale
favourite, turning out
consistently-excellent
performances over the past five
years, while De Jager has been a
man mountain whenever he has
been on the pitch.HOW THEY FINISHED
THE REGULAR SEASONA season of turmoil for one of
England’s jaded giants
ended with a day of
humiliation as a second-
half hat-trick by Worcester
full-back Jamie Shillcock left
Bath bottom of the
Premiership pile.
That Bath, former
champions of Europe
and one of the most
acclaimed sides of the
late amateur era,
should find themselves
in a final-day tussle at
Worcester was sorry
enough for the fans.
That they conceded
33 second-half points
was proof of their
frailty.Leicester Tigers finished top of the
Gallagher Premiership to earn a
home semi-final play-off against
arch-rivals Northampton Saints
next weekend but this was a
stuttering performance against a
combative Wasps side who were
trying to achieve the double over
their Midlands neighbours.
As so often this season Leicester
were indebted to the assurance and
passing skills of George Ford, who
guided them to victory, and he will
be badly missed when he moves to
Sale Sharks. It wasn’t a flawless
Ford performance but he delivered
when it mattered most.
Finishing first is a significant
achievement for Steve Borthwick,
who has masterminded the revival
of Leicester since taking over as
head coach in February 2020. They
are now two wins away from a first
league title in nine years, although
Borthwick knows this was far from
the level of performance that will
be needed over the next two weeks.
Leicester, who finished unbeaten
at home in the league, exploited
early hesitancy in the Wasps
defence and their centre Guy Porter
was able to brush aside two weak
tackles. He rounded the covering
Paolo Odogwu to score under the
posts. Ford converted.With Ford, below, winning the
early kicking duel and Freddie
Steward dealing with the high ball,
it appeared only a matter of time
before the hosts added to their
score. However, Wasps started to
make things uncomfortable for
their neighbours, refusing to take a
backward step at the scrum and
competing hard at the breakdown.
Josh Bassett suddenly broke out
of his own 22 and raced 50 metres
until being dragged down. The
home side were indebted to Matías
Moroni’s tackle on Odogwu that
halted his progress towards the
line.
Leicester were making errors
under pressure and Wasps cleverly
put Odgowu into space but the
tryscoring chance was lost when
Sam Spink knocked on. A Ford
penalty flew wide to limit
Leicester’s lead to seven points atthe interval. A Jimmy Gopperth
penalty early in the second half was
a warning to the home side, who
were finding Dan Robson, the
scrum half, difficult to shackle. It
took until the start of the final
quarter for Leicester to settle their
nerves with Ford and Moroni
combining to put Steward in for a
try that Ford converted. Taking the
pragmatic view, Ford then kicked a
penalty that proved timely as
Bassett then surged away and fed
the supporting Will Porter, who
scored. Charlie Atkinson added the
conversion. Wasps took the chance
to make it a tense finale for
Leicester, who repelled several
attacks and then turned to Ford
when another penalty was
awarded.
He stepped up to ensure a ten-
point winning margin and allow
Leicester to prepare for the play-
offs with some confidence,
although Borthwick will be far from
happy with the performance.Star man George Ford (Leicester Tigers).
Scorers: Leicester: Tries Porter (3min), Steward
(62) Con Ford 2 Pen Ford 2 Wasps: Try Porter (69)
Con Atkinson Pen Gopperth.
Leicester Tigers F Steward; C Ashton (F Burns
54), M Moroni, G Porter (N Nadolo 70), H Potter; G
Ford, B Youngs (J Van Poortvliet 58); E Genge (c)
(N Leatigaga 61), C Clare (L Cowan-Dickie 74), D
Cole (W Hurd 66), O Chessum, C Green (H Wells
54), G Martin (T Reffell 64), H Liebenberg, J Wiese.
Wasps A Crossdale (R Miller 68); P Odogwu, S
Spink (M Fekitoa 61), J Gopperth, J Bassett; C
Atkinson, D Robson (W Porter 67); T West (R Hislop
66), G Oghre (D Frost 57), B Alo (E Millar-Mills 57),
J Launchbury (c) (V Fifita 68), J Gaskell, B Shields
(A Barbeary 49), J Willis, T Willis.
Attendance 21,722.
Referee C Maxwell-Keys.Ford steers Leicester to home semi-final
Chris JonesShillcock
hat-trick
caps season
of misery for
woeful Bath
Tom BradshawFor Worcester, a club seemingly in
a state of perpetual rebuilding, it was
an afternoon of euphoria as they ran
in a total of six tries and waved off
retiring director Alan Solomons in
style. Steve Diamond, his successor,
will have appreciated the backbone
Worcester showed as they came back
from a 10-19 half-time deficit.
There was no relegation riding on
this encounter, due to Premiership
Rugby’s hotly debated current freeze
on demotion, but the preservation of
egos was certainly at stake.
In a season in which they have had
more chairmen than away wins,
Bath’s ego has been battered. There
have been defeats on the grandest of
scales, and off-field U-turns hardly
conducive to harmony.
The ten-try thumping at
Gloucester; home defeats of 71-17 and
64-7 to Saracens and Leinster
respectively; and now this. For
owner Bruce Craig, who has
pumped millions in since
buying the club in 2010, the
return on investment must be
galling.
Yet there
have been
positives, too.
Alongside
the loyalty
of fans there has been
the emergence of home-
grown talent.
Lock forward Ewan
Richards and backs Max
Ojomoh, Tom de Glanville
and Orlando Bailey areyoungsters who have stood tall.
Ojomoh showed slippery guile, while
Bailey clipped through a deft kick for
Bath’s first.
Worcester began purposefully,
with route-one rugby yielding a try
for flanker Kyle Hatherell. But apart
from five points from Fin Smith, the
rest of the first half was Bath’s. Aided
by the sin-binning of Worcester
captain Ted Hill, Bath scored three
tries. Soft defending allowed Will
Muir a second, and defensive
misalignment allowed Will Stuart to
cross from 30 metres out.
Then came Worcester’s second-
half carnival, with Duhan van der
Merwe producing moments of world-
class dexterity. A yellow card for Bath
captain Charlie Ewels for a high hit
encapsulated the visitors’ decline.
Johann van Graan will arrive as
Bath’s head coach on July 1. The club
the South African will arrive at has
gone from the silver spoon to the
wooden spoon, and the route back to
silverware promises to be arduous.Star man Jamie Shillcock (Worcester).
Scorers: Worcester: Tries Hatherell (4min),
Simpson (44), Shillcock (52, 55, 76), Batley (61).
Cons Smith 5. Pen Smith (31). Bath: Tries Muir
(20, 23), Stuart (33), Dunn (49). Cons Bailey 2. Pen
Bailey 47.
Worcester Warriors J Shillcock; P Humphreys, F
Venter (A Hearle 65min), A Beck, D van der Merwe;
F Smith, G Simpson (W Chudley 70); R Sutherland
(E Waller 65), N Annett (I Miller 72), C Judge (M
McCallum 65), J Batley (A Kitchener 70),
G Kitchener, K Hatherell, S Lewis (T Dodd 65), T
Hill (sin-bin 21).
Bath T de Glanville; J Cokanasiga, J Joseph, M
Ojomoh, W Muir (G Hamer-Webb 63); O Bailey, B
Spencer (M Green 78); B Obano (V Morozov 63), T
Dunn (J du Toit 60), W Stuart (M Fia 72), E Richards
(M Williams 68), C Ewels (sin-bin 58), J Coetzee (M
Reid 54), S Underhill, T Faletau.
Referee A Woodthorpe.
Attendance 7,173.WORCESTER WARRIORS 43
BATH 27
LEICESTER TIGERS 20
WASPS 10
cut the gap to ten points at Franklin’s
Gardens. They couldn’t, could they?
Nope. It was out of Gloucester’s
hands but what they could do, they
did, scoring another catch-and-drive
try; replacement Santiago Socino
scoring a hooking hat-trick. On the
hour, Malins scored for Saracens but
the fans pointed out the 36-26
scoreline in Northampton.
Rees-Zammit sprinted clear for a
seventh try before back row
replacement Jack Clement added an
eighth. It was turning into an
unforgettable lesson as Gloucester
passed 50 points. But so too had
Northampton. The brief hope
dashed, Gloucester can look forward
to next season. Saracens will replace
boys with men and await Harlequins.
The hammering they took in
Gloucester will have no bearing on
next week. Next Saturday is only
about the here and now.
Star man Jordy Reid (Gloucester).
Scoring sequence: Gloucester: Tries
Singleton 2 (8, 43), Reid (18), Carreras (31),
Thorley (49), Socino (57), Rees-Zammit (67),
Clement (70). Cons Hastings (7) Saracens: Try
Malins (59). Con Vunipola
Gloucester S Carreras; L Rees-Zammit, C Harris (B
Twelvetrees 71min), G Kveseladze, O Thorley (J
May 55); A Hastings, B Meehan (C Chapman 71); V
Rapava-Ruskin (H Elrington 52), J Singleton (S
Socino 53), K Gotovtsev (F Balmain 76); F Clarke,
M Alemanno (A Davidson 76); J Reid, L Ludlow
(capt), R Ackermann.
Saracens E Obatoyinbo; M Malins (J Hallett 62), A
Lozowski, D Taylor, B Harris; M Vunipola, I van Zyl
(R De Haas 61); E Mawi (R Adams-Hale 50), K
Pifeleti (T Dan 58), A Clarey (S Wainwright 58); C
Hunter-Hill, T Swinson (sin-bin 44; C Boon 68); J
Wray (capt), T Knight, J Venter (S Reffell 52).
Referee W Barnes.Shillcock’s treble set
up Worcester’s winFord delivered when it mattered
most as Leicester sealed top spot