Premiership
Premiership Round 15 Team of the Week: Ciaran Donoghue dazzles in Prem debut
By Charlie Elliott
The Premiership’s 15th round took place over the weekend, as the intensity rose and teams either rose to the occasion or wilted under pressure.
Bath confirmed their place as table-toppers, following a bonus-point win over Newcastle Falcons at The Rec, but Gloucester stole all the headlines with 79 points scored against a helpless Exeter Chiefs side.
Not only was it a big statement, but it now takes them up to fifth and within one point of the top four.
Sale Sharks marched on with a solid 25-7 win over Saracens, who now face a huge uphill battle to qualify for the playoffs.
Here is the Team of the Week from yet another great weekend of Prem rugby.
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Outside Backs
15 Santi Carreras (Gloucester)
Gloucester annihilated Exeter Chiefs 79-17 at Kingsholm to bring themselves within touching distance of the top four.
Carreras put in a stunning performance from fullback and showed why he was courted by table toppers Bath, who he is set to join next season.
He put Exeter to the sword with electrifying breaks and kept it up throughout his 60-minute stint.
With the ball in hand, he was unstoppable, and although he missed a couple of conversions, he can be forgiven following an outstanding match.
MOTM in such a convincing win, he simply could not miss out.
14 Adam Radwan (Leicester Tigers)
Hat-trick hero Radwan was too hot to handle at Welford Road, as Tigers battered Harlequins 40-7.
Both wingers were heavily involved for Michael Cheika‘s side, as Ollie Hassell-Collins also bagged a brace, as they managed to spread play out wide effectively across the whole 80 minutes and get the wide men plenty of touches on the ball.
There was always a player there at Newcastle Falcons, but now he is getting proper service, and he is really strutting his stuff.
His third try was definitely his best, as he weaved in and out of defenders to run 40 metres and slide over.
11 Arron Reed (Sale Sharks)
Sale put in a statement performance at home to Saracens, beating Mark McCall’s side 25-7 following an electric first half.
Easily the moment of the match was Reed’s try of the season contender.
He ran about 90 metres with the ball, took on three defenders using his pace and agility and sprinted over the line to send the home crowd into bedlam.
Aside from that brilliant moment, he was solid on both sides of the ball, mucking in defensively whilst also trying to make breaks with his pace.
He and Tom Roebuck have really struck a good partnership of late, and Sale are now well and truly in top-four contention after this one.
Centres
13 Cam Redpath (Bath)
Bath got exactly what they needed at The Rec and showed their quality over lowly Newcastle Falcons, with a 55-19 bonus point win being enough to confirm their place at the top of the table going into the playoffs, with three games to spare.
Redpath was extremely solid at 13, and while he may not steal the headlines, he kept things ticking to a great degree.
Used as the first receiver multiple times, he kept managing to pick the right pass to Ciaran Donoghue, as well as being handy in defence.
A deserved try right at the death capped off a very good game, as Redpath found a gap and ran from halfway to dot down.
12 Seb Atkinson (Gloucester)
Atkinson and Chris Harris seem to work so well together in the midfield and complement each other’s play styles very well.
The former was slick in Gloucester’s huge win over Exeter, putting in a firm shift that included a brace of tries.
A very intelligent player who knows how and where to find gaps, his two scores came from just that.
Halfbacks
10 Ciaran Donoghue (Bath)
What a breakout season it has been for the 22-year-old, and this really felt like a performance that was a sign of things to come.
In his first Prem start, he ran the show, and there was no dip in intensity despite Finn Russell not playing.
Just a minute and a half into the game, he started as he meant to go on, with a stunning try to open the scoring, for which he took on multiple defenders and showed a great turn of pace.
Overall, his decision-making was top-notch, with the passing and control shown being akin to someone who had been in the league for a decade, not someone who was making his first start.
He ghosted past defenders like they weren’t even there, with so many linebreaks that usually resulted in a stunning offload.
Outstanding.
9 Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints)
Northampton Saints put their recent Premiership woes aside and showed why they are the reigning champions, with a commanding 48-31 win over Bristol Bears.
Mitchell showed why many think he deserves a place on the Lions tour this summer, with a dominant showing.
Scored a brilliant solo try that really got his side going, but generally looked to keep things quick and take advantage of Bristol‘s defensive frailties.
Managed to beat defenders on countless occasions.
Front Row
1 Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks)
Rodd is such a classy player and did exactly what was required of him against Sarries.
Won a few scrum penalties against a team who have had a few injuries at tighthead and was generally very good on the ball too.
Made crucial metres that got his side up the pitch, put in some huge hits and made a nuisance of himself, Rodd can be very happy with how he played.
Only one try conceded all game sums up just how good the whole Sharks defence were, with Rodd being a representation of that.
2 Jack Singleton (Gloucester)
Got a hat trick in ten minutes after coming on as a sub, enough said.
Snuck around from the back of a maul a couple of times as well as finishing on the wing in the style of a seasoned winger.
Really got in on the action and didn’t let standards slip despite the huge lead that the Cherry and Whites had, which is very commendable.
3 Will Stuart (Bath)
Adam Brocklebank will have nightmares of Stuart after being taught a lesson at scrum time.
The tighthead is a Rolls-Royce prop, always trying to get his hands on the ball and make powerful runs forward.
Crucial yards were made by virtue of pure power alone, which disrupted the Falcons defence countless times.
An outstanding first tackle early on set the stool out for the way that Johann van Graan’s side were going to approach the game, and they never let up.
Second Row
4 Quinn Roux (Bath)
The forwards version of Cam Redpath’s performance, Roux did the basics to such a high level and held together a stout defence that was scarcely breached.
He put in the hard work with some fine tackles and work rate at the breakdown and put in the graft that his back players profited from.
Showed a surprising burst of pace to run over for a rare score in the 44th minute.
5 Freddie Thomas (Gloucester)
Ran well with the ball and had some lovely offloads to match.
Disrupted Chiefs with some powerful play and was a big influence of keeping the attack fluid.
Solid from set pieces and did the basics well, but really it was his attacking work that made him stand out this week.
Back Row
6 Josh Kemeny (Northampton Saints)
It looked like Kemeny was playing about three positions, because he was absolutely everywhere for Saints.
Used his pace very well to take on defenders and get round them, worked hard and put in a big shift defensively.
You cannot ask more from a flanker than that, and if a few of the Saints’ backs hadn’t been so good, he would easily have been a contender for MOTM.
7 Sam Underhill (Bath)
Underhill had a slow start and got an early yellow card for a high tackle, which seemingly woke him up as he came back a different beast from the player who started the game.
He was so good around the breakdown and really made his presence felt, as well as putting in some outstanding tackles.
Benefitted from some Donoghue brilliance to score the crucial bonus point try.
8 Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks)
All of Sale’s back row were extremely solid and put in the hard yards in such a massive win, JLdP, in many ways, represents a joint effort alongside Tom Curry and Ernst van Rhyn.
Made a fair few tackles and worked hard at the breakdown, not allowing Saracens any breathing space.
Mark McCall’s side really struggled to make any inroads, mostly down to the hard work of the back row.
