Premiership round 4 review

Bath (Lost 22-29 to London Irish)
The West country boys couldn’t get into the game for most of the match against a much improved Exiles’ defence.
When they did, they put them on the back foot but couldn’t come up with the goods. Olly Barkley showed once again how important he is to the team with his perfect boot and he will be missed once he’s gone to Racing Metro after the next game against Sale where they will have to bounce back.
Exeter (beat Saracens 14-12)
What a reaction after their shock loss to London Welsh last week. In horrendous weather condition, they had to roll their sleeves up in defence and managed to keep Saracens, who threw everything at them, at bay.
Ignacio Mieres was superb with the boot to pin Sarries back in their own half while they showed great tactical awareness to score that vital try.
The perfect start for a tough (to say the least!) run of games which will see them take on Leicester, Quins, Leinster and Clermont in the next four weeks.
Gloucester (best Wasps 29-22)
The Cherry and Whites wanted to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat at Kingsholm and they went back to basics to earn their success.
Freddie Burns ran the show well while the forwards did a tremendous amount of work constantly picking the ball up off the ruck to generate quick ball and run through the middle.
They should have put the game to bed and not allow Wasps to get back into the game but it was all about the win.
Harlequins (beat Leicester 22-9)
Last year, they went and beat Sarries at Wembley to set a marker just a few weeks before the Premiership play-offs. Well on Saturday, the Champions went and did the same at Welford Road off all places.
It wasn’t the best team or performance from Leicester but this Quins team means business. They strangled the Tigers at the breakdown and in defence while being very opportunist in attack to take most of the points on offer including a trademark try by Tom Williams (two runners attacking the same channel and offloading to send a third one behind the try line).
They are running high and the next game against Saracens on Sunday promises to be a cracker.
Leicester (lost 9-22 to Harlequins)
The most prolific try-scoring team in the land had to settle for 18 points (six penalties) in the last two games but there’s no need to panic just yet. Poor displays happen even to the best of team. Nothing has been lost or won this weekend, the Tigers will battle for the title once again, they always do.
Having said that, without Thomas Waldrom and Manu Tuilagi, they seriously lacked some forward running to put them on the front foot where they are so dangerous. They couldn’t generate quick ball and were too lateral to cause any trouble to Quins.
Their last 20 minutes were encouraging though, they’ll need more of this next week against the Chiefs.

London Irish (beat Bath 29-22)
After three defeats in the opening rounds, it was going to be a big test of character for the Exiles. But they stood tall and got that first win to finally get their season going.
They dominated at the breakdown for most of the game while their reinvigorated defence kept Bath honest all game. Steven Shingler was superb with the boot while new signing Ian Humphreys steered the team well around the park for his first game in the green jersey.
Can they confirm at Worcester on Friday?
London Wasps (lost 22-29 to Gloucester)
Wasps seems to be in two minds right now. Last week, they showed they can be well organised and devastating when they bring their big ball carriers (Haskell, Johnson, Masi) into the game to unleash the speedsters out wide.
It was obvious they were looking to do the same against Gloucester but it seemed they forgot that, to unleash their runners, they need to work hard at the breakdown to generate quick ball. There’s no point having two or three runners at first receiver or outside Stephen Jones is you concede a turnover because you don’t commit to the ruck.
They did it better in the second half and there’s no doubt Dai Young will focus on this before they travel to Northampton on Friday.
London Welsh (beat Sale 29-19)
After the first couple of game against the Tigers and Quins, you would have thought their moral would be at the lowest. But they went back to the drawing board and analysed what it takes to play in the Premiership.
Since then, they are two from two and their success at Sale on Friday reminded everyone that the relegation battle might not be a one-horse race after all.
Their set piece is strong enough to provide a good platform and their devotion to the jersey makes them a challenge for anyone facing them in attack or defence.
Northampton (beat Worcester 37-31)
The Saints are the only unbeaten team with Quins left in the Premiership. Once again at Franllin’s Gardens, their huge pack provided the perfect platform for the backs to run at the Warriors defence with plenty of space to run into.
However, the way they switched off in the last 20 minutes to concede four tries and nearly lost the game wouldn’t have pleased Jim Mallinder.
They are looking good when they play though and if they can keep it up for 80 minutes, they’ll be a challenge for any team.

Sale (lost 19-29 to London Welsh)
The Sharks are in a dark place right now. Tipped by some to be in the Top 4 comes the end of the season, they still haven’t won and have a single point to their name after four games.
It’s hard to put your finger on it but something is not working. There is no passion/urgency in their performances.
Forwards coach Steve Scott has been sacked yesterday as a result of it and they now face an already vital trip for the rest of their season to Bath on Saturday.
Saracens (lost 12-14 to Exeter)
As usual, they did really well in defence and, in these conditions, you would have thought the game was theirs to take. But they couldn’t put their hands on the ball in the first half and found themselves lucky to still be in the game at the break.
But in the second half, we saw the “new” Saracens. They threw the ball around and played with the ball in hand to try to move that big Chiefs’ pack. Unfortunately, they couldn’t break the deadlock and had to suffer their first loss of the season.
It was very refreshing to see them attack in that way despite the weather though. More of the same please.
Worcester (lost 31-37 to Northampton)
The Warriors knew they had a tough task facing them and struggled for the first hour. But once they got into the game, they created opportunities and scored tries.
Richard Hill told us this week they are devoted to that new approach of playing an attacking rugby and it paid off already with eight tries in four games (they scored 23 in 22 games last season).
But you just feel that a win is needed to prove it wasn’t all in vain. Could it be on Friday against London Irish?