Looking back: Gallagher Premiership Round 18

Chiefs put Saints back away from home

Exeter’s 22-19 win over Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday now sees the Saints 10-points off the playoff spots with just three round robin games to come. The Chiefs, resting many big-name players, dealt the hosts a third loss in succession which all but rules them out of contention for a semi-final berth. They now sit in sixth with 41-points, the same amount as seventh-placed Gloucester.

Meanwhile, Rob Baxter’s side are far out in first with 68-points – 13 more than next-best Sale. In anticipation of the semi-finals, he can afford to manage his players smartly and fine tune some aspects of their game over the next few weeks.

Wasps crucially knock over Sarries at the Allianz 


An Owen Farrell red card helped Wasps overcome Saracens 28-18 at Allianz Park on Saturday. The win sees new coach Lee Blackett’s side maintain their standing in fourth place with crunch clashes against the Bears and Chiefs still to come. Wasps have just one point more than Bath in fifth and can ill-afford to put a foot wrong at this critical part of the season.

The loss was relegation-bound Saracens’ sixth, but their impending Champions Cup quarterfinal with Leinster has long been the focus of their season.

Farrell deserves lengthy ban


Much has already been made of Owen Farrell’s reckless challenge on Wasps’ Charlie Atkinson on the weekend, and rightly so. The England skipper’s technique has long been the subject of intense criticism and despite Saracens boss Mark McCall’s assurances that the 28-year-old has been working hard on his method, Saturday’s incident cannot go unpunished.

Farrell should cop a big ban which will rule him out of his side’s Champions Cup quarterfinal with Leinster in a fortnight. A massive blow for Sarries indeed, but that tackle was nothing short of appalling.

Round 18 results


Northampton Saints 19-22 Exeter Chiefs
Worcester Warriors 13-36 Bristol Bears
Gloucester 36-23 London Irish
Leicester Tigers 31-40 Sale Sharks
Harlequins 27- 41 Bath
Saracens 18-28 Wasps