Guinness Round-Up

This is the first Guinness Premiership Rugby round-up which I will now do every Monday, so look out for them, it saves watching Craig Doyle on ITV4.

There were three Friday night games this week, which may have caught some fans out, but if it did then they didn't miss much. Sale Sharks continued their excellent start to the season in beating Gloucester at home by 23 points to nine. Their dominant defence has now not conceded a try for four games (320 minutes), a Premiership record.

They also managed to triple their try count for the season as stand-in skipper, Sebastien 'The Caveman' Chabal crossed the white-wash along with former Wasps and Leeds flyer, David Doherty.

Although it may not be the most exciting rugby being played in the world, it is getting results for Sale and this win put them top of the league as the only remaining undefeated team.

Mr Reliable

Up in the North-East Jonny Wilkinson kicked Newcastle to their second win of the season, a mark some thought they wouldn't reach by Christmas. But the pre-season relegation favourites have proved the doubters wrong, tries from John Rudd and Adam Balding capped off a good win against Bristol.

Wilkinson has a 100% kicking record so far this season and his two conversions and penalty took him back ahead of Andy Goode as the all time leading Premiership points scorer.

For Bristol, the season couldn't have started any worse, rooted to the foot of the table with just one losing bonus point. They must beat Saracens at home on Wednesday if they want to avoid being left behind.

Stung Again

The last game on Friday night was a repeat of last year's Play-Off final and it produced the same result although by markedly different means.

London Wasps had suffered a dreadful early season, losing their first three, but this dogged win over unbeaten Leicester at Welford Road will give the whole club a real lift.

Jeremy Staunton was the hero for the London team as he didn't miss a kick, slotting five penalties, two drop-goals and the conversion of Damien Varley's try.The win lifts them to 10th and most importantly keeps them in touch with those ahead, another loss could have made the gap too big even at this early stage.

Leicester will soon have a complex when facing Wasps, after a Heineken Cup loss, a Premiership Final loss and back-to-back losses at the once impenetrable Welford Road.

They drop to third in the table and face Northampton mid-week. Wasps face Bath and could welcome back Danny Cipriani for the first time since his ball-breakingly nasty injury against the same opponents back in May.

We now finally come to some weekend fixtures which weren't played under the floodlights. And it seemed to make a vast difference to the quality of rugby.

Champagne Bath


Bath took apart Worcester with a dynamic and reckless performance at The Rec. The final score was 37-19 with the home side scoring five tries to record only the third winning bonus point in the league so far.

Bath coach Steve Meehan made a point of playing attacking rugby in an attempt to side-step the pitfalls of the ELVs.

"We must not be scared of going out and playing. We can't go into our shells, even if the ELVs can put you under a lot of pressure. The rewards of such an approach will outweigh the risks." He said.

Bath are now second and Worcester are languishing at the other end of the table with only Bristol between them and the prospect of League One rugby next year.

Care-less

In the game of the round, London Irish came from 20-8 behind to beat Quins 28-27 at the Stoop. Two Delon Armitage tries and a faultless display from Chris Hewat was enough for Irish to snatch a win from Dean Richard's grasp.

Both teams now sit mid-table, and the rugby they have played so far has made them two of the most exciting sides to watch.

Irish now have the task of taking on the Sale defence, while Quins face Worcester in mid-week.

Sarries march on

The final game saw Saracens beat new-boys Northampton 26-12 at Vicarage Road. Three penalties and a superb drop-goal from the half way line by Stephen Myler were not enough for Northampton as their discipline let them down in the second half.

Ben Foden's nightmare move to the Saints continued as the long-haired renegade who left Sale to get more time in a no.9 shirt was sin-binned only minutes after coming on as replacement. This ended any hopes of a comeback and they now face a tough trip away to Leicester.

Saracens look like they might challenge this year, and should have no problems overcoming Bristol on Wednesday.

Come back on Friday when I will review all the mid-week games, and look ahead to the weekend. This Monday slot is now regular though, so see you then.

Davis Cup relegation

Once again the dire state of British tennis was highlighted at the weekend, as the Davis Cup team went down meekly to a poor Austrian team, forcing their relegation to the Euro/Africa Zone.There is no need to say that Andy Murray is one of the world's best tennis players, ranked fourth in the world and a recent grand slam finalist he had little trouble winning his two rubbers.

But beyond that the men's game in this country is embarrassing. Alex Bogdanovic has always looked 'promising' but he is now 24 and has still not got past the first round of a grand slam, won a live Davis Cup game or broken into the top 100.

Andy's brother Jamie is a useful doubles player but by no means a world beater, a permanent teaming-up with Ross Hutchins could help though and give both players some top level practice and exposure.

Other than that there really is nothing, no-one, not even a glimmer of hope. And to make matters worse, the LTA refuse to admit the problem.

All about the kids

Crowds at the home-tie at Wimbledon at the weekend were extremely poor. Andy Murray is an amazing talent and the event should have been sold out, and if not, tickets for kids should have been issued, in fact an allocation should have been given anyway.

The team spirit in the camp was dreadful, every time there was a break the camera man had to go to the Austrian team as they were the only people in the stadium making any noise.

And as Murray pointed out Bogdanovic failed to get the crowd involved at all: "In both my matches I showed a lot of emotion and got the crowd involved.

"You have to take advantage of home support. It should be a huge advantage. That's why home teams win 82% of Davis Cup matches.

"The crowd in my match was very good. In Alex's match it looked as if a lot of people left and the atmosphere was not very good."

ATP Rankings

Basically it is a disaster all round, and it was not unexpected, the state of the game in this country has been awful for at least a decade with the strength in depth non existent.

Spain have five top 20 players (15 top 100), France have five top 30 (15 top 100) and Russia five top 40. GB have one player in the top 162, not quite the same.

Something needs to be done, and with most problems the first thing to do is admit there is a problem, something the LTA are having difficulty with.

Wasps drowning in Guinness

Played two, lost two. It makes sorry reading for defending champions Wasps, but that is the nature of the Guinness Premiership this season, no easy games.

However, there must still be an air of panic down at the training ground in Twyford, for these are the games that Wasps need to win if they want to be at Twickenham come next May.

They have a number of players who are going to be away on international duty soon, more than any other club, so while they have an almost full squad to call upon (bar Danny Cipriani) they must capitalise. They are not.

It has never been an easy league to win and with the end of season play-off system, it is all about pacing yourself, a skill Wasps have honed in recent years.

No outsiders

This year though, there are more teams challenging than ever before.

Sale, who are the only team to win the league and then go on to win the play-offs, have brought in quality like Dwayne Peel and Matthew Tait, to add to the majestic Luke McAlister and sprinkling of Gallic and Gaelic flair and grit elsewhere in the squad. And don't overlook Charlie 'the choker' Hogson to kill a game off with an hour remaining.

Gloucester and Bath both have gallons of potential, with delicately poised youth and experience combined. Although the Cherry Whites stole derby day honours at The Rec on Saturday both teams should expect to be top four come play-off time.

Although not as fancied as in previous years, Leicester Tigers are still a massive force in the game. The biggest club in the country is under new leadership, and if ex Falcon, Toby Flood can start dominating games then they will also be there or there abouts.

8-9-10

Normally the list then starts to fade, but not this season. London Irish, Saracens, Harlequins and even newly promoted Northampton all have squads and players capable to challenge.

The Nick Easter-Danny Care-Nick Evans axis at Quins is arguably the best in the league, and with Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick now at Saracens the Fez's will be no push over.

Worcester, Bristol and Newcastle, will be the three teams who I fear may struggle. Newcastle rely on Wilkinson far too much, and he is unlikely to play more than half a season. Bristol just don't have the players, and Worcester don't seem to have the consistency.

That leaves Wasps, who could finish anywhere from first to last. Inspirational one week, dreadful the next. Dallaglio leaving is definitely no excuse, and McGeechan will not allow it to be. Playing in Wycombe, although also no excuse, is still ridiculous. They must return to the capital if they want to capitalise on their quality.