Nobody really cares about the Anglo-Welsh Cup at the best of times, but after a Six Nations weekend like the one we’ve just had, talking about England and Wales’ domestic trophy generates the same feeling as watching a One Direction tribute band perform in a shed whilst Led Zepplin are playing a one-off reunion show at Wembley next door. Nevertheless, let’s brush over the results and see who’s through to the semi finals of the LV (which apparently stands for Low Value – or so I’m led to believe by supporters of big teams who didn’t make it through the group stage)...
Exeter Chiefs 28 – 19
Northampton Saints
Chiefs came away with a solid win in the LV= Cup, knocking
out Saints in the process, but they just missed the semi-final cut themselves. Exeter ran in three tries in the opening 26
minutes through Ben White, Jack Nowell and Watisoni Votu as they opened up a
22-0 lead which proved to be unassailable, despite Saints replying through Alex
Waller and Lee Dickson, who grabbed a brace.
Ignacio Mieres’ boot kept Exeter’s score board ticking over to claim the
win, but they were just pipped to top spot in their group by Harlequins.
Ospreys 12 – 16 Harlequins
Quins claimed a hardfought victory in a cagey match when they
visited the Ospreys on Sunday. The men
from Richmond scored the only try of the game through centre Matt Hopper, with
his midfield partner Ben Botica slotting the rest of his side’s points, whilst
Matthew Morgan’s boot was the sole provider of the Osprey’s tally. The win sees Harlequins grab a semi-final
spot and remain, along with Saracens, on course for the treble.
Despite the absence of various internationals, local derbies are always good to watch and, in this case, especially for Bath fans as they took West Country bragging rights after thumping Gloucester on their own patch, securing a semi-final spot in the process. A tight first half saw the scores locked at 5 apiece as the visitors’ unconverted score by Olly Woodburn was cancelled out by an effort from Huia Edmonds, but Bath randomly decided to cut loose in the second half with four tries from full-back Nick Abendanon, Matt Gilbert, Semesa Rokoduguni and Kiwi Stephen Donald to make it a bit of a disastrous afternoon for the Cherry and Whites.
The Dragons claimed an easy victory over Welsh in a dead
rubber game at the Kassam Stadium, scoring tries through Hallam Amos, Ieuan
Jones and Jevon Groves while Steffan Jones chipped in with a handy 27-point
haul from the boot.
A not-inexperienced Tigers side was hammered in a bizarre
game at Parc Y Scarlets, despite leading 19 – 15 at halftime through a penalty
try and touchdowns from Thomas Waldrom and Andy Forsyth, with all the Scarlets’
points coming from the boot of Owen Williams – who ended up kicking 7
penalties. Leicester were just 2 points
down with just over 10 minutes to go before Andy Fenby, Gareth Owen and Nic
Reynolds all crossed the line to claim a big win for the region, although the game itself was a dead rubber. However, it's worth watching the highlights just to witness Geordan Murphy's monumental mess-up at the end - you'd think, at about 63 years old, he'd have learnt to play to the referees whistle...
Cardiff Blues 10 – 6 London
Irish
Blues ran out victors against Irish on Friday night in a game which was about as thrilling as a documentary on shoelaces, largely due to the Arms Park pitch resembling a public baths. Centre Gavin Evans scored the only try of the night, with Rhys Patchell kicking the rest of their points, whilst Irish’s lowly 6 were courtesy of the boot of Tom Homer.
Saracens edged out Worcester in a tense affair at Sixways
after taking the lead in the second minute through Ernst Joubert, who scored
their only try. Saracens relied on the
newly-discovered goal kicking skills of Ben Spencer to keep their noses in
front after Worcester responded with tries from Blair Cowan and Josh Drauniniu. The win sees Sarries sneak through to the
semi-finals to keep their hopes on securing the treble alive.
A little gem of a game that slipped by as attention was
diverted to Twickenham. Danny Cipirani
played reasonably which should, as usual, lead to calls from armchair fans for
Jordan’s ex-boyfriend to replace Farrell immediately in the England set up as
the new ‘saviour’ of English rugby.
Wasps were leading at half time by 2 points following a try by Charlie
Hayter, with the rest of the points coming from the boot of Stephen Jones, despite
Sale scoring two tries of their own courtesy of a penalty try and a
contribution from Kearnan Myall.
However, 2 yellow cards at the opening of the second half to scrum half
Charlie Davis and Will Taylor put Wasps under pressure and whilst they were in
the naughty boy bin the Sharks managed to score 3 tries through Sam Tuitupou ,
Tommy Taylor and Cipriani to put themselves out of sight. Wasps rallied through tries from Davis and
Sam Jones but Sale held on to secure a semi final spot and a little bit of form
going into the business end of the season.
So the semi final lineup has now been confirmed and, once
again, the Welsh teams are conspicuous by their absence...
LV=CUP – Semi
Final Line-up
Bath v Harlequins
(09.03.2013)
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