Saturday Round-Up

Foley Loses Opener: Munster head coach Anthony Foley got his reign off to a terrible start last night as his side went down to the narrowest of losses, losing 14-13 at the hands of Edinburgh. The visitors to Thomond Park were in command of the encounter from start to finish and brought an added physicality their hosts simply failed to match, barring the best efforts of South African back rower CJ Stander. Poor ball retention littered the opening half from a Munster perspective and allowed the visitors prime turnover ball, from which they established a 6 point lead courtesy of two penalties from late replacement flyhalf Tom Heathcote. After two scores in the opening ten minutes, it was not until the 38th minute that we next saw the scoreboard get ticking, when Stander bust through the would be tackler to find his way across the whitewash. All this after Tomas Leonardi saw yellow for what was deemed a tip tackle on winger Simon Zebo, despite the Irishman jumping into the tackle somewhat. Nonetheless, it was Edinburgh who continued to stretch their lead in the second half, with a well taken score by Jack Cuthbert who latched onto a perfectly weighted chip in behind to open up a significant advantage for his side. Despite staging a fightback in the final quarter, aided by yet another Edinburgh yellow card, Munster left it too late and a final minute penalty from Ian Keatley drifted wide as the men from Limerick get their domestic campaign off to a losing start.

Saints smash Gloucester: Northampton Saints fans were in joyous mood on Friday night, as they witnessed their side dismantle Gloucester in a 53-6 opening day victory. A dominant display in the opening half set the platform for a hugely impressive victory for Jim Mallinder’s win, a victory which saw no less than 8 tries notched up. Welsh winger George North was the star of the show in terms of tries, with the Welshman grabbing the first of his hat-trick in the 22nd minute, after benefitting from some good work from the likes of Courtney Lawes and Tom Wood. George Pisi then crossed to extend the hosts’ lead before North went over in the final play of the opening 40 to seal a 24-6 advantage at the interval, with the West Country outfit only able to manage two penalty attempts in response, In complete control, Saints continued in similar fashion in the second half, with tries coming for the likes of Burrell, Fotuali’i and Fisher, along with a final score for Lions winger North. Much to work on from a Gloucester perspective but an ideal start from Saints who march straight to the summit of the Aviva Premiership.

Ryan Sheady