After a tense start to the night in the tournament’s final group stage the Falcons and Leicester Tigers eventually separated themselves from the pack at the expense of London Welsh and Sale Sharks.
And the Falcons’ – led by captain Tom Catterick – were the stand-out unit, completing a clean sweep and joining fellow hosts Cardiff Blues, Gloucester Rugby and Northampton Saints for the finale on August 8.
The first three games were decided by five points of fewer as eventual qualifiers Newcastle and Leicester kicked off the night at Darlington Northern Echo Arena – Kingston Park out of action with the installation of a 3G surface.
The Tigers held a two-point lead heading into the break after Andy Bulumakau and George Catchpole’s converted scores, with Chris Harris and Andy Davies notching for the hosts.
When play resumed Catterick scythed through to put Newcastle into the lead for the first time and, after George Tresidder’s response, the Falcons skipper came to the rescue again to clinch it 26-21.
Relatively patient build up – for 7s rugby – got London Welsh the start they needed in the next game over Sale Sharks, Sam Egerton sniffing out the gap to cross over.
Sale had the better of it towards the end of the half through Nathan Fowles and Sam Bedlow, before speedster Jamel Chisholm (2) turned the game on its head for the Exiles, 15-14.
And two tight games were followed by another ultra-tense affair, Chris Levesley’s converted try handing Welsh a 7-5 lead at half-time after Bulumakau’s second effort of the night for Tigers.
Josh Fowles – who had pitched in with a try-saving tackle just before the break – then spliced the Welsh line to nose Geordan Murphy’s men in front, only for Will Hurrell to seize back the initiative for Welsh.
But with seconds remaining, Dan Rundle broke away to seal a 17-14 triumph for Leicester and prevent an early exit.
A second win for Falcons would see them place one foot into the Series Final and they made life easy for themselves early on, Simon Hammersley and Lee Smith surging over to open up a sizable gap over the Sharks.
Ben Morris put more daylight between the two teams before Brian Tuilagi – nephew of Manu – and Harris made things safe by 27-7, with Fowles’ score proving a mere consolation.
Tigers needed to beat Sale in the penultimate match of the evening to give them the advantage and they duly did so in a fine 31-12 display against the already-eliminated Sale.
England-Under 20s star Catchpole was among the scorers as Leicester also picked up a crucial bonus point.
That left Welsh with it all to do against group winners Falcons and the hosts made sure they finished the night on a high note, Chris Harris and Tom Wilson both crossing in a 14-5 win.
Attendance: 7,057
Leicester Tigers 21 Newcastle Falcons 26
London Welsh 15 Sale Sharks 14
London Welsh 14 Leicester Tigers 17
Newcastle Falcons 27 Sale Sharks 7
Leicester Tigers 31 Sale Sharks 12
London Welsh 5 Newcastle Falcons 14
Premiership Rugby 7s Series
Series Final – Friday 8 August – Twickenham Stoop
For tickets to all events click here
Article source: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/simon-thomas-worst-welsh-rugby-7415418
Premiership Rugby 7s: Falcons and Tigers complete Series Final
No comments:
Post a Comment