Rugby Union

[JD2168]

Northampton have set new records for the biggest winning margin & biggest home win after beating Gloucester 90-0. It is also Gloucester’s biggest league defeat.

Billy Vunipola has been given a formal warning by the Rugby Football Union following his drunken arrest in Majorca.

Leinster will face Toulouse in the Champions Cup final.

 

[Silenos]

Northampton have set new records for the biggest winning margin & biggest home win after beating Gloucester 90-0. It is also Gloucester’s biggest league defeat.

Saints are so impressive this season, but 90-0? That goes beyond a mere thrashing, to more like abuse…

 

[Hadders]

Northampton have set new records for the biggest winning margin & biggest home win after beating Gloucester 90-0. It is also Gloucester’s biggest league defeat.

I’m a Saints season ticket holder. Gloucester were fielding a ‘weakened’ team but the most impressive part for me was denying Gloucester a single point.

 

[75A]

Northampton were relegated from the Premier League in 2007 and in their one season in the Championshipt they regularly had some huge wins, the best was beating Sedgley Park 91-3 in January 2008, as Max Boyce would say: 'I was there'.

 

[Hadders]

Northampton were relegated from the Premier League in 2007 and in their one season in the Championshipt they regularly had some huge wins, the best was beating Sedgley Park 91-3 in January 2008, as Max Boyce would say: 'I was there'.

It was 96-3 I was also there!

IIRC Saints were 3-0 down at one point.

Saints went through the 2007-8 season unbeaten winning National One (as it was then called) by a record margin and the EDF Trophy.

 

[75A]

Thanks Hadders, your memory is better than mine. Didn't Chris Ashton get a record amount of tries that season?

 

[Hadders]

Thanks Hadders, your memory is better than mine. Didn't Chris Ashton get a record amount of tries that season?

He did indeed. In the last match of the season against Launceston he needed something like 7 tries to break the record. The team were passing the ball to him after they’d crossed the line so he could touch it down.

Happy days!

 

[75A]

Funnily enough my Wife has just reminded me of that.

 

[1D54]

Northampton have set new records for the biggest winning margin & biggest home win after beating Gloucester 90-0. It is also Gloucester’s biggest league defeat.

Not quite a record score though in the Premiership which stands at Bedford 12-106 Richmond back in 1999.

 

[Hadders]

I actually felt (a tiny bit) sorry for Gloucester. While you can only play what's in front of you, and Gloucester had made 12 changes ahead of their European Challenge Cup Final in two weeks time, a thumping like this doesn't help anyone.

From a Saints point of view I was more pleased to see that we didn't concede a single point.

Good times being a Saints supporter at the moment.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gallagher English Premiership

Saracens 10 ... Sale Sharks 20

Rather a surprising away win for Sale who led 10-3 at half time and held their nerve in the second half. Two goalkickers of note on opposite sides in Farrell and Ford. This 18th and final league match of the season sees Sale in third place and Saracens in fourth place. Only Sale's low number of bonus points stopped them even having a higher league place finish, as only Northampton Saints and Sale had won as many as 12 of the 18 matches played.

 

[Hadders]

Premiership Rugby Semi Final

Northampton Saints 22 Saracens 20

An excellent win for Saints in front of a capacity crowd at Franklin's Gardens to reach their first Grand Final since 2014. Tickets booked for next week's final

 

[Hadders]

Premiership Rugby Final

Northampton Saints 25 Bath 21

My nerves are shred to pieces as Saints laboured to overcome a tenacious Bath side who were reduced to 14 men following a red card after 20 minutes.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gallagher Premiership

Sale Sharks 43 ... Newcastle Falcons 10

The Friday match was no real test for Sale, as was expected to be the case and at half-time they led 28-3. The second half saw much of the same, with Sale winning the try count 6 to 1 and this was their third win in four matches.

Newcastle Falcons did not win a single league game all last season and have not won any league matches this season.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Has anyone any idea why Exeter Chiefs have lost all the first five Gallagher Premiership matches they have played in this new season?

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Rugby union side Newcastle Falcons finally ended their 25-game losing streak when they beat Exeter Chiefs 24-18 on Friday.

Rugby League side Newcastle Thunder have lost their last 21 games stretching back to the 2023 summer season (24 if you count cup ties).

Thus ends a joint 46-game losing streak between the two clubs sharing Kingston Park.

(Newcastle Blue Star used to play at Kingston Park until they vanished in 2008/09 - I saw Avenue there once live and once via a live stream. The revived club now play at Scotswood)

 

[Spamcan81]

Has anyone any idea why Exeter Chiefs have lost all the first five Gallagher Premiership matches they have played in this new season?

Their opponents scored more points?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gallagher English Premiership

Sale Sharks 39 ... Leicester Tigers 25

The Sunday match saw top-three Leicester on a run of form that had seen them win five of their first six league matches and would pose a real threat to Sale and the first half saw Sale with just a single point lead, 12-11, at half time. The second half was much more fluid and Sale won the try count 6 to 3.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gallagher English Premiership

Sale Sharks 28 ... Exeter Chiefs 10

The Salford Community Stadium saw two teams who have made a disappointing start to this season, compared with the form both showed in previous seasons. Sale led 14-3 at half time and kept up the pressure in the second half, winning the try count 4 to 1. This result shows Sale in 6th place with a game in hand of some of the nearby-placed team, but Exeter have now lost all seven league games played.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Dec 2024 ==

Gallagher Premiership

Bristol Bears 0 ... Sale Sharks 38

Bristol went into this Friday night match as a top two side, but the Sale defence held firm and Sale scored two tries in each half. This was Bristol Bears worst defeat for quite a number of years.

 

[Harvester]

Six Nations - France 43 Wales 0. Wales were well beaten this evening by very good French side.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Anyone got any predictions for the Winning Country this year.

I think I fancy France - if the correct team turns up

They made an excellent start on Friday night, scoring seven unanswered tries against Wales.

 

[Harpo]

Wales seem to be on track for the prestigious Cuilliere En Bois.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

This afternoon sees eight matches in the Premiership Rugby Cup. With some of the top sides having players in their nation's six-nations squads, will there be an upset?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Premiership Rugby Cup

Saracens 17 ... Ealing Trailfinders 33

Seems like a likely candidate

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gallagher English Premiership

Newcastle Falcons 15 ... Sale Sharks 39

This Friday meeting between the two northern-area Premiership teams was noted by Sale yet again proving to be the stronger of the two sides and they established a 10-27 half-time scoreline. George Ford has a good match, kicking 14 points and also setting up two tries for Sale, who won the try count 5 to 2.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gallagher English Premiership

Sale Sharks 27 ... Northampton Saints 24

This Friday meeting between two mid-table sides was as hard as expected. Sale led 17-12 at half-time but the match ended with just three points between the teams, who scored four tries each.

The win takes Sale to fourth place, before any Saturday results are known.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Gallagher English Premiership

Harlequins 29 ... Sale Sharks 43

Both teams were mindful of the approaching play-offs and open rugby was to the fore. Sale led 26-15 at half time and held their nerve in the second half. Sale won the try count 7-4.

With other teams results still to be known, Sale are in 3rd place and Harlequins are in 7th place.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Apr 2025 ==

Gallagher English Premiership

Sale Sharks 25 ... Saracens 7

Sale were strong in their first-half matchplay and led 22-7 at half time. The only second-half score was a converted Sale penalty.

Sale won the try count 3 to 1, with George Ford scoring his first try for Dale.

 

[Hadders]

Investec Champions Cup Semi Final

Leinster 34 ... Northampton Saints 37

Saints shocked Leinester in an all time classic match at Dublin's Aviva Stadium. No-one gave Saints a hope in the build up to the match, given Leinster players make up almost all of the irish national team, but on the day Saints overpowered their opponents in every area of the game. Saints now go on to pay Bordeaux in the final at Cardiff's Principality Stadium in three weeks time.

 

[UP13]

Reminds me of the 2007 World Cup, when the England v France match was dubbed the semi nobody expected. This will be the final that nobody expected.

 

[JamesT]

England Women kicked off the 2025 World Cup by putting 11 tries past the USA in a 69-7 victory.
The USA were closer than the scoreline suggests, but couldn’t turn pressure and possession into chances. I think a telling example was where they knocked on in the 22, England picked up the ball and ran to the other end of the pitch to score.
The crowd of 42,723 in Sunderland was larger than the final in 2022, and more than the total across the whole of the 2017 tournament.

 

[Harpo]

England Women kicked off the 2025 World Cup by putting 11 tries past the USA in a 69-7 victory.

What a blast. After decades following rugby I prefer the womens’ game. It’s the game I used to love, a running ball-in-hand game that isn’t dominated by kick tennis, static gym-dweller scrums and football-esque penalty celebrations. Crack on ladies.