Rugby:London Irish, with former outhalf Ian Humphreys making his first start for the Exiles, climbed off the foot of the English Premiership with their first win in four attempts as they defeated fourth-placed Bath 29-22. It was not a contest likely to live forever in the memory but Irish coach Brian Smith would have taken any victory after three defeats in which they shipped over 40 points each time.
The kicking contest was won by Irish centre Steve Shingler who landed 19 of his side’s points, with five penalties and the conversions of Halani Aulika and Jonathan Joseph’s tries. Bath’s only touchdown was from wing Kyle Eastmond while Olly Barkley, playing his last away game for his club prior to his move to French outfit Racing Metro, landed five penalties and a conversion.
Two tries from Luther Burrell saw Northampton power to four wins out of four, but Worcester stormed back to collect two points with four tries in a barely believable 37-31 win for the Saints. Tries from Vasily Artemyev, Courtney Lawes and Mike Haywood saw Northampton secure the five points with less than an hour gone. They then took their foot off the gas as Worcester ran in four tries in the final quarter to grab a very unlikely losing bonus.
Gloucester recorded their first home win since February after outhalf Freddie Burns ran the show for them against Wasps at Kingsholm. The young England prospect booted 19 points, including conversions of both Gloucester tries by wing James Simpson-Daniel and flanker Sione Kalamafoni, as Gloucester recorded a 29-22 win.
Wasps left the west country with a losing bonus point after centre Eliot Daly’s quality try, 11 points for outhalf Stephen Jones and penalties by fullback Tommy Bell and substitute Nicky Robinson. It was the Londoners’ third defeat in four starts this season. Gloucester, though, will head to newly-promoted London Welsh next weekend having lost just once.
And while the home side laboured at times, they ultimately had too much cohesion for a Wasps side that only fleetingly brought their try-machine wings Tom Varndell and Christian Wade into the contest.
Simpson-Daniel provided the game’s highlight through a jinking solo score that showcased the 30-year-old’s renowned finishing skills at their finest. And it helped his team rediscover a winning formula on home soil following successive league defeats against Exeter, Newcastle and Sale Sharks last term, and Northampton in this season’s opener.
