Aviva Premiership 13/14 season thread

Buer

So the awards dinner was last night. Mike Browne, unsurprisingly, won player of the season. Billy Vunipola won the young player and Mark McCall was coach of the year.

Team of the season: Mike Brown (Harlequins); Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby); Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints), Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby), Vereniki Goneva (Leicester Tigers); Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints), Danny Care (Harlequins); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Dave Ward (Harlequins), Logovi'i Mulipola (Leicester Tigers), Samu Manoa (Northampton Saints), Michael Paterson (Sale Sharks), Dan Braid (Sale Sharks), Jacques Burger (Saracens), Billy Vunipola (Saracens)

Interesting that, in a season where Saracens destroyed the field and finished with a record high points total, they only have two players in the team while Quins have four after barely scraping into the semi finals on the final day.

.ak

I suppose Sarries are the very definition of a good, well drilled team, but with few standout individuals.

ssaye2

http://www.thescore.ie/mark-mccall-director-saracens-award-1468744-May2014/

Grandpa Hassan

Craig Doyle and his enthusiasm does not belong on a rugby pitch

Grimebox

Northhampton steal it at the end!

sydneybound

Great game by all accounts.

irishbucsfan

Good game starting soon. A battle of two Irish coaches.

Sarries should win, but they should have won the semi-final last season as well.

I enjoy BT Sport's buildup, even if it is a bit cheesey with presenters trotting about the field chatting to everyone who will acknowledge them. I wonder if they'll be allowed transfer this to Europe next season.

irishbucsfan

Quins looking quite good out of the gate. Keeping the ball well. If they can keep that up they'll make it tough for Sarries to get into the game.


Looks like lots of fans are there... Lots of Harlequins fans..

danthefan

Fantastic refereeing.

irishbucsfan

Wow what a hit. Sinckler a bit lucky there, that was a borderline headbutt!

This is a great game so far in terms of intensity.

danthefan

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Wow what a hit. Sinckler a bit lucky there, that was a borderline headbutt!

This is a great game so far in terms of intensity.

Ahh cmon. His head has to go somewhere. He'd no intention of any dirty play.

Davei141

Aviva Premiership come play off time is serious entertainment.

irishbucsfan

danthefan wrote: »

Ahh cmon. His head has to go somewhere. He'd no intention of any dirty play.

It's still dangerous and illegal though to just charge into someone and smash your head into theirs. I agree he had no intent irrelevant as it is, and I don't think it should have been a penalty in this case because it was borderline, which is why I said he was lucky.

irishbucsfan

Harlequins doing exactly what they need to do on the ground, get all over the ball and stop Sarries building momentum.

I question whether they can do that for 80 minutes. Or if they can stay legal enough for it to work.

thomond2006

Please Quins, please win.

Davei141

Yellow for Saracens. If Quins stay close all match they might rattle Saracens like Northampton did to them last year.

irishbucsfan

Seemed a bit of a harsh call there to me, not so sure he went through 90.

matthew8

It seems merely lifting a player in a tackle is too much these days, and to be honest I don't see why players bother with it, even if they think they can do it legally.

irishbucsfan

matthew8 wrote: »

It seems merely lifting a player in a tackle is too much these days, and to be honest I don't see why players bother with it, even if they think they can do it legally.

Because if you hit a guy and it stops him without taking him down, it's the easiest and quickest way to get him to the ground.

Davei141

Yellow for that?? Deliberate knock on in Quinns half and Sarries down to 13.

irishbucsfan

Matt no catch good

Davei141

Try Quins!

irishbucsfan

Conor doesn't look massively happy talking to Kingston there. Maybe a bit bemused by Matthews' decision to step inside which was bizarre!

irishbucsfan

James Johnston left Quins for Sarries at the end of last season. The battle between him and Marler will be interesting.

matthew8

Scoring a try with 13 men. That is really good.

Davei141

Try Sarries! Embarrassing defence from Quins who get beaten by a ball thrown out wide by a team with 13 men.

irishbucsfan

Ah Quins, that's exactly what you can't do against Sarries if you want to beat them! Such a missed opportunity.

Davei141

Try Quins! Super stuff, what a match.

Tox56

Mike Brown makes his first unforced error for 11 months and 14 days

Davei141

Farrell having another off day with the boot.

matthew8

Try for Barritt. All Saracens this half so far.

matthew8

Quality kick from Farrell there. 21-17 despite Saracens missing 14 points off the tee.

Davei141

21-17 Sarries 58 mins gone. Momentum is all Sarries way.

matthew8

Could be another Saracens try!

Davei141

Looks like he is onside. Edit: Metre in front? I would like what that TMO is having.

matthew8

Off side called. Right call for me.

Davei141

Looked level to me. Quins are imploding so it might not matter anyway.

irishbucsfan

He was pretty clearly offside. A couple of season ago it would have stood though.

Bosch deserved something there after creating that break in the first place.

danthefan

Saracens are just strangling the life out of the game now. Their defence is so bloody organised, and starting to pick holes in Quins now. This game is only going one way imo.

matthew8

It was marginal, I thought marginally in front, but I thought they might just give him the benefit of the doubt.

Saracens through again and knock on. Harlequins have to do something fast or they'll be out of this match.

Davei141

Ash splash! Game over here.

matthew8

Ashton try. This is brilliant from Saracens. Very entertaining team. Bosch looks a really top quality player too.

sock puppet

Good work by the Wolfpack to set that up for the Try Machine.

Davei141

Saracens are rightly disliked for their off field stuff but I love watching them play rugby.

irishbucsfan

I hope Quins can pick up their play off the ball again to bring the contest back into the game. They're falling out of this very quickly.

matthew8

Saracens look an awful lot fresher than Quins. The only rugby their first team has had to play since Clermont has been an easy win at home to Worcester while Quins fought desperately for their place in the playoffs.

irishbucsfan

How dare Harlequins keep their best player on the pitch in the biggest game of the season!

Davei141

irishbucsfan wrote: »

How dare Harlequins keep their best player on the pitch in the biggest game of the season!

Well he is a liability in his current state.

matthew8

Nothing is going Quins way right now. Saracens make a mess at the base of the scrum and they manage to get one down at the 5 metre line.

irishbucsfan

Davei141 wrote: »

Well he is a liability in his current state.

Yeah, but the commentators made it sound as if he should be taken off for Stuart Lancaster's sake!

3 great players all go off at the same time there. Hopefully Borthwick is alright for the finals.