PASA Rugby
Academy Player
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- Sep 30, 2021
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A Licence to Thrill
With epic comebacks, games going down to the last kick of the match and the game of the season so far, the Premiership was given a licence to thrill in the week that 007's latest film was released to much fanfare.
Here's our Bond-inspired review of Round 4 of the Gallagher Premiership.
With the Little N' Large BT Sport punditry duo of Bayfield and Healey, convening at The Stoop for a rerun of last season's historic Play-off semi final, the opening game of the weekend was truly given a licence to thrill. And boy did it deliver. The Bears headed to The Stoop on the prowl for Harlequins blood to shake off the spectre of their Premiership semi-final defeat. They came out of the blocks like a Bond villain hunting for his unwitting victim and were rewarded with almost a point a minute, up 21 points to nothing in under half an hour with tries for Joe Joyce, Henry Purdy and Charles Piutau, all converted by the Bears' Callum Sheedy.
After a swashbuckling start of rugby of the highest order, Quins were shaken and then, stirred. Stirred into superhero action, they responded with a Louis (great name) Lynagh try before the interval to set up a Hollywood second half. We expected big things. The BT Sport crew bigged it up and boy, did it deliver. Eight tries (yes, eight). Forty five unanswered points and one yellow card.
If that wasn't enough for the headline writers, the tries included a first Premiership try for Will Collier, at the one hundred and thirty fifth time of asking. In pure Bond style, he threw the Bears a scent with a deft dummy and darted for the line. History was made as he broke the longest ever run in the league without scoring a try. If that wasn't enough, the second half also saw an individual try of the highest order thanks to the ever-promising Marcus Smith, who spotted a gap, kicked, and darted through like an Aston Martin squeezing through the tightest of gaps in a high speed chase. Sensational stuff and a blockbuster opener to the weekend, worthy of the Friday nights under the lights.
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