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Varndell breaks record in Bristol mauling, Bath snatch victory
By Peter Thompson
Tom Varndell became the Premiership's record try-scorer but Bristol were hammered 42-8 by Harlequins, and Rhys Priestland's last-gasp penalty gave Bath a dramatic win over Northampton Saints.
Varndell equalled Mark Cueto's record tally of 90 top-flight tries last month and broke new ground when he went over 18 minutes in at Ashton Gate, but the wing was unable to continue after taking a knock when touching down.
That proved to be the only try the bottom side could muster as Quins ran riot in the West Country, scoring four of their five tries in the second half to move up to fifth spot.
PIC: The moment @Tom_Varndell became @premrugby's leading try scorer of all time (via @jmpuk_sport). #BRIvHAR pic.twitter.com/ciXy5faKW3
— Bristol Rugby (@Bristol_RFC) February 10, 2017
Joe Marchant dotted down under the posts after only two minutes and eight points from the boot of Ruaridh Jackson gave the London club a slender 13-8 half-time advantage.
Quins ran away with it following the interval, with Mark Reddish, Charlie Mulchrone, Matt Hopper and James Chisholm adding five-pointers to keep sorry Bristol at the foot of the table.
Bath are up to third after Priestland held his nerve under pressure right at the end to snatch a 32-30 victory at The Rec.
Semesa Rokoduguni marked his 100th Bath appearance with a 48th try for the club, sandwiched between a Paul Grant score and a penalty try, but Saints came storming back with tries from Ben Foden, Api Ratuniyarawa and Jamie Gibson after going 22-9 down early in the second half.
Fly-half Priestland had the final say, nailing the decisive penalty just after missing from the tee to ensure Saints slip down to sixth.
Sale Sharks claimed their first Premiership win since October by edging out Newcastle Falcons 26-24 despite a hat-trick from Vereniki Goneva, who was also sin-binned in the first half.
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i think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
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