1) How will Northampton replace Toulon-bound Manoa?
As Northampton reflected on another away victory against a potential title rival and a year in which they won the Premiership and remain its strongest side, one question recurs: how will they replace Samu Manoa, who is joining Toulon in the summer on a four-year contract? The No8 scored one try and created another to help his side overcome Harlequins’ monopoly of possession, physical and dextrous. Manoa was virtually unknown when he joined the Saints from San Francisco in 2011 but has established himself as one of the English game’s leading players, which is why he was offered a deal worth a reported £625,000 a year by the European champions. The Saints were some way short of their best against Quins, missing Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes in the scrum and lineout, but armed with a player who does the work of two, they again made light of going down to 14 men. Paul Rees
• Harlequins 25-30 Northampton
2) Should Gloucester have needed Fisher’s rocket?
If you were a Gloucester fan you might start to yearn for the days of Blakeway or Teague – not as cosmopolitan as the current squad but unlikely to need any motivating to respond after a record home defeat by Bath. It would be too reductive to blame Gloucester’s travails these days on the dilution by professionalism of their tribal culture. Rugby players are proud and passionate wherever they come from and whomever they play for but human nature is complex too. On the surface of it the insight John Afoa, the proud All Black, allowed to scenes in the Gloucester dressing room at half-time, when the Australian coach Lawrie Fisher had to tear into his charges, do not sit comfortably with Gloucester’s great tradition. “Lawrie did light up a bit,” he said. “The guys responded to it. They were taken aback by his response. The boys haven’t seen him like that.”
Gloucester did respond, not that winning the second half 9-6 represented a devastating rejoinder, but there are too many obvious questions to ask about why it took a surprisingly irate Aussie to elicit it. The answers to those questions are probably what Gloucester really need now. Michael Aylwin
• Gloucester 23-30 Wasps
3) Tom May invites his own trial by Twitter
Could this be the first instance in professional rugby history of a red-carded player actively seeking to convene his case in the court of social media before a disciplinary panel has been assembled? Dan Leo, sent off for retaliating to an elbow thrown by London Welsh’s Tom May, has invited Twitter users to judge whether his fate was justified and posted several tweets complaining at the injustice of the referee Greg Garner’s decision. “Some @premrugby referees are disgraceful,” read the first message. “Red for receiving an elbow to the face. Not the kind of card you want for Christmas.” He also raises an entirely legitimate point: why should a player who responds to being struck in the face in time-honoured fashion be sent off when those who ‘dive’ in an effort to sway the referee escape punishment?
“Next time I’ll just take a dive like Matt Smith v Dylan Hartley,” complained Leo, referring to Hartley’s dismissal in the Northampton v Leicester game before Christmas. “Falling to the ground and milking a red card should never be encouraged in rugby. No more than being elbowed in the face should be accepted.” Robert Kitson
• London Irish 24-9 London Welsh
4) Gridlock sells Sale’s fans short
Sale are playing some of the best rugby in the Premiership at present. With more composure at the end they could well have beaten Leicester rather than ending up 32-30 losers. Now besides adding some steely thinking to their team, Sale officials will be engrossed in yet more talks over how to solve the traffic congestion caused by big crowds heading for the AJ Bell Stadium. Saturday’s attendance of 11,247 was the largest for a Premiership game at the stadium, which is situated near the city’s main shopping complex – The Trafford Centre – and just off the busy motorway system.
A new relief road is being built and a traffic management system has resolved some of the difficulties when crowds are relatively small. However, the queues on Saturday were evidently caused by once-a-season spectators not giving themselves enough time to overcome the shopping traffic and clogged entry road to the stadium. Some spectators did not make their seats until near half-time when Sale had played their best rugby and to lead 25-15 at the interval. Rob Wildman
• Sale 30-32 Leicester
5) Ease of Bath’s Plan B looks ominous for their rivals
Bath may not yet be the team with everything but they are getting there. After spending 50-plus minutes on Saturday trying in vain to shred Exeter with attacks from under their own posts (there were almost as many errors as line breaks, hence the 14-14 scoreline) Bath switched to Plan B and the forwards took the game by the scruff, notably with a 30-metre rolling maul for a third try that signalled they were starting to take the game away from their west country neighbours. Northampton will be looking over their shoulders going into 2015. Mike Averis
• Bath 31-14 Exeter
6) Ambitious Falcons have the crowds flocking back to their home nest
It was cold enough in Newcastle on Saturday to freeze the assets of the petrified Earl Grey, high up on his monument overlooking the city centre. At Kingston Park the mercury dipped to one degree above zero and yet Newcastle succeeded in attracting a crowd of 9,192 for the visit of Saracens – their highest attendance since a 10,200 full house for the visit of Wasps on 7 May 2008. Average gates in the Falcons’ home nest have dipped to 5,000 in recent seasons and there were fears not long ago for the future of top-flight rugby in the Premiership’s most northerly outpost. However, the bright brand of rugby being played by Dean Richards’ ambitious team on their new 3G pitch is starting to fill up Kingston Park again.. “We’re on a journey and we’re getting there – maybe a little bit quicker than we anticipated,” Richards, Newcastle’s director of rugby, said. “Our goal is to be in the top six/top four, year in, year out. I’m not saying we’ll do it this season but what we are doing is being competitive.” Simon Turnbull
• Newcastle 23-25 Saracens
7) Ospreys lead the way in six-way fight for semis
Ospreys head the Pro12 table going into the new year after the Christmas round of derbies but they apologised to their supporters after hanging on to beat the Scarlets 17-15 at the Liberty Stadium. Glasgow are a point behind them after beating Edinburgh by 10 points while Munster are third after recording a season’s double over Leinster with Ulster, unconvincing winners over Connacht in Belfast, filling the other play-off position. It looks no more than a six-team fight for the semi-final places with the Scarlets adrift in seventh and Cardiff Blues recovering from a home defeat by Newport Gwent Dragons. Treviso are off the mark after an away victory over Zebre but the two Italian teams are propping up the table and whoever wins the return fixture will probably qualify for the Champions Cup. Paul Rees
• Cardiff 17-23 Newport Dragons
