Rugby Union: When Tries Become Too Many

When do lots of tries become too many tries?

There was so much to enjoy in Northampton's play in the record 94-33 demolition of Bristol on Friday evening, but this was an embarrassing result for the Bears and not a great look for the league.

Attack is king in the game at the moment - whether because of laws, coaching, officiating or conditions, or a combination of all of the above.

Even in international rugby, where matches are traditionally tighter and cagier, tries have been scored by the bucketload, with France's final two Six Nations matches high-scoring thrillers which would have captivated supporters both casual and hardcore.

But points for the sake of it misses the, well, point. Tries are great, but the beauty of rugby union is the balance of all the various facets of the game, defence included.

Many neutral fans - if not most - would prefer a low-scoring contest where the result is in the balance, over a high-scoring blowout where the outcome is settled after 30 minutes – as was the case at the Gardens.

What was even more peculiar about Bristol's capitulation was how much they had riding on the game. This was not something that can be explained by a lack of promotion and relegation.

Bottom-placed Newcastle, meanwhile, have now shipped 764 points in their 16 matches, an average of just short of 50 points a game.

Next season cannot come soon enough for the Red Bulls, while the Bears simply must win against bitter rivals Bath next round to stay in the play-off hunt.

Given the number of one-sided thrashings across the league this season, Harlequins supporters would have feared the worst when the classy Wallaby Len Ikitau crashed over for Exeter just after the half-hour mark to extend their lead to 24-7.

Play-off chasing Chiefs had the try bonus point in the bag and the full five match points seemed a formality, especially given Quins' morale-sapping campaign.

But, inspired by more than 35,000 loyal supporters at Allianz Stadium, Quins launched a remarkable comeback, bagging 34 unanswered points to bring the feel-good factor back to TW1 and right some of the wrongs from their meek Big Game defeat at Christmas.

At the heart of the Quins rearguard were captain Alex Dombrandt, whose form has merited a call-up back into the England squad, and fly-half Marcus Smith, who steered his side maturely in the second half.

Quins head coach Jason Gilmour revealed afterwards that Smith had been the driving force behind a half-time strategic shift which saw them kick longer for territory, with Gilmour praising Smith's ability to dictate the gameplan and change tactical course.

Game management has not always been the strongest part of Smith's game – it is where George Ford and Fin Smith have had the edge over him when it comes to wearing the England number 10 shirt – but the nature of his performance would not have gone unnoticed by Steve Borthwick.