Saracens style not enough

By Jason Harris
March 21 2003

Saracens style came second to Wasps guile as the Men in Black lost 42-31 in a hugely entertaining Zurich Premiership clash at Vicarage Road on Sunday.

Four spectacular scores from the home side were not enough to outdo the five - including a Simon Shaw hat-trick - that kept the Adams Park side in third place in the Zurich Premiership.

If this match were a beauty contest decided on the aesthetic splendour of the tries scored, Saracens would have taken the sash, bouquet and tiara while Wasps would have been heading homewards long before the swimwear parade. But though the ball was visible for only one of the visitors' five touchdowns, they had done their homework and cruelly exploited the Saracens weakness of not being able to defend the lineout catch-and-drive. And it was this ruthless execution of the rolling maul that ultimately did for Sarries.

To be fair, both sides tried to play expansive football, but the much-heralded Wasps back three were kept at bay by a resolute Saracens backline defence and their squandering of several overlaps during the course of the afternoon. There was parity in nearly every facet of the game, both in the loose and the tight and but for the home side's inability to keep Wasps at bay from close range, the result could have looked a little different.

The Men in Black raced into a 14-0 lead with just six minutes on the clock. Richard Hill started things off on three minutes rounding off a move started by Haughton after Wasps scrum half Howley misjudged a box kick from a ruck inside his own 22. The Saracens wing took an easy catch and rounded his opposite number Rudd, moving the play into midfield. The ball was shipped onto Horan who put Hill through a huge gap and the Sarries flanker was in under the posts from 30 metres out. The conversion was a formality for Niki Little.

Saracens' second try was a 75-metre effort from Horan. The double World Cup winner took advantage of turnover ball inside his own 22 and took off up the left hand side. He then chipped ahead, a nasty bounce rendering Wasps fullback Van Gisbergen static, and then outpaced the covering Lewsey to touch down under the sticks. Little added the extras and a shock home win looked on the cards.

Wasps stand-off Alex King got his side on the board two minutes later with a 25-metre penalty and the deficit was cut to four just before the end of the first quarter when Shaw emerged from the pile of bodies after the first of many Wasps catch-and-drive moves from lines-out close to the home try line. King converted magnificently from the right hand-touch line.

King brought his side to within a point five minutes later with a second penalty goal after a 70-metre break from centre Fraser Waters put pressure on the Sarries defence. Kris Chesney gifted the opportunity to King after he as caught offside.

Wasps and Shaw got their second try and the lead on 33 minutes after Sarries outside half Thomas Castaignede missed finding touch with a downfield punt. The ball was fielded by Van Gisbergen who took off on a mazy 35-metre run; good midfield handling by the visitors - including a wrap-around move from hooker Phil Greening - stretched the Saracens defence to breaking point and Shaw found himself as the extra man in the right-hand corner, going in untouched; though King this time missed with the conversion and the score stood at 18-14 to the visitors.

Back came Saracens. More pressure on the Wasps 22 resulted in Craig Dowd being penalised by referee Chris White for going into a ruck from the side. Little stepped up and narrowed the gap to one point from the resulting goal.

A breathless first half was rounded off by another perfectly executed catch-and-drive by Wasps. This time Andy Kershaw, the prop loaned to Saracens earlier in the season, was the man to collect the five points. King added the extras and the teams turned around with the scoreboard reading Saracens 18, Wasps 25.

Six minutes into the second half, Thomas Castaignede showed everyone present why he is one of the most exciting players in world rugby with the try of the afternoon. The mercurial Frenchman showed pace, vision and sublime skill as he ran through the Wasps cover from 45 metres out, chipping the ball over Van Gisbergen and collecting it on the full on his way to a superb score. Niki Little's conversion once again brought the scores to within a point.

Ben Skirving then came on as a blood replacement for Sarries lock Stuart Hooper as Wasps nudged themselves further ahead courtesy of another King penalty goal from in front of the posts. Hooper was still receiving treatment when Wasps scored their frouth five-pointer of the afternoon to secure their bonus point. Another identikit lineout move was rounded off this time by flanker Paul Volley and the five points were turned into seven thanks to the left boot of King.

With Wasps 11 points ahead at 35-24, Rob Howley - just about even in his duel with Kyran Bracken - was withdrawn by coach Warren Gatland and replaced by Martyn Wood. Sarries made two changes of their own; front rowers Robbie Russell and Mike Storey making way for Matt Cairns and Johnny Marsters respectively, plus Hooper returned to the fray after his running repairs.

Both sides were still trying to play expansive football into the final quarter and Saracens were rewarded with another cracking try from Richard Haughton wide out on the right. A sweeping move gave the England 7s regular an opportunity to show his pace which he did in fine manner, beating the outside cover to get to within a metre of the line. Still with some work to do, he then carried the remaining Wasps defenders across the line with him to round things off. Little banged over the conversion from the touchline and Sarries were right back in it at 31-35.

Wasps, however, were still not done. A fifth and final try ten minutes from time sealed Saracens' fate and it was that man Shaw again who did the damage. Aware that they had been stung in identical circumstances three times previously, the Sarries forwards organised an early drive from a Wasps lineout deep inside the home 22, but while the home side shunted the maul back from the mark, Shaw performed a cute pirouette off his left foot and stretched out his arm to place the ball on the whitewash. King completed the day's scoring with the two extra points as he missed a penalty chance five minutes later, but that proved immaterial.

Saracens kept at it during the flurry of late substitutions, which inevitably ruined the flow of the game and in the fourth minute of injury time Christian Califano was denied a try that would have given his side a second bonus point. The French international prop couldn't believe his luck after the ball squirted out of a ruck just a few metres from the Wasps line and he gathered it to crash over. Referee White was in the right place at the right time, however, and he ruled correctly that Califano gathered the ball from an offside position.

The Men in Black can take many positives from the game, espeically after their Recreation Ground shocker. Scrum and lineout both functioned well and the Sarries defence effectively snuffed out the Wasps back row and wide men. Kris Chesney played a pivotal role in securing some good re-start ball and the ball was lost in contact on fewer occasions than in previous games. However, questions marks still hang over Sarries' inability to keep out hard-driving opponents from short range.