Discipline? Control? An away win?

Winners!
By Rupes
November 25 2008

The trips to the Majedski Stadium over the years have been a mixed bag - from the triumph of beating Richmond on a Thursday (?) night, to the the Janie De Beer / David Flatman try, to the 5 point triumph of 2 years' ago, to abject failure and heavy losses.

And Sunday was no exception. From an 11-8 half time lead, to a 27-14 defeat, Saracens managed to live up to all the hype which surrounds the club – hype which talks of great players who don’t achieve half as much as they should.

The game was actually one of the more entertaining in the GP this year, with both teams prepared to throw the ball around rather than just kick it and each other to boredom (and back). An early exchange of penalties between Messers Hewat and Jackson, the Irish back row maurauding everywhere but being well patrolled by the scrambled Sarries defence, Saracens’ runners making good yardage whenever the line was straightened, 3-3. A cross-kick eventually broke the Sarries resistance, Tom Homer marking his debut with a simple touchdown in the south-east corner. Sarries responded well, leading to Wikus Van Heerden touching down for the away side. A penalty from Jackson followed by a complete shank from Hewat, 8-11 at half time to the visitors.

After 10 minutes of utter dross from both sides, the second half resumed in the mould of the first, lots of running rugby from both teams. With about 10 minutes to go, Saracens found themselves 16-14 down. 10 minutes later, 2 tries later (one from Richard Thorpe, one from debutant-having-the-time-of-his-life Tom Homer) and London Irish were victorious 27-14. In the word of juries throughout the world, “Saracens, nul points”.

But why? Eddie Jones will have been happy with about 80% of the Sarries’ contribution to that game, especially the performances of Alex Goode, Adam Powell and, especially, Noah Cato. But it’s the other 20%. At least 4 times during that game, Saracens came away from the Irish “red zone” with nothing. In order : penalty for boring in, penalty for boring in, loss of control at the back of the ruck leading to a clearance, penalty for obstruction. And they are the four I can remember, I’m sure that there were more.

The point is that it is a lack of discipline, both in terms of decision-making and action, which is letting Saracens down. If you know the referee is watching you, why bore in? Twice. The lack of control at the back of the ruck demonstrates a team which isn’t thinking about the next move or, if it is, not in a way which means they are prepared for every eventuality and react accordingly. Obstruction tends to occur when a planned move has gone wrong – so you have to ask, was it the right move for the time? Time and again over the past few seasons, Saracens have let themselves down in the area of decision-making and control; closing out a game and securing an ugly win is not a speciality. There is enough experience in that team to think clearly in games like that, when a great mental call may be enough to secure the win. On all evidence presented, the experience isn’t being applied correctly.

Sunday was a case in point; fair play to London Irish, they took full advantage of the opportunities they were given and secured 4 points. Saracens, on the other hand, went back to Hertfordshire with nothing – not for the first time wondering what might have been. Control, discipline and winning ugly. Get those right, we’ll hit that Top 4 play-off spot.

Scorers: London Irish: Tries: Homer 2 (8min, 80+6), Thorpe (51). Penalty goals: Hewat 4 (4, 50, 80+1, 80+3). Saracens: Try: Van Heerden (21). Penalty goals: Jackson 3 (6, 31, 54).

Scoring sequence (London Irish first): 3-0, 3-3, 8-3, 8-8, 8-11 (half-time), 11-11, 16-11, 16-14, 19-14, 22-14, 27-14.

London Irish: P Hewat; T Ojo, E Seveali'i, S Geraghty, T Homer; M Catt (rep: C Gower, 58), P Hodgson; C Dermody (rep: A Corbisiero, 58), D Paice, F Rautenbach (rep: C Dermody, 71), N Kennedy, K Roche (rep: R Casey, 58), R Thorpe (rep: D Danaher, 58), S Armitage, C Hala'ufia (sin-bin, 73-80+3).

Saracens: A Goode; R Penney, A Powell (rep: K Sorrell, 80), A Farrell (rep: B Barritt, 68), N Cato; G Jackson, N de Kock; N Lloyd, M Cairns, J Visagie (rep: T Mercey, 80), T Ryder (rep: K Chesney, 72), H Vyvyan, B Skirving, W van Heerden (rep: A Saull, 53), M Owen (sin-bin, 80+2).