Saracens fail to capitalise at Wembley

We were back at Wembley; four wins and one loss at the national stadium since the experiment started last season.  But all the talk leading up to this London clash was of a different return: not Saracens to Wembley, but Gavin Henson coming back to rugby after an 18 month absence. The biggest cheers all afternoon were for the Wales and Lions international who had thrust himself back into the public spotlight with his recent exploits on Strictly, but the contest did not provide much entertainment to the 38,000 spectators

Saracens won this game more comfortably than the 13-6 scoreline would suggest, due to total dominance at the lineout and the injection of dynamism provided by Andy Saull’s introduction from the bench at half-time. In the first half the Sarries outside backs may as well have joined the ASLEF tube strike, as most ball was kicked away (often poorly by Farrell who had a poor first half) and when it wasn’t it never went beyond a Brad Barritt crash ball or a not-very-dynamic carry from one of the forwards.

The first half especially, but also the game in general, was littered with handling errors and Wasps, while trying to play a more expansive game, were finding continuity with ball in hand very difficult to achieve. After just 12 minutes, Chris Wyles suffered a nasty clash of heads with Joe Worsley (probably one of the harder heads in the Premiership!) and was taken off after a few minutes of treatment; Alex Goode replaced him on his return from his own injury, and was immediately called into action as Tom Varndell, who was unusually quiet, made a break down the left wing and was finally hauled down metres from the line.

In general, Wasps were more indisciplined, with Saracens winning the penalty count 9-11, but two missed penalties from Farrell in the first half meant the pressure wasn’t converted into points. Wasps could count themselves lucky not to have had at least one player sin-binned after two professional fouls deep in the red zone after Saracens breaks. After one such foul, on 35 minutes, the deadlock on the scoreboard was finally broken by a successful Farrell penalty from in front of the posts. 3-0 to Saracens at half-time

The crowd was finally woken up at half-time with the Domino’s Crossbar Challenge, where Matthew Rouse became the second winner of the coveted £250,000 prize, emulating the success of Stuart Tinner from the South Africa game last year. That game too saw a lacklustre first-half performance from Saracens but a fantastic second-half revival, eventually ending in a famous 24-23 victory. Maybe the second half of the Wasps game would provide such entertainment…

Indeed Saracens came out of the blocks faster, showing more ambition and creativity with ball in hand and applying some pressure onto the so far untested Wasps defence, which did begin to show some frailties. Andy Saull’s introduction as a half-time replacement for Kelly Brown injected some much-needed pace and dynamism, and he had an immediate impact, picking a great line off Neil de Kock’s break around the fringe to score a try under the posts with all the elegance of a stumbling drunk.

The try not only gave the crowd something to shout about, but it also seemed to give Saracens a breath of confidence, which was enhanced further after a Wasps lineout in their own 22 was disrupted, yet again, and Ben Broster threw a shocking long pass straight into the arms of the new man Henson. Henson charged towards the posts and would have made a dream start for his new club, with his first touch of the ball, if it weren’t for a wonderful cover tackle from the typically impressive Joe Simpson. Unfortunately, the Sarries forwards became complacent and lost the resulting five-metre scrum against the head, enabling Wasps to clear the danger.

Wasps began to gather momentum at this point, realising that at 10-0 they were going to leave Wembley with nothing and that Sarries had started to get their tails up. They scored two quickfire penalties through some sloppy Saracens play and the boot of Dave Walder to reduce the deficit, and it was game on once again. On about 60 minutes, Alex Goode recovered a loose Wasps kick, drew in two defenders and released the flying Schalk Brits with a wonderful basketball-style pass; Brits hared up the touchline, then stepped inside the usual turnstile tackle from Van Gisbergen, neglecting Joubert and Strettle who had been outside him. He was dragged down just short of the line, and from the next breakdown Wasps stormed up offside and cut out the scoring opportunity. There was no yellow card, but Farrell’s resulting penalty restored the gap to 7 points.

Wasps once again got onto the front foot, winning several penalties and setting up lineouts in very threatening positions deep in the Saracens half, especially threatening given the success they had had with their driving maul, with Simon Shaw, as usual, at the helm. However, time and again, the outstanding Borthwick and Joubert sprung up in front of the Wasps jumpers and stole the ball; on the rare occasions Wasps were able to win some possession in the Saracens 22, Andy Saull snuffed out the danger with some magnificent work at the breakdown, winning one penalty and at least one turnover.

The clock ticked on to 80 minutes, Wasps still unable to break down the Sarries defence, or ever really look like scoring a try. 13-6 was the final score, giving Saracens their fifth win out of six at Wembley. It was a match which never came close to living up to its potential, with the first half especially forgettable. There were flashes in the second half from Sarries, with Borthwick and Joubert having excellent games, Brits causing the usual problems as he rampaged around the park, and Andy Saull having a fantastic impact off the bench. The Orange One did all right as well, looking strong in contact with ball in hand, but slipping off a couple of tackles.

Neither side, though, on the evidence of yesterday, would be giving Northampton or even Leicester sleepless nights, and both will have to improve to be challenging for silverware come April/May. I think Northampton or Leicester would have had little trouble picking up a bonus point against that Wasps side yesterday. A dull spectacle overall, but a win’s a win and we are in third. Roll on Sale…

Saracens: Wyles; Strettle, Tagicakibau, Barritt, Short; Farrell, de Kock; Carstens, Brits, Nieto; Borthwick (capt.), Vyvyan; Brown, Melck, Joubert.

Replacements: George, Gill, du Plessis, Smith, Saull, Wigglesworth, Henson, Goode.

Wasps: van Gisbergen; Varndell, Jacobs (capt.), Kefu, Lemi; Walder, Simpson; Taulafo, Lindsay, Broster, Shaw, Cannon, Worsley, Betsen, Powell.

Replacements: Hobson, Payne, Baker, Veale, Jones, Berry, Jewell, Haughton.

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth (RFU).

Attendance: 38,421.