Sarries team spirit shines through once again
First try for Matt
By saracens4life
February 13 2011
Whatever we mean when we talk about the “culture” Brendan Venter has created at Saracens, it was certainly in abundance yesterday, as the Men in (Black) White weathered a physical Saints side and the, let’s say confused, refereeing of Andrew Small to claim another fantastic victory at Franklins Gardens, perhaps lacking the late drama of last year’s semi-final but certainly not the character and commitment.
Like last May though, glorious East Midlands sunshine overcame the forecast rain to welcome us to our home-from-home in Car Park D, where we were greeted by Sensations carrying bacon rolls. Not a bad start to the day! The theme of this year’s Gathering and March was the ‘Saracens circus’, following comments made by Jim Mallinder last season. Red wigs and noses were provided to the travelling masses, a source of great excitement for the kids playing in a mini-rugby tournament on the back pitches of the Gardens. Not even the Saints stewards, becoming renowned for their hostility, could put us off welcoming the team off the bus, where it was a pleasant surprise to see Brendan back for the game. He clearly didn’t want to upset his fan club in the Churches stand!
The game did not start well from a Sarries point of view. Schalk Brits was caught by Stephen Myler after claiming a high ball, was turned in the tackle and then penalised. 3-0 to the Saints. Just a few minutes later, though, a fantastic scrum from Rhys Gill, Brits and Carlos Nieto saw Brett Sharman ‘do a Hartley’ and stand up in the scrum. Goode struck the ball well from 40m and it was back to 3-3. Nieto, possibly slightly illegally, targeted Sharman all game at scrum time, boring in to him and putting great upward pressure on him; it is further credit to Nieto that Soane Tonga’uiha, destroyer of many Premiership tight-heads, was unable to exploit the Italian’s slightly vulnerable position. Gill overcame the illegal binding of Brian Mujati to dominate him at scrum time; combined with some impressive carries and a good work rate in defence, it was a great afternoon’s work from the young Welsh loosehead.
The next few minutes saw Sarries take the upper hand, with the irrepressible Schalk Brits to the fore once again, but a succession of handling errors in the Saints 22 and booming clearance kicks from full-back Greig Tonks let the home side off the hook. Cue, in around the 16th minute, the first of many bizarre interventions from Mr Small. Myler chipped the ball ahead; Owen Farrell was committed to tackling him, but did his utmost to pull out, making a hands-first collision with the Saints number 10, which caused him to fall over. Farrell could barely repress his laughter at the penalty awarded against him, but worse would come later. From the penalty, Saints won a lineout in the Sarries 22 and Calum Clark made a powerful carry down the touchline. Some of the most blatant obstruction from a combination of Tonga’uiha and Christian Day allowed Sharman to burrow forward. The Saints recycled and worked the ball as far as James Downey, the big Irish lump at 12, who, just for a change, put his head down and ran into a brick wall. Sloppy Sarries defending from the next phase, however, allowed Jon Clarke to coast over the line untouched. I don’t like to name and shame, but it was Rodd Penney who missed a one-on-one tackle, a mistake which at this level is likely to be punished.
Things were to get worse for Sarries. Shane Geraghty came on as a blood replacement for Downey, and his first touch was a beautiful fizzing pass to Clarke, and following some nice interplay with Paul Diggin and Day, Nieto was penalised for handling the ball in the ruck and duly binned given the location in our 22 – no problem with that decision, it was a clear-cut yellow. In a statement of defiance, Phil Dowson had the ball sent into the corner, but an overthrow from Sharman meant Mujati had to clear up at the back of the lineout, and the chance for a driving maul was gone. The Saints pack, despite the acres of space out to the right, persisted around the fringes, including some disgusting stamping from Roger Wilson around the head and chest of Ernst Joubert, but they were eventually blown up for accidental offside. From the scrum, Tonga’uiha, up against Matt Stevens in Nieto’s absence, was somewhat unfairly penalised for slipping his bind, but it gave Sarries the chance to clear their lines.
Back came the Saints, with time running out to capitalise on their man advantage, and Geraghty, having made a grubber kick into our 22, was tackled by Farrell, who was once again committed. Andrew Small, who clearly felt his ineptness as a professional referee had not been demonstrated obviously enough, brandished a yellow card, reducing Sarries to 13 men. Ben Kay labelled the decision as “disgraceful”, saying later that neither penalty against Farrell was justified; Farrell himself was furious, not just with the risible severity of Small’s punishments, but also that when he had tried a similar chip he had been pulled back by Dowson, who got away unpunished. From the resulting penalty, Dowson changed his tactic and ordered Myler to go for the three points, despite the Saints’ field position and two-man advantage. The plan backfired badly as Myler failed to slot the kick. Sarries then hit back after a wonderful break from Brits which put Chris Wyles in space, ending up in a penalty which Goode slotted.
The half-time whistle was blown, and although 10-6 down, Sarries would have been happy having survived the initial Saints’ onslaught, with Nieto due to come back on after the break. In truth, the 10 minute rest came at exactly the right time for us, giving us the chance to regroup. Half-time enforced changes saw James Short replace the lively David Strettle and Andy Saull replace the typically ferocious Jacques Burger.
The Men in White were quickest out of the blocks in the second half, with another Goode penalty followed immediately by a bizarre score from Brad Barritt who had charged Jon Clarke down in the home side’s 22. I won’t comment on the scoring of the try itself, but I trust the officials to have made the right decision… An excellent touchline conversion from Goode saw the Sarries’ lead extend to 16-10. As the players trotted back into their own half, they had the comforting sight of Farrell returning to the field. The scoreline since the initial binning of Nieto was 13-0 to Sarries – a heroic, match-changing effort from the guys on the pitch, exemplifying the culture so often talked about at Saracens.
What followed was the Northampton backlash, as they pummeled at away at our defence, usually with little variety but always with immense physicality. Bruce Reihana made some scorching counter-attacking runs, and Paul Diggin’s Ashton-esque inside lines demanded the full concentration of our defence. Hayden Smith and Mouritz Botha, later replaced by Hugh Vyvyan, both put in astonishing shifts in defence, knocking their men backwards every time and making numerous contributions. Matt Stevens was equally prominent having come on for Nieto, making a couple of crucial tackles on a rampaging Tonga’uiha. The charming Roger Wilson took it upon himself, on a couple of occasions, to rake away at a few Sarries bodies, regardless of whether they were anywhere near the ball. The line was eventually breached when a cracking outside line from Tonks took him past the tackle of Penney (again, I’m sorry to say), and the full-back released Sarries’ nemesis to score in the corner. Importantly, the touchline conversion from Myler was not slotted, so the away side retained a slender 1-point lead.
Sarries responded perfectly, aided by Wilson’s third noticeable contribution to the match – a swinging arm tackle around the neck of James Short, which saw him yellow-carded. I can sort of sympathise with the guy – if my performance was as ineffectual and anonymous as his was yesterday, I’d be pretty frustrated too. In the same passage of play we saw a Christian Day high tackle and an early tackle on Brad Barritt which prevented him taking the ball off Farrell’s outside shoulder. Although Goode scuffed the kick at goal, we were to give Saints a lesson in scoring with a numerical advantage. Matt Stevens burrowed his way over under the posts after relentless pressure on the Saints line, with Goode’s successful conversion taking the score to 23-15.
As the home side capitulated in quite spectacular style, with dropped passes, a touch kick from Myler going dead, and further indiscipline. The removal of Tonga’uiha, Mujati and Day was effectively a signal of the white flag from Mallinder. Sarries took advantage, adding to their tally with a Goode penalty and a Barritt drop goal as the Saints fans poured out of the Gardens to the sound of “When the Saints Go Marching Home” from the Naughty Corner.
The final whistle saw a 29-15 scoreline, a fantastic victory which Sarries had actually achieved without their maximum potency in attack. They were tactically superior to the Saints, defended very well, albeit against a very predictable back line, and took their chances. The period when we were down to 13 men, without doubt, shaped the win; it is testament to the culture and team spirit Brendan has created that we held out during that period. Notable mentions for the whole front row, including replacements, who won the scrum battle and worked tirelessly in the loose, as did the second row. Alex Goode played with great composure, kicking his goals well and counter-attacking with purpose.
Overall, another great day at the Gardens - thank you to Edward, the coaching staff and each of the 23 players yesterday for making it such a great day out, and thanks also to the Saints’ fans for their hospitality.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:02:21:13:20:11 by TonyTaff.
I think we should be very grateful to Mr Small as I suspect if we had kept 15 men on the field we may have lost!
One of 'em beyond doubt
Who do we have next week/next Av game (if not the same)
Quote:...saracenangel
Yeah we have Leeds on Sunday
... who will be looking to do an 'Exeter' on us at 'Fortress' VR. Aren't Saints playing away - can't we hire FG again?
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!