Bore draw! Saracens 15-15 Gloucester- Aviva Premiership
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
By King Zak
January 3 2012
After the hype and euphoria following Tuesday’s excellent encounter and victory over Harlequins, this really was a damp squib – in all senses. The weather was foul, rain teeming down from first whistle to last, and neither team able to ignite a dull game.
Both teams made changes to their scheduled line-ups; Charlie Hodgson was given the day off following the arrival of newly born son Jack, allowing Farrell to start at 10 and Nils Mordt coming onto the bench. ForGloucester; out went May and Fuimaono-Sapolu to be replaced by Sharples and Tindall.
It was with great sadness that the game was preceded by a minutes silence for Fez Boy Jenny Clements and our sincere condolences go to Keith and the family.
Sarries got proceedings underway and showed some intent to keep the ball in hand, probing into theGloucestermidfield and testing the Cherry & Whites defence. However, as with so much of Saracens attacking play, it was all a bit too lateral and the weather conditions were not conducive to a fast off-loading game.Gloucester’s defence showed excellent line speed and Saracens were rarely able to cross the gain line. Their pressure did eventually force a penalty from Gloucester on 7 minutes but Farrell’s kick drifted wide to the dismay of the home faithful amongst the crowd of 7,555 – not an exceptional figure but the highest attendance for a league fixture at Vicarage Road this season.
Farrell had made amends two minutes later following another infringement at the breakdown to give Sarries the lead. However, Gloucester were given their first opportunity on 12 minutes following a line-out infringement and England hopeful Freddie Burns made no mistake from 40 metres to bring his side back level. This was a portent of things to come; too many penalties, unforced errors and a kicking exchange between Farrell and Burns.
The next scoring opportunity came the way of Saracens afterScotlandlock Jim Hamilton had barged into the back of Botha at a lineout. Botha was in mid-air, arms fully extended taking the ball at the time – it was something of a ‘cheap shot’ and earnedHamiltona stern lecture from referee Sean Davey, one of several warnings issued by the official without any follow-up action. Farrell slotted the kick over to restore Saracens lead after 18 minutes, but with nearly a quarter of the game gone there had been very little by way of entertainment!
The first real opening came the way of the visitors as they managed to create space on the left wing as Simpson-Daniel and Morgan combined well to get within 10 metres of the try line. The score was only averted by Farrell’s quick thinking as he tracked back, intercepting the would-be scoring pass and enabling the home side to clear. He was also instrumental in setting up the next score moments later. A wonderful grubber kick deep into the Gloucester 22 resulted in Sharples being caught in possession 5 metres from his own line; the defence were penalised for holding onto the ball, going over the top to seal the ball off, and/or offside – it could have been any one or all three such was the panic and determination not to allow Sarries to reclaim the ball. Farrell then took a quick tap asGloucestertrudged back behind their own line; he passed to Wyles who dived into the corner to score. Sadly, not only weren’tGloucesteralert neither was Mr Davey (not for the last time) and he brought the matter back to the original penalty. This time Farrell elected to take the kick at goal and duly made the score 9-3.
Burns kicked the restart direct into touch and just as I was thinking here was a chance for Sarries to really get on top in the game, they were penalised at the scrum. Burns’ shot at goal drifted to the right of the posts but it emphasised the need for Saracens to gain some sort of control in the game. The lineout was faltering, with a couple of throws being deemed ‘not straight’ (why are officials so hot on this yet at scrum time, the ball is rolled into the second row?) and even losing one on their own throw. The scrum was under pressure too as Nick Wood in particular seemed to be having a field day, and Gloucester were able to exert a period of sustained pressure. They once again created space on the left wing, this time all three ‘flyers’ were involved, Sinbad, Morgan and Sharples; it was perhaps fortunate for Saracens that Simpson-Daniel chose to hold onto the ball a second too long and the defence snuffed out the opportunity. Saull, who continued to impress at the breakdown then won a turn over on his own 22 and as the home side looked for a quick counter attack Morgan dropped the clearing kick and seemed to be under real pressure. However, the officials had spotted Botha offside at the initial kick and Burns was able to narrow the gap to 9-6. The final action of the half saw him attempt a drop-goal but the effort fell harmlessly wide.
The second half started much as the first, Saracens in possession,Gloucesterconceding penalties. Farrell sent the resulting kicks deep into theGloucester22 but the lineout wasn’t functioning sufficiently well to deliver a telling drive. EventuallyGloucesterinfringed and Farrell restored the six point lead but the game was still very much stuck in first gear. This was epitomised on 52 minutes when Saracens took too long throwing into a lineout (more moves than an episode of Strictly!); they were rightly penalised, Gloucester elected for a scrum and then won a penalty at the set piece. Burns once again made no mistake to leave the score 12-9 after 55 minutes. Sarries tried to inject some solidity into the scrum by changing the props, Nieto and Smit replacing Gill and Stevens. It made little difference as they were yet again penalised at the set piece, this time following an unforced error by Barritt. Burns levelled the scores and Sarries made further changes; Kruis, Melck and Spencer replacing Botha, Brown and Stringer.
Farrell had a chance to restore the lead on 65 minutes but his attempt went wide of the uprights. However, he made no mistake a couple of minutes later from yet another penalty following excellent work (I think Saull again) at the breakdown. With 12 minutes remaining, Sarries led 15-12 and Brits replaced George; sadly, it was a mere cameo appearance. He made one trademark Brits run only to be left injured on the floor as the ruck moved away. I’m not sure exactly how the injury occurred, there were suggestions of foul play but nothing I or the officials saw. Jamie George’s rest was short lived as he returned to the fray, and as Brits departed so did any real inspiration from Saracens on the day. The closing moments saw the main controversy of the day. As Trinder (I think) took a quick tap to himself having claimed a ‘mark’ inside his own 22, he seemed to knock the ball on. However, Mr Davey gave him the benefit of the doubt (what doubt??) and allowed him to retake the kick. What should have been an attacking scrum for Saracens in theGloucester22 resulted in a defensive position deep in their own 22 and the inevitable penalty was conceded with two minutes remaining. Burns once again levelled the scores and the game ended with Saracens unable to gain field position for a drop goal as they went through the phases (backwards!). Eventually Mr Davey decided he’d had enough of the cold, wet conditions and concluded affairs with the ball stuck at the bottom of yet another ruck.
Honours even and probably a fair reflection of a game that never really got going. It was a hard fought contest and even harder to watch at times; neither team did enough to win it, probably because they were both determined not to lose. The nature of the game is possibly best summed up in that the usually infallible Wyles dropped a high kick and even more surprisingly, Ollie Morgan dropped two!
Apparently Stuart Lancaster was present and he can’t fail to have been impressed by the performances of Burns and Farrell in very trying conditions but especially Alex Goode. His composure and vision were exemplary, particularly in dealing with the ball on the ground. His ability to recognise when the opportunity is right to counter from deep was in clear evidence again as was his control under pressure. Man of the Match was awarded to Wyles, although for me I thought Saull (again) and Goode were both excellent.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode; 14 Chris Wyles; 13 Adam Powell; 12 Brad Barritt; 11 James Short;
10 Owen Farrell; 9 Peter Stringer; 1 Rhys Gill; 2 Jamie George; 3 Matt Stevens; 4 Steve Borthwick (capt); 5 Mouritz Botha; Kelly Brown; 7 Andy Saull; 8 Jackson Wray
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits; 17 John Smit; 18 Carlos Nieto; 19 George Kruis; 20 Justin Melck
21 Ben Spencer; 22; Nils Mordt; 23 Duncan Taylor
Gloucester: 15 Olly Morgan; 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Mike Tindall, 11 James Simpson-Daniel; 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Rory Lawson; 1 Nick Wood, 2 Scott Lawson, 3 Rupert Harden; 4 Peter Buxton, 5 Jim Hamilton; 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 7 Akapusi Qera, 8 Luke Narraway (capt)
Replacements: 16 Matias Cortese, 17 Dan Murphy, 8 Dario Chistolini, 19 Brett Deacon, 20 Tom Voyce, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Ryan Mills, 23 Matt Cox
Referee; Sean Davey
Attendance; 7,555
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:01:10:12:27:02 by TonyTaff.
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
Thank gord we didn't run out of Guinness!!
By far the worst that I can recall was against - oooh, Gloucester again - about 4 years ago for which I had travelled back from Italy that morning! Wished I had stayed. This was much better.
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
But is "old fashioned rugby" what people expect now from their Sunday afternoon out? I guess not, people want tries and running rugby week in, week out. Not too many want to see a slog in the mud, or a tight game such as Sunday. It was an entertaining game, but not maybe in the way people expected to be entertained now.
All Gloucester did was to out-Saracens Saracens. They suffocated with their defence, as do we, forcing errors from the opposition. That's how we went 0-9 up at Twickenham.
That said Davey annoyed me but refs often do and I'm usually proved wrong when watching match on tv after but think Wavey Davey was annoying with resets and warnings to no effect but was still a good match.
Mr Davey was 'rewarded' for his performance, by being given a Premiership game - the one where George Ford showed the true level of his worth in games against adults (Leeds v Donny) - he's on loan, as Cockers thinks Flood, Twelvetrees, Staunton is the pecking order.
Msg to Eds, I don't know why this thread was closed - don't we want return visitors to the front page? I've re-opened it, but made it 'unsticky'.
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:01:10:12:28:43 by TonyTaff.
No so much a case of playing 16 men, rather 18
The Leicester Lip thinks Pearson is a bit of a 'Homer' (Tiggs were at home, and shouldn't have needed much help to beat W*sps), Berdos took the art to new lengths. Perhaps its an iRB directive?
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !