Mae ennill yn ennill! (A win’s a win!)

Guess who's back?
By Gryff
October 9 2012

There has been some discussion in our household whether my loyalties would be divided this year with London Welsh in the top flight as, naturally, in University in London many moons ago, I often frequented the London Welsh Club and OldDearPark, I think once turning out for the 26th team!

However, there are no divided loyalties, much as I wish LW well, I am Sarries through and through and would happily see them hand out a drubbing to any team and did comment to the merry band in the stand that maybe a score of 40 to 32 would suit 5 points for us and 2 for Welsh; oh dear by the end I thought Jonah had returned!

So it was a first visit to Kassam Stadium this season being something of one for new grounds, Sale, Welsh and of course Copthall to come. There had been some discussion that the ground was hard to get to but there seemed plenty of parking. We however, travelled on the Saracens Supporters Association fun bus which enabled a good group of supporters to have a good chat on way and turn up at the ground and pub together. It would be good if more people used this service and we build it into a vibrant fun event.

On arriving at the stadium we found the Priory a quaint coaching inn to the side of the cinema complex. Small inside but outside was a large marquee which had a large range of real ales and ciders on sale at reasonable prices. Service was quick and friendly. There was also a bbq surreally manned by people wearing Saracens tabards. A decent crowd built, it stayed dry, and in all a very pleasurable experience with good chat to fellow Sarries supporters and LW fans.

So into the stadium this has stands on 3 sides with the fourth being open and a large screen mounted on a lorry here. Effectively the South stand was full being a 2 layered stand like the Rouse with most of the 4685 crowd in this stand and a smattering in the North. There seemed to be a decent Sarries contingent making good noise. The seating was decent and the view of the pitch good.

So to the match. I don’t think I have ever found a game so difficult to report on! For 3/4s of this match Sarries dominated the game but a combination of errors, lack of precision and some baffling refereeing decisions meant that they could not pull away and avoid a typical Saracenesque nail biting finish. Saracens clearly set out to play and within 5 minutes had turned down 2 kicks at goal to try line out drives with one of the LW locks sin binned for taking a player out in the process. Neither drives were effective, though at least one seemed to be stopped illegally. After 7 minutes LW hadn’t been in Sarries half, however, a poor pass from Charlie Hodgson behind the player gave LWs Canadian international Phil MacKenzie the chance to kick on collect the ball and score under the posts. I did wonder whether the pass was so far behind if Charlie had been expecting a charging Brad Barritt as opposed to Owen who was playing much flatter. The Charlie-Owen axis did seem to work well though.

Sarries did not panic and their dominance soon began to show as the penalties began to mount against Welsh. Charlie’s long distance penalty on 10 minutes had the legs but hit the post, but he soon converted a much easier one. Shortly after, Sarries were again attacking the Welsh line when Charlie sweetly changed direction and glided over, taking the lead. He converted to extend the lead. A long range 48m penalty further extended the lead though Henson soon replied in kind after an offside penalty. Two more penalties for Charlie and one for Henson left the score 19-13 at half time to Sarries.

The second half started much as the first ended with Saracens dominant, the most notable event being another good break from Charlie that should have resulted in a try with Andy Saull dropping the ball stretching for the line. Again two penalties for Charlie one for Henson advanced the score to 25-16. What followed was an excellent try by Tom Arscott following a sublime 25m long pass to the wing by Henson on Welsh’s 10m line interlinking between Scott and MacKenzie to set Arscott free. I did think that Sarries seemed to freeze at the start of the move which saw Neil De Kock with what looked potentially a serious injury - he was stretchered off long after the try and conversion. Fortunately, all correct precautions taken, NDK was back on his feet at the end of the match.

Charlie hit back immediately with a penalty to raise his personal tally to 28 but LW were now in ascendancy. Strangely, the replacement Sarries props Mako and Petrus were struggling, having been so strong earlier in the season. LW, to their credit, did not settle for the bonus point but tried for the win. For the last 2 minutes they laid siege to the Sarries line with charge after charge being repelled. Finally, LW had a series of scrums 5m from the line and had a clear advantage. Twice penalties were given against the retreating Sarries scrum and when the scrum went down again the worst was feared. Bizarrely, the ref Luke Pearce called time and Sarries had won. Neither set of fans could believe it - a clear error made in ending the match without completing the scrum gave Sarries victory 28-23.

It was almost like being back in Ebbw Vale to hear the Ref booed off, possibly so confusing had the match been by some of both sets of supporters. The reffing of the breakdown and scrum was a lottery. John Smit, who had maybe his best match for Sarries, was clearly highly frustrated with the ref at the scrum and this didn’t seem the usual play acting we see with him lecturing Jamie George when they passed for quite some time as to what was happening. I wondered whether, by the end, Pearce had been overwhelmed, faced with one of the most street wise teams in the AP and one as determined as LW, and maybe this resulted in his faux pas at the end.

On 3 occasions Saracens led by 9 points or more but couldn’t press on to kill LW off and nearly paid for it in the end. 4 points to Sarries 1 for LW I suppose is along the line of my earlier wish and I really hope Welsh, currently 9 points ahead of Sale, can keep it up. They certainly did not give up. Saracens are in 4th but on the same points as Quins and Tigers in 2nd and 3rd and Mark McCall seems happy, convinced that the squad is fresh and ready to fire in Europe. From my point of view we seem to have stuttered to this position and I doubt the team can fire from here but accept that MM and the coaches know much more about it than me.

Plus points were Stretts returned, Joel Tomkins played well, the Owen-Charlie axis worked, Andy Saull had a good run out and John Smit had his best game for Sarries, imo. Sarries defence was breached twice for first time this season both effectively breakaway tries but stood strong in the end. However, the precision and cohesion was still lacking, with combinations still disrupted by rotation.

For us it was back to the Priory where the LW supporters seemed much happier than the Sarries ones but where we all had a good time. A good chat, a bit of a sing song, and a very traditional hard shoulder stop for a call of nature and all was again well in the world! Hope to be going back next year!

London Welsh: Arscott, Mackenzie, Lewis, Tonga'uiha, Scott, Henson, Keats, Montanella, George, Ion, Mills, Corker, Browne, Denbee, Jackson.

Replacements: Jewell for Tonga'uiha (62), Jolly for Ion (72), Kulemin for Browne (61), To'oala for Denbee (65).

Sin Bin: Mills (4).

Saracens: Wyles, Strettle, Tomkins, Farrell, Short, Hodgson, Wigglesworth, Gill, Smit, Stevens, Borthwick, Kruis, Fraser, Saull, Wray.

Replacements: Ratuvou for Tomkins (61), Taylor for Short (72), de Kock for Wigglesworth (46), George for Smit (57), Du Plessis for Stevens (63), Botha for Borthwick (72).

Mae ennill yn ennill! (A win’s a win!)

Posted by: TheSaracens.com (IP Logged)

Date: 09/10/2012 09:42

Gryff provides an extensive report, in the manner of a Valleys Boy, speaking 19-to-the-dozen. I've tried to add some punctuation, so that those of a frail disposition don't run out of breath reading it.

Cheers, Butt!

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2012:10:17:13:58:41 by sutton_sarrie.