Happy Wanderers! Saracens v Racing Metro, Sat 20th October
By Darraghgirl
October 22 2012
On the way home from the Stade Roi Baudouin, on a very crowded No 6 metro train back to the City Centre, a French rugby supporter (French rather than Racing) asked us about the name “Saracens” and the crescent and star badge on our shirts. Were we an Arab team? Where did the logo come from? We muttered something about Fezes and ended up discussing where Fez actually is (the medieval capital of Morocco) and the moment passed but I thought I really should find out – and what I found was most apt!
One derivation of “Saracens” is: “a nomad of the Syrian and Arabian Desert at the time of the Roman empire”. A Nomad. A wandering tribe. How appropriate. If you include preseason, this was our 11th game at our 11th different venue. And the crescent and star? The crescent is said to represent Sin the mythological moon god who had a beard of lapis lazuli and rode a winged bull and who is represented by the number 30. The star is Ishtar, the Assyrian Goddess of love, war and sexuality. It is said “The fickle Goddess treated her passing lovers cruelly. The unhappy wretches usually paid dearly”. Food for thought.
But we jump ahead of ourselves. First a big thank you to Saracens for giving us a great weekend in Brussels (or even Bruxelles). It is a lovely city full of quaint cobbles, charming squares and fabulous restaurants. A city of beer and chocolate (well what else do you need) and even chocolate beer! A city where the beer is stronger than the wine. A city of mussels – even the Parc has mussel and chocolate artworks. A city that was a temporary home to a couple of thousand Saracens fans for the weekend. The weather was unseasonably mild and the forecast rain failed to materialise.
The Stade Roi Baudouin (which will always be known to those of a certain generation as Heysel) is a bit of a concrete monstrosity. The running track around the pitch led an air of detachment to the game although the many supporters who made the trip did their best (and largely succeeded) in generating a good atmosphere. The PA was inaudible from where we were sitting. The excellent band, led by Sarrie with a Belgian flag, were cheered around the stadium as they led a parade of several hundred local children. After a lengthy ceremony featuring 2 gents and 2 children wearing the 2 team’s strips (couldn’t hear the PA so no idea what it was all about), Chris Wyles led the team out making his 100th appearance.
Mr Owens got the game underway accompanied by the brass band and Sarries conceded a penalty straight away which Barkley kicked from out wide to give the French club an early lead. It proved to be a rare visit into the Sarries half for Racing. From the restart Sarries attacked. Hodgson and Barritt found Wyles on the wing and he was forced into touch just short of the line by Ollie Barkley, at fly half for Racing. Sarries were awarded the lineout and Brits threw a short one which was driven towards the line. Fraser peeled off the back and Brits was over the line but Racing managed to prevent him from grounding the ball. Sarries won a free kick from the resulting 5m scrum but the ball was knocked on, on the try line and Racing cleared. Any respite was short-lived as a beautiful kick from Hodgson bounced over Estebanez (who touched it on the way) and Sarries won a penalty of their own from the lineout which Charlie kicked to level the scores at 3-3. And the band played on.
Mr Owens demonstrated a handy boot to clear an extra ball from the pitch and the game restarted. It was soon apparent that Sarries were playing a fast attacking game, keeping the ball in hand while Racing’s only repost appeared to be high balls which Alex Goode generally returned with interest. There was a lovely 1-2-1-2 between Brits and Wray which took Sarries back into the Racing 22. A careless pass from Farrell was rescued by Charlie then Owen made amends with an excellent tackle.
14 minutes passed before Racing made a break via their dangerous winger Benjamin Fall. But Sarries defence held and a brief foray into English territory ended when Ashton forced a knock-on. Unfortunately the Sarries’ pack conceded a penalty from the resulting scrum which was chipped out wide for Fall to run on to. Thank goodness for running tracks and small in-goal areas! The ball ran dead before Fall could ground it.
By now Brits had discarded his scrum-cap and was obviously ready for business. What followed was a Brits blitz. Nice passing from a line-out got the ball to Brits who beat 2 Racing defenders and flicked it inside to Wyles who scored the first try. Charlie converted and Sarries were on their way at 10-3. And still the band played.
Racing appeared out of ideas and this was compounded when a high return from Ashton was knocked on by Machenaud, completely unchallenged in his own half. The resulting scrum set up the 2nd try when following good possession a very flat pass from Charlie put Borthwick through and nothing was going to stop the captain crossing the line. Charlie again converted and at 17-3 it was looking a bit like Edinburgh all over again. And the band continued to play.
Racing won another penalty straight from the restart but this time Barkley missed the kick. Sarries continued to attack the French 22. Charlie looked to be through and chipped ahead for Owen who appeared to score but Mr Owens called him back for a knock-on. Mr Farrell was NOT pleased. There were, by now, bodies everywhere. Both fly-halves received lengthy treatment. Le Roux was sent to put his feet up for 10 minutes after he seemed to trip de Kock as he tried to free the ball. Charlie again kicked the points to stretch the lead further to 20-3. And the band played on and on.
As the clock wound down, Sarries continued to attack the French try-line with Botha this time knocking on when he looked to be through.
Sarrie provided excellent entertainment at half –time stealing a flag and teasing the ball-boys. We enjoyed our half-time refreshments and sat down for more of the same.
But remember…“The fickle goddess treated her passing lovers cruelly…”
Both sides lost key players at half-time with Maku replacing Gill and Germain replacing Barkley. The second half started well with plenty of Sarries attacks but Racing are no Edinburgh and slowly, gradually they managed to pull themselves back into the game. The Sarries’ scrum which had looked so secure in the first half started to wobble. Racing won a penalty and finally remembered where the Sarries’ 22 was. Fall looked to be through but just lost the ball at the crucial moment. Wiggy replaced de Kock. Racing won another penalty but the kick to touch was over-ambitious and Goode, as he did last week, athletically kept the ball in play. More changes saw Hargreaves replace Botha and Smit replaced the mercurial Brits. The scrum was more secure but the magic had gone.
Sarries won a penalty on half way. Words were said and Mr Owens marched forward 10m. More words and another 10m. Now it was well within Charlie’s range and he duly obliged to stretch the lead to 23-3. And the band were still playing.
More changes as Strettle replaced Wyles. Goode repeated his heroics with another Racing penalty that missed touch but Racing this time ran the clearance back and after some nice interplay out wide on the right between Matadigo and Hernandez, Imhoff scored under the posts. The conversion made it 23-10. Racing took heart and started to believe while Sarries appeared less fluent and unsettled by the changes. Saull came on for Brown which didn’t make things any easier. Goode did more excellent work but Racing won a penalty at the scrum and Germain slotted an excellent kick to bring Racing within 10 points.
The dreaded Mexican wave circled the ground. The goddess was being fickle alright.
10 minutes left and what seemed like a guaranteed 5 pointer now looked like a possible defeat. Tomkins came on for Farrell and Nieto for Stevens to empty the bench. The boot was on the other foot for the otherwise peerless Hodgson who almost gave it away when his kick was charged down but fortunately the ball was cleared.
Sarries seemed to be getting some parity at the scrum again. They won position in front of the Racing posts, held the ball nicely and Charlie was through and off-loaded to Fraser for the 3rd try. The conversion made the game safe at 30-13 but with 3 minutes left could they get a bonus point try? And still the band played on.
They tried. They tried hard. They seemed to win a penalty on the Racing 22 to set up an excellent opportunity but something seemed to be said and the penalty was reversed. Costly petulance!
A lifeline as the game entered its final minute. Another penalty, this time on half way. Sarries ran the ball towards the racing line. The inevitable happened, the ball was turned over and all Racing needed to do was kick it out. For some reason they decided to play and Sarries turned the ball over again, this time deep in their own half. Surely there was nothing they could do from there. They tried but an inevitable knock-on brought the game to an end. 30-13
“The Crescent is Sin, the mythological moon god who is represented by the number 30”.
I guess it was written in the stars!.
Saracens
Goode, Ashton, Farrell (Tomkins), Barritt, Wyles (Strettle), Hodgson, De Kock (Wigglesworth), Gill (Vunipola), Brits (Smit), Stevens (Nieto), Borthwick, Botha (Hargreaves), Brown (Saull), Fraser, Wray.
Racing Metro
Hernandez, Fall (Jane), Gergamasco, Estebanez, Imhoff, Barkley (Germain), Machenaud, Lo Cicero (Ben Arous), Szarzewski (Noirot), Ducalcon (Orlandi), Ghezal, Van der Merwe (Metz), Mattut, Le Roux (Matadigo), Cronje
Scores: (Saracens first)
0-3 3-3 10-3 17-3 20-3 23-3 23-10, 23-13, 30-13
Scorers:
Saracens: Tries Wyles, Borthwick, Fraser Conv: Hodgson (3) Pens Hodgson (3)
Racing Metro: Tries: Imhoff, Conv: Hernandez, Pens: Barkley, Germain
Attendance: 18,212
Referee: Nigel Owens.
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Thanks for the match report DG, sorry it took abit of time to publish, I was out in Brussels with my other half and am abit bleary eyed today. There were so many pictures I could have choosen but have gone for the latest 100 cap guy who we saw in the hotel on Sunday morning and Mrs SS got a picture with him, a top bloke.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:11:13:16:31:29 by TonyTaff.
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
Chocolate beer, missed that one!!
Thank you again.
We had similar experiances with loads of people asking about our badge of honour.
The weekend was a great success and what an experiance to mingle with so many Sarries supporters in Brussels. We met and spoke to more people this weekend then we ever get the opportunity to meet at VR. The club maybe flying against convention but we are pleased to part of this adventure.If we can create the pre match atmosphere at Copthall we are on a winner. Thank you Saracens for leading the way.
Can someone tell me what EG and Sarrie the camel are on as I could do with some. Sarrie was at his best and EG was even leading the band round at full time.Where do they get their energy from?
Finally a big thankyou to the team who were walking around the city and only to willing to stop and chat to the travelling supporters. Well done to you all and thanks
I seem to have met a few Ishtars in human form, over the years!
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
Thing is, the bloke is from Streatham!
Lovely report especially for those of us " a bed in England"