WORCESTER STRETTLED! Report, Sarries v Wuss
Hat Trick!
By Darraghgirl
April 16 2013
What a difference a couple of weeks make! At my last visit to Allianz Park, great lumps of snow were falling off the roofs of the North and South stand onto the unlucky supporters below to the amusement of the rest of the crowd and ESPN. Today the sun shone and it was shirtsleeve order. A month late but definitely the first day of spring!
Worcester Warriors have never been a team that Sarries find easy to beat. Who will ever forget that game at The Vic in 2006 when the Warriors took us apart in the second half to record their first away premiership victory of the season, not to mention possibly our worst performance this season, away toWorcester at Sixways? The prize for avoiding this potential banana skin was a guaranteed home semi-final. Several stalwarts of the team had been given a well-deserved week off including Borthwick and Farrell and we were about to witness the return of the great Burger for his first Premiership start in almost 18 months.
After all the discussions, the Minute’s silence for Mrs T passed off with more enthusiasm than THAT SONG! I admire the Club for trying to get something going but really this is the wrong choice (and I love Les Mis, I even love the song – just not at a rugby match). Rhys Gill, along with his 2 little ones, led the team out to mark his 100th appearance then the team followed behind captain for the day Kelly Brown.
Worcesterkicked off with a very strong wind mostly at their backs. The blue-hatted Matavesi made a dangerous break and after a couple of minutesWorcesterwon a penalty which was smartly converted by an energetic-looking Danny Gray (no Andy Goode this time for the press to confuse with Alex). From the restart Sarries won a lineout which they lost (we were already missing Borthwick) but then won a penalty of their own and Charlie judged the breeze perfectly and sent the ball between the sticks to even up the scores.
From the restartWorcestertried to attack but actually, although they had the ball, the Sarries defence managed to push them back from the 22 to half way and win the inevitable penalty which went to touch. A lovely move followed with Smit charging through with the ball. It was recycled to Hodgson who passed outside to Tomkins. The predatory Ashton then took over, flipping the ball to Wyles and finally Strettle who kept his feet in play and went over in the corner. Hodgson hooked the conversion (lets be polite and say the wind took it) but a try after 10 minutes was encouraging.
Worcesteragain tried to attack and again found the Sarries defence impermeable. De Kock managed a lovely steal which he then kicked ahead and chased gamely, his little legs pounding along the 4G turf but the ball just bounced into touch. TheWorcesterclearance created the opportunity for a superb run by Ashton from inside his own half to theWorcester22 but he was pulled up just short. The ball was recycled out wide to Hodgson but he couldn’t quite stay infield. However Sarries had a penalty in front of the posts which, gales or no gales, Charlie couldn’t miss and we were in double figures, 11-3.
Worcesterwon a penalty but opted to kick for touch. As Sarries attempted to clear the ball a high box kick from De Kock actually seemed to head back towards him in the breeze! The ball was reclaimed and Strettle popped up with it. He ran a good 40m from his own half through 4 or 5Worcesterdefenders to the try line. He was tackled just in time by Lemi but managed to stretch his arm far enough to get the ball over the line. Hodgson kicked the conversion for an 18-3 lead with less than 20 minutes gone.
Saracens continued to attack winning another penalty and what looked like a very nasty tackle on De Kock by Matavesi led to a bit of fisticuffs which of course involved Gill. De Kock’s injury looked worrying so it was good to see him walking off the pitch to the concussion bin. Wiggy came on somewhat earlier than expected. The penalty produced a lineout which was just about secured and led to another Sarries attack. Burger and Gill both charged hopefully for the line but were stopped, eventually Charlie passed the ball out to Tomkins who saw Strettle on his outside and nobody was going to deny him a hat trick (apparently the fastest in Premiership History). Another tricky conversion into a very strong breeze just missed but Sarries now led 23-3. So could we now take the next step, the “Leicester” step you might say, and go for the jugular?
Well no actually. Having played so well for 25 minutes, Sarries got a bit cocky and then went to sleep. The first scrum (after almost half an hour) resulted in a Sarries’ free kick and then a penalty almost in front in theWorcester22. Hodgson went for the corner (to great applause I might add) but eventually it came to naught when Stevens was penalised for not releasing. To most people’s surprise I suspect, De Kock replaced Wiggy.Worcestermanaged a dangerous break down the right wing (although Strettle looked to be tripped in the process) when Alex Grove and Josh Drauniniu combined and scored in the corner. Gray succeeded with a tricky conversion andWorcesterwere rolling, 23-10.
The Sarries’ scrum put a huge shove-on to win aWorcesterput-in but, despite several attacks, the passing had become a bit shoddy. Wyles made a useful run down the wing but was forced into touch. MeanwhileWorcesterwere making a few useful breaks themselves orchestrated by Gray with Taulava looking particularly dangerous. Half time came with the feeling that Sarries had taken their collective feet off the accelerator and hopefully the break would allow the team to refocus.
The second half restarted with the wind behind Sarries and with Wigglesworth not surprisingly back on for De Kock. A penalty from the restart seemed to be heading goalward then appeared to make a 90 degree deviation in midair! The restart into the wind barely left theWorcester22 but Saracens didn’t make the best of it with some careless handling. Eventually Wiggy set up a kick-chase for Wyles and Ashton down the left wing then out to Strettle again. Finally Hodgson was almost through but just brought down in time.Worcestercleared the ball and eventually set up a drive which Sarries were singularly unsuccessful in defending and Kvesic managed to get the ball over the line for a secondWorcestertry. Gray kicked a fabulous conversion from wide out on the right into a roaring gale to bringWorcesterback within a score. It was no longer a case of looking for the bonus point try, now we needed to secure the win!
The management must have decided it was time for a change and Jamie George, Mako Vunipola and Carlos Nieto became the new front row with Duncan Taylor also coming on for Tomkins which was just as well because Worcester now believed they could get something out of a match in which they should have been dead and buried.
Hodgson turned down a kickable penalty, rightly as it turned out because, from the lineout, Sarries formed an unstoppable drive and Nieto eventually touched down for the bonus point try which Hodgson duly converted.Worcesterfollowed suit and replaced their front row (although in the case of Matt Mullan it was a brief respite as his replacement Ceri Jones limped off within minutes). Sarries won a scrum and there was another exhibition of scrum dominance. Strettle almost scored again but the handling wasn’t quite there. On a positive note though, theWorcestertry seemed to have galvanised Sarries. They had absolute control at the scrum and Ashton was looking increasingly dangerous (doubtless frustrated that all the scoring opportunities had gone down the other wing). Sherriff replaced Botha and Burger departed to warm applause to be replaced by Melck. More good work created another penalty in front of the posts and this time Hodgson kicked the points.
Alex Goode replaced Wyles. Ashton made another break and was again caught in the 22. Jamie George seemed to score but the “try” was disallowed for an accidental offside. Finally a lovely break from Strettle found Duncan Taylor who offloaded to Ashton and finally he got on the scoreboard too, not with a “Splash” this time but rather a dainty pirouette! Hodgson managed a very tricky conversion and things now looked pretty secure at 40-17. As the game entered its final minutes Ashton kicked the ball into the Worcester22 finding an excellent touch. Worcesterwon the lineout but then lost the ball. Determined to end on a high, Barritt broke through and found Jackson Wray who scored Sarries 6th try. Another excellent conversion from Hodgson finished the game with Sarries winning 47-17 and in so doing securing a try bonus point and a home semi-final.
So who says we’re boring then? Who says we can’t score tries! Not a perfect performance but a comprehensive win. If only we could play like that for 80 minutes who knows how many tries we’d score. And as for Allianz Park – a 4th successive sell-out, Sarries have scored 16 tries in 4 Premiership Games there, the opposition contributing 4 more – an average of 5 tries a game! Not bad for a “boring” team and a plastic pitch!
Meanwhile as we left the ground there was only one question on everybody’s lips:-
WHERE WAS SARRIE?
Had he been kidnapped, abducted by aliens, eaten by ravenous wolves? Did he have hardpad, rabies, even distemper, God forbid?
WE NEED TO KNOW!
(Update from the Fish – apparently Sarrie was absent with “abdominal pain and cramping”. Now that raises a question. Sarrie has been looking a little portly lately. How easy is it to sex a camel? Could “he” be a “she”? Was Sarrie actually in labour? Will we be seeing the patter of tiny hooves? Time will tell!)
Saracens:
Wyles (Goode), Ashton, Tomkins (Taylor), Barritt, Strettle, Hodgson, De Kock (Wigglesworth), Gill (Vunipola), Smit (George), Stevens (Nieto), Kruis, Botha (Sherriff), Brown, Burger (Melck), Wray
Worcester Warriors:
Pennell, Drauniniu, Grove, Matavesi, Lemi, Gray (Carlisle), Arr (Hodgson), Mullan (Jones), Shervington (Lutui), Andress (O’Donnell), Percival, Jones, Best, Kvesic (Abbott), Taulava
Scorers:
SARACENS (23) 47
Tries: Strettle (3) Nieto, Ashton, Wray
Convs: Hodgson (4)
Pens: Hodgson (3)
WORCESTERWARRIORS (10) 17
Tries: Drauniniu, Kvesic
Convs: Gray (2)
Pen: Gray
Scores: (Saracens first)
0-3 3-3 8-3 11-3 18-3 23-3 23-10 23-17 30-17 33-17 40-17 47-17
Attendance 9,995
Referee Tim Wigglesworth
MOM David Strettle.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:04:23:10:38:19 by TonyTaff.
what a rumour about Sarrie too
And more importantly, another great day at AzP.
Well done,
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !