Sarries Storm the Rec
By BehindtheBench
March 1 2014
Saracens took a massive step towards securing a top two spot as two fine first half tries from Chris Wyles and David Strettle ended the hosts seven match winning run and indeed their unbeaten home record.
Sarries made a half dozen adjustments to the starting line up which earnt an ultimately comfortable 23-10 Allianz Park against Exeter Chiefs. Alex Goode came in for Ben Ransom at full back whilst David Strettle was a straight swap for the rested Chris Ashton on the right wing. Neil de Kock got the nod at scrum half whilst captain Steve Borthwick returned to the starting line up as he returned to his former club for perhaps the last time, and Jacques Burger returned at 7. There was a further change close to kick off as Charlie Hodgson was withdrawn and Duncan Taylor stepped up from the bench, taking up the wing berth vacated by Chris Wyles, who in turn moved to full-back allowing Alex to play 80 minutes at fly-half.
Bath made no less than seven changes to the side which earnt a home 33-25 bonus point win against Wasps giving their starting line up a significant increase in strength. Matt Banahan slotted in at left wing whilst the hosts reverted to their first choice half back combination of former Saracens loanee Peter Stringer and Owen Farrell's understudy, George Ford. Paul James and Anthony Perenise came into the front row whilst England's Dave Attwood and Alafoti Fa'osiliva returned to the forwards too.
The match started off at a fast pace as the hosts exerted early pressure, with the Stringer-Ford combination making an early impact and Watson just failed to touch down in the right hand corner after three minutes. Play was pulled back for a penalty but Ford screwed a straightforward chance wide. The first of many knock ons by the hosts gave Saracens their first chance - winning a penalty at the resultant scrum, the short lineout routine nearly had Joel Tomkins in at the corner, but he was dragged into touch.
Given the disruption caused by the Hodgson's withdrawal, it was understandable that the Saracens kicking game wasn't up to scratch in the early stages, not finding touch and thus giving the dangerous backline, full back Nick Abendanon in particular, plenty of opportunity to counter attack, and James just failed to power over from the resultant pressure after twelve minutes.
Finally Bath established a lead on 19 minutes as Sarries strayed offside but Alex Goode cancelled this out within two minutes. However, Bath had a try ruled out for a forward pass when Stringer capitalised on a knock on by Jackson Wray, but two subsequent counter attacks were blunted for the hosts as they conceded penalties for holding on and then going off their feet.
Having weathered the considerable pressure, Saracens underlined that it's not the amount of possession or territory you have, but what you do with it. From their first threatening kick of the match, Matt Banahan knocked on, and within the resultant set of phases some flowing backline play from Brad Barritt, Tomkins, Goode and Strettle saw Chris Wyles show his juggling skills and try scoring abilities to cut in on the left. Goode added the extras for 3-10 after 31 minutes, and they might have added another moments later, only to spill the ball in a promising position.
Three minutes before the break, Bath looked likely to score as Ford and Stringer wreaked havoc during sustained pressure in the Saracens 22. However when that move abruptly broke down through an Ollie Devoto knock on, the balance of the game was about to shift massively. Goode and Taylor broke with real vigour, and Barritt's kick through put Strettle in acres of space to run on and mark his 100th Saracens appearance with a try. Goode added the conversion for a 17-3 half time lead.
Bath started powerfully but lost Stringer after a high tackle from Jacques Burger. Once again, the hosts continued to pressurise the opposition defence, but crucially Banahan was dragged into touch. Saracens were conceding penalties frequently now but Bath could not convert their dominance into points, as frustration began to creep into their play.
Saracens swapped De Kock for Wigglesworth on the 52nd minute mark, and almost immediately had their first move of the second half. Retaining possession through the phases as Bath seemed unable to do, Goode stretched the lead to 3-20 with an opportunistic drop goal from Wigglesworth's pass. Just before the hour, Bath changed their props, whilst Matt Stevens came on for Johnston, perhaps playing at the Rec for the last time.
Henson's introduction for the home side on 66 minutes brought some renewed impetus as his run was halted illegally and from the resultant lineout and pressure, Burger was yellow carded for a high tackle on Watson. In the ensuing play, the home side were over the line, but held up as Saracens retained their 17 point advantage coming into the last ten minutes, which also saw Barrington brought on for Mako Vunipola. After a series of five metre scrums, Saracens conceded a penalty try after 72 minutes, but Goode concluded the scoring with a penalty two minutes later as Bath were penalised for holding on.
The only real blemish on an impressive result being a second yellow card, this time for Wyles, for a no hands tackle as Rokoduguni, on for Banahan, was put into touch chasing a Henson kick.
Teams Bath 15) Abendanon. 14) Watson. 13) Devoto ( Henson 62m) 12) Eastmond 11) Banahan (Rokoduguni 56m) 10) Ford 9) Stringer (Young 42m) 1) James (Catt 60m) 2) Batty 3) Perenise (Orlandi 60m) 4) Day 5) Attwood 6) Fa'osiliva 7) Louw 8) Houston
Saracens 15) Goode 14) Strettle 13) Tomkins 12) Barritt (Bosch) 11) Wyles 22) Taylor 9) de Kock (Wigglesworth 52m) 1) M Vunipola (Barrington 69m) 2) Brits 3) Johnson (Stevens 58m) 4) Borthwick 5) Kruis 6) Wray 7) Burger 8) Joubert
Referee: Luke Pearce
Attendance: 11668
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014:03:21:13:50:45 by Darraghgirl.
Regardez mon visage. Suis-je bovvered?
Perhaps Stuart Lancaster wasn't so stupid to name no specialist fly-half in some of his match-day squads. On the evidence of the weekend's action, the second best fly-half in the England Senior squad is Goode, not Ford; and the best bet for the second fly-half berth in the Summer is Celebriani.
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
