Crunch Time
By Darraghgirl
May 15 2014
Not so long ago, Saracens supporters would be breathing a big sigh of relief come mid May that we had avoided relegation yet again. Who can forget the cheers down at the Old Vic when we achieved that try bonus point against Sale on the final day of the season to ensure our survival for another year.
There was a bit of light relief in 2003 when Sarries lost a tight play-off against Tigers for the final Heineken place (THAT Neil Back try) but it wasn’t until 2007 that we actually started looking up rather than down! 2007 saw Sarries squeeze into the play-offs with an away semi against Gloucester. For those of us who travelled to Castle Grim it was a day best forgotten (and I only remember it because my friend produced her second baby that day, news of which cheered me up a tad on the way home).
The arrival of Brendan Venter and the “Saffercens” in 2009 was controversial and many of us had distinct reservations as our favourites were shown the door but it was the start of Something Special. 2010 saw Sarries make a Semi-Final against Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens. I remember it well, I had a raging tooth abscess! It was a season where Sarries and Saints met 5 times including the semi final and Sarries won the ones that mattered. They beat a shocked Northampton 21-19 with a Brits try and a superb conversion from Glen Jackson (and if I remember correctly a deplorable miss from Shane Geraghty which should have given Saints the game). Sadly the Final proved a step too far when the experience of Leicester Tigers was too much. The moral of that story was with only a couple of minutes left, win your line out and hang on to the ball!
The following season, 2011 Sarries finished even stronger, this time securing a home semi final against Gloucester. It was a much tighter game than it should have been back at the Vic but in the end, Owen Farrell, who had been thrust into the limelight because of injury, showed he had nerves of steel and kicked the winning penalty taking Sarries through to a second successive Final. And this time the result was different. Who will ever forget those 9 interminable minutes once the clock had gone dead as Leicester pounded the Sarries’ try line; but on that particular day nothing was going to pass and Sarries held on for a first ever Premiership Trophy.
So into 2012 and Sarries were now a settled Premiership outfit, accustomed to the rarified atmosphere at the top of the table and expecting another Twickenham Final. Sadly it wasn’t to be. A third place finish in the table meant an away semi-final at Welford Road. The end of a long season left the squad somewhat battered and Leicester were always the better team. Their young fly half, George Ford, steered them to victory.
And last season? We finished top of the table. We had a home semifinal at our new home ground where we were unbeaten. We entertained our old enemy Northampton Saints. We didn’t turn up. Saints scored 17 unanswered points in the first 40 minutes and a shell-shocked Sarries never recovered.
So what about this year? Sarries have again gone from strength to strength. First place was wrapped up with a couple of games to go and in the end Saracens won the title with a record point score, 87, 9 ahead of Northampton, only 3 defeats (and none when the first team squad played), 68 tries (only bettered by Saints 72 thanks to an 11-tryfest in the season finale against Wasps) and 10 try bonus points. Unlike previous seasons, the squad rotation system has been able to operate throughout leaving most of the team fit and raring to go (probably only George Kruis & Ernst Joubert of the likely starting 15 are unavailable due to injury). Ash and Strettle are in the form of their lives, Alex Goode is back in his prime. Brits is at his best irrepressible self. Bosch and his booming boot are on fire. The brothers Vunipola are smashing everything before them. Jacques is back. and Captain Steve Borthwick is looking for a fitting end to his illustrious career.
This time it is Quins who visit Allianz Park after they squeezed past Bath in the final game of the season. Logically we should win. The statistics say we are the better side but when did logic ever win a rugby match?
Quins are on a roll having won their last 7 games. They will be confident. They won’t fear us. But then neither will we be afraid of them. We beat them home and away this season quite comfortably. Quins have had a tough few weeks getting this far. Adrenaline can only do so much though, in the end minds and bodies crack. They will hope our minds are on higher things, a Heineken Final, but I very much doubt if the French have had even a mention this week. One match at a time. Everything will be focused on Brown, Care, Robshaw and co. And I don’t expect us to make the same mistake as last year. We have shown many times this season that we have learned our lesson well.
So we face 2, hopefully 3, huge games in the next 15 days. The squad will need to reach the heights of Clermont and maybe even more each time. Anything less may not be enough. But this is why they play rugby. Ask them if they’d like to be on holiday in the sun this week or sweating it out on the training pitch and I doubt if anyone would say the former. There will be time for holidays later. Rugby players spend a long time retired. As I said before, Saracens will need every bit of their mantra:- Honesty, Work-Rate, Humility, Discipline. But they can win if they believe.
Keep calm and carry on.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014:05:21:14:42:08 by Darraghgirl.
Some great, and some less great memories - IIRC Geraghty's bad miss was in the league game where we beat them a couple of weeks before!
I think two key players in how we've stepped up so much recently have been Brits (who's just been stunningly good since the end of March) and Botha, who has got back to his very best after a season and a half sliding down the pecking order.
As you say our biggest danger is complacency (leading to a lack of focus, leading to giving Quins a chance to be dangerous) - but last year's semi is the best possible reason not to be complacent.
Going to be a red hot match in more ways than one!
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !