Wingers have a field day a Twickenham

  Once again we go to Twickenham for the double Header; thankfully this year we are up first. There seemed to be more rugby supporters than casual fans a fact which is reflected with only a few Mexican waves and no real drunken behaviour. Perhaps the £1 deposit on glasses helped as well  

Sarries versus Wasps was an enjoyable close encounter. From the start Wasps looked to play with the ball, Sarries happy to defend and counter attack as needed or kick-chase for territory from their own half. This would not be a surprise to anyone who has watched Sarries play in the last year. The principal difference between the sides was the clinical efficiency of Sarries when they did have the ball in the Wasps half.

The first score was not long coming and it was excellent; Brad carrying hard and deep into the heart of the defence and quick ball to the bulky figure of Billy V drew most of the remaining defence that Brad had not destroyed. Instead of taking contact he passed to Hodgson who threaded a lovely grubber kick for Ashton to chase on to. Despite a couple of defenders grabbing at his heels Ashton powered over. Charlie added the extras from wide out

Wasps returned with the ball and from an innocuous maul just inside the 10-yard line Kelly Brown was very stupid in knocking the ball from Simpsons grasp whilst on the floor. He got a deserved yellow card and Pieboy Goode (to differentiate him from A.Goode #15) made no mistake with the kick. Being down to 14 men didn’t seem to deter Sarries though and shortly afterwards a penalty from Charlie restored the balance to 7 points. Over the next few passages of play the Sarries defence held firm with Wasps running the ball but not making much of their large amounts of possession. Pieboy had another easy penalty to close the gap to 4 points but almost immediately from the kick-off Charlie had another chance to restore the 7 point gap.

Then a turnover that seemed to have decided the first half decisively in Sarries favour. Wasps were attacking but lost the ball just outside the 22. Wigglesworth pounced on a big gap at the back and kicked deep into the Wasps half, the ball rolling on and on. As Strettle chased the ball, Miller the full-back made a terrible attempt to fall on the bouncing ball / scoop it into touch. He missed entirely and Strettle was able to collect the ball and to stroll in to almost the posts for a 14 point lead. The TMO was called into use to ensure Strettle had not been at fault, but there was minimal contact between them. Remembering the Clermont game it was perhaps fortunate that Millar was not able to scoop the ball out with his hand. Players seem to forget in the heat of the moment the correct result is a yellow card and penalty try.

Sarries were completely in control of the game now and it was unfortunate that another try for Strettle was not a result. A lovely incursion from Ashton into the centre and two lovely offloads from him and Brad, along with Charlie looping around had created an overlap. Charlie’s pass to Strettle unmarked and clear on the far touch was behind him, not a mistake that is normal for Hodgson. Shortly afterwards Sarries had a penalty close to the touchline and elected to kick for the posts instead of the corner. Charlie missed and perhaps a kick to the corner would have closed out the game. Wasps for all their ball retention had not looked like scoring, Wade was well covered each time he got the ball and only Johnson looked a threat. Sarries were not handling him well and he looked the best player on the field. Just before the break Pieboy had a long attempt that he put over to make it 20-9

Half-time came and like Sarries I returned to my seat not ready for the second half. Perhaps it was the total control before the break or perhaps Dai had delivered a rocket to the Wasps back-row but the second half was a different affair than the first. The wolf-pack were more powder-puff and two big holes appeared. From the first Simpson made one of his long fast runs and although he was pulled down short of the line from the following play Hughes walked in under the posts. Wasps had the ascendancy now and were pulling the play one way and then the other. With play on the nearside of the pitch, the fly-half spotted Wade out wide on the far-side and from a long cross-kick the result was similar to the first try for Strettle. Long chase, collision of bodies, defender goes down and in this case Wade managed to dot the ball down before it hit the dead ball line. It was again referred to the TMO and although the clash of bodies was much more intense than the first try it did not seem deliberate although Wade’s hands were on Ashton’s back and the try stood. The kick was missed but Wasps were now in the lead by a single point

Sarries looked to have controlled the defence and the game seemed to be in the balance until a lovely bit of skill from Johnson. A handful all game he made another break into a gap and seemed clear. Goode from full-back and Strettle from the wing closed him down and as they were about to pounce he put in a grubber-kick any back would have been proud of. Wade had possibly the easiest try he will score all season, running round under the posts and an eight point cushion.

There was confusion all around me amongst Sarries supporters; how could we play so badly when in control of the first half. Substitutes were coming on all the time now and the rather surprising arrival of Owen Farrell seemed to steady the ship. His effect was almost immediate. A couple of phases towards the Wasps line and the ball came back to Fazlet. A bullet like missed pass to Strettle on the wing standing on his own left the defence gasping and the kick from wide out was accurate. Back to a one point difference and now Sarries were the ones with the ball in hand. We had not had too many scrummages in the game so far and in fact Wasps had their first put-in on the 70 minute mark; it was a disaster. Shortly afterwards a Sarries scrum and a penalty was awarded; Fazlet lined up what seemed to be the match-winning kick, but the script was not to be followed, missing to the left.

Wasps got hold of the ball and advanced slowly towards the Sarries line; the match seemed all over with only a couple of minutes left. Had Pieboy been on the pitch he would probably have called for a drop-goal but Wasps passed to Johnson instead. He was isolated and turned over the ball for a penalty. Sarries kicked for touch and from the winning line-out ran deep. Strettle had the ball in his hands, towards the line, diving for the corner and it seemed all over with 40 seconds left on the clock. However, the TMO was called for and as the play was dissected again and again would it be TMO anguish again at Twickenham. Finally the try was awarded at it appeared the ball touched the line before Strettle was dragged into touch. Farrell took his time with the conversion and nailed it as the clock ran out.

I’m sure that before the game Wasps would probably have settled for a losing bonus point; Sarries would certainly have settled for a bonus-point win. It wasn’t quite like that for the second half and must have been exciting to watch for the casual supporter. Can we please come out for the second half fired up for our remaining games; if we play like the third quarter of the match again we will lose matches

In the other game it was a tale of wingers for me. James Short made Yarde look very ordinary, shutting him down completely whenever he had the ball and running past him a couple of times. Shorty even offloaded once, so Irish training team must be doing something right. Unfortunately, Ojo on the other flank was not so effective flapping in defence and letting Lindsay-Hague round him easily for what was the deciding score. The rest of the game was very poor from both sides and I am glad we are playing them away in the next 2 weeks   

Match details

Scoring 5-0 Ashton try, 7-0 Hodgson con, 7-3 Andy Goode pen, 10-3 Hodgson pen, 10-6 Andy Goode pen, 13-6 Hodgson pen, 18-6 Strettle try, 20-6 Hodgson con, 20-9 Andy Goode pen, 20-14 Hughes try, 20-16 Andy Goode con, 20-21 Wade try, 20-26 Wade try, 20-28 Andy Goode con, 25-28 Strettle try, 27-28 Farrell con, 32-28 Strettle try, 34-28 Farrell con.

Saracens Alex Goode; C Ashton (T Streather 71), D Taylor, B Barritt, D Strettle; C Hodgson (O Farrell 60), R Wigglesworth (B Spencer 52); R Barrington (R Gill 49), J George, K Longbottom (P du Plessis 49), G Kruis, A Hargreaves (capt, J Hamilton 64), K Brown (J Wray 56), W Fraser, B Vunipola. Sin bin Brown 9

Wasps R Miller (A Masi 54); C Wade, E Daly, C Bell, S Tagicakibau; Andy Goode (R Jackson 70), J Simpson; M Mullan (J Yapp 65), C Festuccia (T Lindsay 65), L Cittadini (P Swainston 55-57, 62), J Launchbury, J Gaskell (K Myall 55-68), A Johnson J Haskell (capt), N Hughes (G Thompson 70).

Referee A Small (London).