A Touch of Class

Owing to a late withdrawal, I was thrust into the writing chair - unfortunately after the event! However with a bit of memory searching and a quick fast forward of the game on Sky, here is at least something. Apologies if it isn't up to my usual standard but as they say, beggars can't be chosers!

The afternoon sun shone on Allianz Park and with it came a touch of stardust. With almost an hour gone of the LV cup semi final, Exeter Chiefs had upped their game and taken the lead with a second try. What was even more worrying was that Sarries’ early dominance had vanished with the setting sun and they seemed to have no idea how to get it back. Then on came Alex Goode and within minutes he turned things round. He stepped in at fly half and it was as if the whole team had downed few cans of Red Bull and sprouted wings. Everyone went up a couple of gears. The pace of the game changed and suddenly Sarries had a point and a purpose about them which had been lacking for the previous 40 minutes.

Goode played fast and flat. His delayed pass found Nick de Jager running onto the ball from deep to score Sarries 3^rd try which Spencer converted. Seconds later his whipped pass found Fercu who touched down in the left hand corner. Again Spencer’s kick was inch perfect. Chiefs were stunned and the game was won. Itoje might have been named as captain with Mordt his deputy but Goode was in charge. He made all the decisions, took all the place kicks, grabbed the team by the scruff of the neck and they followed willingly. He was at the centre of everything. He engineered a series of penalties which he personally placed on the 5m line. Eventually the driving maul was successfully set up and Matt Hankin scored the 5^th try, again well converted by Spencer, to put the result beyond doubt. With still 15 minutes remaining, what else was in store? Sadly that was the end of the scoring. To be honest, the pace had been so frenetic that it would have been difficult, and actually unnecessary, to keep it up. Goodey was in charge and made sure that the team kept everything tight. Chiefs lost Ben White to the sin bin late on but by then it was all over.

The game had started quite brightly with the ball in play for around 3 minutes before Chiefs put it in touch. Reassuringly (after last week) the lineout ball was secured. Sarries continued to attack the Chief’s try line but handling errors prevented a score. Both sides were kicking the ball rather more than necessary as neither was gaining anything. Streather & Ellery looked dangerous but then Tim Streather charged down a clearance from Sweeney in true Hodgson style and scored leaving Spencer with a fairly straightforward conversion.

9 minutes later, Nick de Jager finished off an excellent team effort to score in the corner. Spencer converted that one too (does he ever miss) to give Sarries a 14-0 lead. Spencer did miss a tricky penalty shortly afterwards but Sarries looked to be on the road to victory. Chiefs had other thoughts however. They retrenched and started to look dangerous. A sustained period of attack ended with the ball up against the upright but referee Craig Maxwell-Keys (is it me or do referees look very young these days?) referred it to the TMO and no try was awarded. However it was only a temporary reprieve because from the resulting 5m scrum, Sam Skinner opened Chief’s account. Sweeney kicked a simple conversion and Chiefs were up and running. Just before half time a penalty was conceded near the half way line and wide on the far side. Not a gimme by any means but Sweeney plonked it right between the posts and Chiefs were right back in it.

We hoped Sarries might come out for the second half with a spring in their step but it was Chiefs who looked the brighter. Brett Sharman replaced Jared Saunders and Barrington replaced Gill. Chiefs set up their pow wow in the Sarries 22 and eventually Alo was penalised for a high tackle. Sweeney again kicked the points to put Chiefs within a single point. Sarries were looking rattled and the penalty count started to rise. Inevitably Chief’s took advantage and Tom James scored in the corner. This time there was no reprieve from the TMO although for once Sweeney missed the kick.

Chiefs were now in the lead and to be honest, Sarries were looking pretty clueless. Enter Alex Goode and the rest, as they say, is history!

A quick word for the much maligned Brett Sharman. He put in a good 40 minutes and the set piece looked more secure once he came on. Nick de Jager was awarded man of the match for his brace of tries but in the true sense of the word it should have gone to Goode. Without him, I have no doubt Sarries would have lost. I have seldom seen one man make such a difference to a team. Form as they say is temporary but class is permanent. Were you watching Mr Lancaster? Actually, from a purely selfish point of view I hope not because Alex is on fire!

Saracens:-

Ransom, (Palamo), Ellery, Streather, Wilkins (Goode), Fercu, Mordt, Spencer (Whiteley), Gill (Barrington), Saunders (Sharman), Alo (Featherstone), Itoje (Sharples), Smith (Thompson-Stringer), de Jager, Hankin, Wray

Exeter Chiefs:-

McGuigan, Vainikolo, Bodiliy, Hughes (Arnott), James, Sweeney, Lewis (Chudley), Sturgess (Rimmer), Taione (Bateman), Francis (Brown) Sexton (Holmes), Carrick-Smith, Johnson, Simmons, White.

Scorers:-

SARACENS: Tries: Streather, De Jager (2) Fercu, Hankin. Conv: Spencer (5). Pen: Spencer

EXETER: Tries: Skinner, James. Conv: Sweeney Pen: Sweeney (2)

Final score: Saracens 35 Exeter 18

Attendance: 6,124

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys