ONE GOODE TURN
By Darraghgirl
March 8 2015
We had intended to go to the Ricoh but Little DG got a better offer and to be honest, having watched the team struggle against Newcastle last week (and there aren’t any Kites in Coventry – good job I get them in the back garden now) I decided to watch on TV. So the lack of any live volunteers means that this week you have an armchair reporter!
One of the good things about watching on TV is the army of stats that the broadcasters come up with. Sarries have only lost once in their last 10 encounters with Wasps and have won the last 7. Wasps are unbeaten at home in the Premiership this season. Wasps have scored more tries than anyone else in the Premiership. This was Wiggy’s 200th Premiership game – he needs 3 more to overtake Andy Gomersall with the most appearances by a scrum half – I could go on! The other good thing was watching Charlie in the studio – lots of sensible comments and hopefully fit for Quins!
There was rain at The Ricoh for the game of two Goode’s – Andy v Alex in the battle of the fly halves. The old warrior v the young pretender and a veritable commentator’s nightmare (which they managed superbly – I don’t remember a single case of mistaken identity).
Wasps started the better. Christian Wade showed an early sign of his menace with a break which eventually led to Ashton clearing on the full. Wasps won a penalty from the subsequent line out and Andy kicked the points. Sarries were bombarding the Wasps back 3 with high balls but they were up to the challenge. Eventually Sarries were awarded a penalty which Alex kicked to level the scores.
More kicking and eventually Wasps turned over a Sarries lineout. The ball went wide to Wade who kick-chased the ball the length of the pitch. Wyles & Goode (Alex) were converging on him but just as Alex seemed to get his hands on the ball, 2 deft little kicks from Wade took the ball away from him and although Wade’s feet were in touch he put his hand on the ball. The TMO knew rule 22.4 g and awarded the try. Andy G converted for a 10-3 lead. Almost immediately Wasps scored again. This time Eliot Daly ran through the entire Sarries’ defence to score. Andy G converted again and suddenly, after 14 minutes, Wasps were 17-3 up. Who would have thought they wouldn’t score again?
Despite the lack of success, Sarries continued to kick everything. Eventually they won a penalty in the Wasps 22, kickable but Alex G went for the corner (rather careless – ended up 10m out). The catch and drive was stopped illegally and the scenario went round again. This time the ball came out to Bosch but he knocked on however referee Matt Carley had his hand up for another Sarries’ penalty. So we went round again. This time a super clean take by Itoje set up a catch and drive and a huge shove got the ball over the line for Wray to touch down. Alex G kicked a lovely touchline conversion from the wrong side and the score was back to 17-10.
There was a bit of afters between Burger & Ashley Johnson which lead to a rather bizarre Wasps scrum deep in their own half (from where a Sarries’ kick landed) and a Sarries penalty. Alex G had his kicking boots on and hoofed it over the crossbar to narrow the gap to 4. Sarries continued to attack although Bosch wasted a good position with a poor drop goal attempt. Then Wasps overthrew a lineout straight to Mako at the back. He carried well, then a super chip from Wiggy found Wyles on the left wing. Wyles evaded a last gasp tackle from Wade and grounded the ball. It went to the TMO but no errors were found and the try stood. Another super touchline conversion from Alex G and amazingly Sarries were ahead!
The game headed for half time with more kicks which didn’t seem to trouble the Wasps back 3. Itoje just got better and better. Burger seemed to have won the ball but the referee didn’t agree and the last kick of the half was a Wasp’s penalty to level it. Andy G however missed the straightforward kick.
So at half time we learned there had been 76 kicks from hand in the half – 52 from Sarries & 24 from Wasps.
The second half began with a high tackle from Ashton which led to 10 minutes with his feet up. Wasps couldn’t profit from the penalty and their poor lineout led to a Sarries’ penalty. A drop-goal attempt from Alex G seemed to be touched in flight but Mr Carley thought not. The high ball game continued and slowly, gradually, Wasps began to make errors. Andy G spilt a high ball and from the penalty that came, Alex G kicked the points. Ash returned to the field. Another stat:- Apparently Sarries play better with only 14 on the pitch. This season we have scored 41 and conceded 30 during sin-bin periods!
Another penalty for Hughes putting his hands in the ruck – this one hit the posts. Itoje almost got the ball over the try line but in the end Wasps cleared the ball. But not far. They couldn’t get out of their half and back came Sarries. Barritt and Andy G collided in mid-air with Barritt coming off far worse. He seemed to have head and leg injuries and limped off (later Mark McCall said it was an ankle and hopefully not as bad as it looked). Streather replaced Brad and Figallo came on for Du Plessis. Mako lost his footing on a pitch that was cutting up badly for a brief Wasps’ respite and a shot at goal but Andy G’s radar was off again (although to be fair he did seem to be kicking in the middle of a cabbage patch).
Sarries were back on the attack, this time through Ransom who was just beaten to a kick through by Wade. From the lineout, Sarries drove about 15 metres before the maul was illegally stopped and Thompson departed for the bin. Alex G kicked the points for a 26-17 lead and relative comfort.
Wasps were still pinned in their own half. Ransom kicked ahead for Streather but Wade had a head start on him and just covered the ball. A 5m scrum. What a time to change Ashley Johnson to hooker and bring on 2 new props. It almost worked. Another turnover. The ball came out to Ash but the pass was slow and enabled 3 Wasp’s defenders to hold him up over the line. Another scrum. The pitch was cutting up really badly now and the forwards couldn’t get a drive on. This time the ball came out to Wyles who really should have scored but knocked the ball on. Mordt replaced Ashton (who had picked up a knock). Another 5m scrum, this time a Wasps put in but huge pressure from the Sarries 8 led to a poor clearance and more pressure. Again Sarries should have scored but this time Wasps forced a penalty and a bit of breathing space.
Johnson managed a straight throw-in to the lineout but Sarries turned the ball over and again really should have scored had the ball come quickly to Wyles who was screaming for it on the left wing. Unfortunately Mordt was now at 10 and hung on to the ball far too long. By the time he passed it Wyles was clean out of space.
With a couple of minutes to go, Wasps got into the rarefied territory of the Sarries’ half but to no avail. Burger prevented Simpson from clearing the ball for another Sarries’ penalty. In the dying minute, Jared Saunders replaced Jamie George (another stat – Jamie has played in every Premiership & European game this season). Wyles also appeared to be in pain but recovered and Ben Spencer came on for man-of-the-match Richard Wigglesworth. The game ended with another Sarries’ turn over and Spencer cheerfully booted the ball into the stands.
In the second half, Wasps spent just 1% of the time in the Sarries’ 22 and 71% in their own half. Pretty telling. Don’t you just love statistics!
So a good(e) win which looked decidedly unlikely after the first 15 minutes. Sarries controlled the game far better in the second half. There was less kicking, and as a result when the kicks came they caused more trouble. Wade had a good game for Wasps, both in defence and attack. Alex was the Goode fairy. Itoje just gets better and better. Even more encouraging, Charlie told us that Itoje had spent a lot of time working with Borthwick last season, learning the finer points of second row play and captaincy. Sweet music to the ears given how much Captain Steve has been missed this season. Maybe, just maybe Maro can fill his enormous boots.
Ok I’m off to take the dogs out and see if we can find some Kites……
Wasps:-
Miller, Wade, Daly, Downey, Tagicakibau, Goode, Simpson, Mullan (McIntyre), Lindsey (Jackson), Cittadini (Swainson), Davies, Gaskell (Myall), Johnson, Young (Thompson), Hughes.
Saracens:
Ransom, Ashton (Mordt), Bosch, Barritt (Streather), Wyles, Goode, Wigglesworth (Spencer), Vunipola (Gill), George (Saunders), Du Plessis (Figallo), Hamilton, Hargreaves, Itoje, Burger (Hankin), Wray (Joubert)
Scorers:-
Wasps (17): Tries: Wade, Daly Conv: Andy Goode (2) Pen: Andy Goode
Saracens (26): Tries: Wray, Wyles Conv Alex Goode (2) Pens: Alex Goode (4)
Attendance: 5,437
Referee: Matt Carley
One other stat they served up for us was that the first scrum didn't arrive until the 25th minute. The front Rows demonstrated their frustration at this delay, by insisting that it be reset!
Oh, and, of course, it's LAW 22.4.g
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015:03:21:15:12:06 by TonyTaff.
"Darkness washed over the Dude - Darker than a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night. There was no bottom."
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
I hadn't realised you were short of reporters again
Yes we're very short at the moment having lost one of our regulars a few weeks ago, we're down to 3 or 4 I think. We don't have anyone for Saturday if you fancy it, otherwise it'll be little ol' me again!