6 PACK FOR SARACENS
By Darraghgirl
December 14 2015
One of the best things about being a rugby supporter is the chance to travel to all sorts of weird and wonderful places. Yes of course you can say you don't need to support a rugby team to have a weekend in France. No you don't - but there is no way Mr DG or Mr & Mrs ‘Farmer’ would have agreed to a mini break this close to Christmas without an excuse! And there is no way we would have ended up somewhere as lovely as ...... No not Oyonnax but Annecy. A bit of research suggested Oyonnax wasn't promising for a jolly weekend, Geneva was pricy so thanks to whoever it was on the message board who mentioned Annecy. It was an excellent choice.
The flight in to Geneva on a gin clear Saturday morning even on easyJet was a pleasant experience and after a minor mix-up with the hire car (we'd hired it in French Geneva not Swiss Geneva which entailed a trip back up the escalator "to France"), we set off down the motorway for a 40 minute drive to Annecy. We arrived at a quaint little hotel on the banks of the Lake where the owner/receptionist was charming and helpful. There was frost in the ground and snow on the mountain tops as we walked into beautiful "Vielle Annecy", wandered round the Christmas market, sampled the delicious French fare (oysters, warm white wine - tastes better than it sounds- cured ham, even caviar). We watched the Son et Lumiere on the façade of the Hotel du Ville then tucked in to a delicious dinner at La Ciboulette. Not cheap but food to die for !
So a leisurely breakfast then a scenic trip over the mountains to Oyonnax (ok I got the time wrong and we arrived an hour too early but that enabled us to park for nothing opposite the stadium then spend an hour in a nice little bar drinking the local beer). The locals told us we missed "a party" in the town on Saturday night. I hope those of you who stayed in Oyonnax had a good time.
Stage Charles Mathon is a home from home for Sarries. An artificial pitch surrounded on 3 sides by demountable stands. Could almost be Allianz park ! Sadly the food on offer was pretty non existent. Best we could find was a pot of chips which was disappointing, especially when you think of the fare available at Racing. And it’s the first time I’ve been body searched before entering a rugby ground, still ‘Je suis Paris’ and all that – you can’t be too careful.
So this was a game between the best team in England (Europe?) and the worst team in the French Top 14. Surely there could only be one result ? Well this is Saracens but for once the banana skin was neatly avoided and things proceeded as they should.
There was an early scare when Billy went down with a worrying-looking knee injury but after a few minutes attention from our lady physio in the shorts (she must have been frozen) he got back to his feet so she obviously knows her job. The first scrum went to form with Sarries winning a penalty. A second kickable penalty followed which Owen sliced uncharacteristically to loud jeers from the small but partisan crowd. Meanwhile the young ball girl had presumably been misinformed and brought another ball on for the restart. She had to hastily remove it ! Owen soon got a chance to redeem himself and this time the kick was good so after 7 minutes Sarries took a 3-0 lead. This time the little girl brought the ball on correctly!
From the restart, Oyonnax finally got into the Sarries 22 but it was a short lived adventure. There followed some aerial stuff, careless handling from Oyonnax but also rather too many turnovers by the Frenchmen for Sarries' liking. The French Resistance was rewarded with a penalty which Clegg (still a dead-ringer for Prince Harry, even with the haircut) kicked to touch. Sarries disrupted the maul and turned the ball over. In no time the ball was back in the Oyonnax 22. There was a dangerous break down the right wing by Ashton but his inside pass didn't find Wiggy. The ball went loose and Codjo carried over. Mr Mitrea, the Italian referee, was in no mood for generosity and when, from the subsequent scrum, Oyonnax crumbled, he went straight under the posts for the penalty try and easy conversion. 10-0.
Oyonnax won a penalty shortly after the restart. Up stepped Prince Harry but his kicking hasn't improved from his Newcastle days and the kick missed. He had another chance a few minutes later following a good 5 minutes for Oyonnax but the outcome was the same (albeit a bit closer as this one hit the posts). Ashton almost ran on to the clearance but Oyonnax managed to get back into the Sarries’ half. Silly penalties were being conceded by the Englishmen and eventually Prince Harry got one over. The metal stand in which we were seated rocked with clapping and stamping. God only knows what would happen if they scored a try. The whole thing might collapse!
Local pleasure was short-lived. A lovely break from Farrell found Wyles inside him. Wyles slipped the ball to Goode, the Oyonnax defence parted before him like the Red Sea and he scored. Farrell was back in the groove and converted for a 17-3 lead after half an hour. More was to follow. This time a lovely break from Goode found Wyles who flipped up a pass in the tackle. Farrell and Fraser kept the move going for Wyles himself to run straight through the middle and score under the posts. Farrell converted and suddenly the score was 24-3 and as half time approached, the job was almost done.
We were treated to some flag tossing at half time although the selection of flags seemed somewhat odd as they included Cyprus, Sweden and Finland to name 3. Maybe that was all they had “Sports Soccer” French Style.
The second half started and remained largely in French territory but the Resistance was good. There was a very long pause while we waited for a TMO ruling on a high tackle which the big screen obstinately refused to show. When finally it did, Mr Mitrea gave Sarries a penalty for an armless tackle. We all appreciated a lovely turnover on Tonga'uhia by the excellent Rhodes (he looks to be a superb signing). But despite all the pressure, the 4th try didn't materialize. Another break from Goode looked promising but his pass to Ashton was well read by Tian. Finally the try came when a lovely delayed pass from Rhodes found Itoje who ran in unopposed for the bonus point try. Two minutes later a 5th try followed when Jamie George broke free and found Rhodes who was almost there. Up popped Wiggy for the score.
Inevitably the substitutes came on and inevitably it disrupted the flow. But the game was done and dusted with half an hour to go so it probably wasn't surprising that Sarries dropped back to 2nd gear. The subs included Rhys Gill making his 150th appearance for the club. Sadly Mako didn't get long to put his feet up as Gill picked up an ankle injury and hobbled off again a few minutes later. Farrell was deservedly given a generous ovation by the French crowd when he was replaced by Hodgson. Brits added a bit of impetus and at one point put Ashton in with a shout but his kick ahead was kicked into touch by Codjo.
The final phase of the game was a bit like my cat Jasper when he's had his Whiskers but catches a mouse for the hell of it. He plays with the mouse, always giving the poor little creature hope that it might escape only for Jasper to pounce once again. So it was with Sarries. Oyonnax had a lot of ball but most of the time went backwards and when there was a glimmer of hope, it was rapidly shut down. Occasionally Jasper gets a bit lazy and the mouse escapes and thus Oyonnax finally scored a try. Sarries conceded one too many penalties. Oyonnax took a tap this time with Prince Harry's replacement Arthur Aziza finding Lespunas on the floor. He popped the ball up to reserve scrum half Florian Faure who scored. Well the stand didn't fall down but the noise was deafening. You'd think Oyonnax had scored the winning try! Aziza converted.
We entered the final 90 seconds. Saracens, like Jasper, were piqued that their prey had escaped and immediately set out to right the wrong. 2 penalties in the Oyonnax 22 went in the corner. Finally Wray almost made it but the ball was short. It was recycled to a charging Brits who, with the help of the TMO scored a 6th try. Charlie converted for a 45-10 victory and Saracens, like Jasper, were satisfied.
Alex Goode was deservedly named man of the match but had farrell stayed on the pitch for the full 80 minutes he would have run him close.
It was a happy party who drove back across the Rhone and over the mountains for another pleasant evening in Annecy.
So we are still unbeaten and riding high at the top of Group 1 on 14 points. Victory next week should give us at least 1 foot in the quarter finals. As I put the final touches to this report, easyJet are about to land 30 mins ahead of schedule. All in all a very satisfying weekend.
Oyonnax
Etienne, Tian, Bousses, Taufa, Codjo, Clegg (Aziza), Cibray (Faure), Tonga'uhia (Rapant), Maurouard (Bordes), Pungea(Clerc), Power, Fabbri (Guillamon), Ursache, Missoup, Wannenburg (Gunther)
Saracens
Goode, Ashton, Bosch, Barrett, Wyles (Ellery), Farrell (Hodgson), Wigglesworth (De Kock), M Vunipola (Gill), George (Brits), Figallo (du Plessis), Hamilton, Itoje (Brown), Rhodes, Fraser, B Vunipola (wray).
Scorers
Oyonnax.: Try: Faure, Conv: Aziza, Pen Clegg,
Saracens: Tries: Pen, Wyles, Goode, Itoje, Wigglesworth, Brits, Conv: Farrell (5), Hodgson, Pen: Farrell
Attendance: 8,800
Referee Marius Mitrea (Italy)
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015:12:23:13:10:07 by sutton_sarrie.
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Town wasn't great but people were!
Disagree re warm white wine!!!
European champions 2016 & 2017
Glad you had a great time and brought back the BP with you.
Were the curtains still up when you returned home or had Jasper ripped them to shreds without food or mice??
Wolf Pack ain't got nuttin' on a hungry cat on a mouse-hunt!!
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !