Perfect Ten In The Beautiful South

Saracens 55 - 13 Oyonnax Rugby European Rugby Champions Cup Allianz Park Saturday 19 December

On a crisp winter afternoon, Saracens took complete control of Pool One, serving up an eight try demolition of Oyonnax, as Chris Ashton's hat trick nudged him up to third in the list of all time European top flight try scorers, with 30 in the bag. This was another performance of lethal efficiency and variety in attack; if Saracens' opponents don't know what they're going to do next, Sarries certainly do...

Pre-match, the collection of matchday balls grew by three, as I couldn't decide which one to buy. Should I snap up a Gold one at £50 though, especially as there might be some more at the end of the season - matchday balls have proved to be useful in the unlikeliest of situations, so at the end of the match, the decision was made. More notably, there was an appearance by someone who has often made many Saracens' fans dreams come true - not Father Christmas, but Edward Griffiths, surveying his considerable legacy with a low-key appearance in the West Stand, behind the "other" bench. 

On with the show. With one eye on the challenging trio of Aviva Premiership fixtures at the turn of the year, as trips to Wasps and Harlequins sandwich a home tie with Leicester Tigers, eight adjustments were made to the starting XV in the away game at Oyonnax. However, as in recent weeks, all this is doing is leading to fresher and game fit players with no diminution of quality as the experience gained in the LV Cup competition is brought to bear. So we had Alex Goode at full back, with Chris Ashton and Mike Ellery occupying the wings outside a centre partnership of Duncan Taylor and Brad Barritt, whilst Owen Farrell and Neil de Kock combined at half back. Into the forwards, and the front row contained Mako Vunipola, Schalk Brits and Petrus du Plessis, with a second row of Jim Hamilton and Maro Itoje and a back row comprised of Jackson Wray, Kelly Brown and Samu Vunisa. In opposition, Oyonnax made no less than nine changes, only 2, 4, 5, 6 and 13 remaining unchanged, and last week's 8 moving to 7. Hence, there was Florian Denos at full back, Daniel Ikpefan and ex Exeter Chief Fetu'u Vainokolo on the wings, and Guillaume Bousses with Uwa Tawalo in the centres. Regis Lespanas was at fly half accompanied by Julien Blanc at scrum half. Forwards-wise, the front row was made up of Laurent Delboulbes, Jeremie Maurouard and Marc Clerc. An unchanged second row featured Leon Power and Geoffrey Fabbri, whilst in the back row, Valentin Ursache remained at 6, but Pedrie Wanneburg switched to 7 and Florian Faure came in at 8. 

Oyonnax enjoyed some early pressure, but, as would be a recurring theme for the match, any possession they enjoyed tended to be halted by Saracens winning effective turnovers, or their own mistakes. That said, they were competitive in the early stages, blunting the hosts' first attack in the opening minutes as they stole a close range lineout only to almost immediately concede a penalty. Take two for Sarries on nine minutes, and a short lineout reached Brown and a rapid switch of play from right to left brought a kick from Farrell to Ellery, who, despite his acrobatics, couldn't finish. However, the consequent lineout was stolen by the home side, and though the visitors temporarily regained possession, Saracens went through the phases before a series of long passes involving de Kock, Farrell and Goode sent Ashton into the right hand corner for a converted try after 13 minutes. within two minutes, though, Oyonnax were back in touch as Sarries were penalised for holding on in their own 22 and Lespanas collected the three points. It was a temporary respite for the visitors as some great interplay saw Ellery, showing great willingness to come into the centre, break from the deep and line up with Goode, but Ashton was just unable to score from a similar position to his opening try. 

With the bonus point seemingly already on the agenda, a kickable penalty went for touch, and though Oyonnax were able to clear with a smart turnover, their kick was far too strong and drifted beyond the opposing try line, In contrast, Saracens' kicking game was increasingly useful and Taylor's kick through forced Oyonnax to concede another close range lineout with Ashton set to pounce. From the consequent pressure, Farrell converted a 24th minute penalty for a 10-3 lead and the now incessant pressure continued as Taylor snapped onto a loose pass by Lespanas in midfield, and Ellery, once again in the thick of the action, worked the ball out to Ashton on the left, but the try was ruled out for a forward pass, as the visitors were left grateful for fine margins in truth. However, there was no lack of precision in the move which led to the home side's second try. From the initial lineout, the ball was moved at pace through de Kock and Mako Vunipola culminating in a perfectly-weighted Farrell grubber kick and faultless timing for Ashton to pick up and score on the right. The conversion was missed so it was 15-3 on the half-hour mark.

An eventful closing ten minutes of the first half saw Lespanas narrow the arrears for 15-6, but within moments, Ashton had a sniff of a hat trick as he narrowly failed to completed the intercept, and instead their opponents had a spell of concerted pressure until they were eventually turned over. Saracens would finish the half the stronger as more movement across the pitch featured an initial Ashton break and an excellent flip pass to the supporting Taylor, but the chance was lost. However, the final action did see them take the third try as a blistering run by de Kock was halted by a high tackle and with just enough time to kick for the corner, the rolling maul yielded a converted try for Vunisa and a 20-6 interval scoreline which was more reflective of the balance of play.

Two minutes into the second period, and the try bonus point was taken as Vunisa claimed a second try in quick succession by finishing another rolling maul with the hosts enjoying a 27-6 lead now and continuing to press, as on 46 minutes when de Kock made a scintillating break off a scrum on halfway to reach the 22 - and with comfortable handling across the pitch, another chance for Ashton to complete his hat trick was just missed. However, the wait for a fifth try was short as Ashton collected a high kick on the right touchline and slipped the ball inwards to the supporting Goode to weave through the away defence to the base of the posts for a fine individual try. Wholesale changes on the 50th minute mark may have led to a loss of intensity and coherency for Sarries, but, instead, there was another try with 51 minutes played, as Ellery picked up a stray Lespanas pass which had gone to ground, and surged forward to break and score easily under the posts. With Farrell adding the extras again, it was now 41-6.

When they had the ball,Oyonnax didn't really do much with it, a promising break by Vainikolo being the exception, and they found themselves further behind on the hour when the ball was worked from the scrum to Hodgson, whose ideally timed pass was met on the charge by replacement George just inside the 22 to advance and score. More smart interplay in the centre saw Hodgson combine with Wigglesworth and Ellery to move the ball out to Ashton on the right but the ball just eluded him. A rare mistake by Hodgson gave Vainikolo a consolation score in the 67th minute as he latched onto a wayward pass and advanced to the line, as replacement Rory Clegg converted, and their most complete passage of play with seven minutes remaining might have brought another, but the home defence was able to clear. Sarries, though, had the last word, as the tireless Ashton finally secured his overdue hat trick on 76 minutes. From the scrum, Wigglesworth trickled an inch-perfect grubber kick on the angle to the right, and as Ashton had timed the run perfectly, he just need to pick up and take one step forward to score

So, a massive step nearer to the Quarter Final, but how long can this winning run go on - sweet 16 or even further?

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode (Ben Ramsom 49);  14 Chris Ashton,  13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Ellery; 10 Owen Farrell (Charlie Hodgson 55), 9 Neil de Kock (Richard Wigglesworth 49); 1 Mako Vunipola (Richard Barrington 49), 2 Schalk Brits (Jamie George 21), 3 Petrus du Plessis (Juan Figallo 49); 4 Jim Hamilton (Will Fraser 62), 5 Maro Itoje (Michael Rhodes 55); 6 Jackson Wray, 7 Kelly Brown, 8 Samu Vunisa

Oyonnax:  15 Florian Denos;  14 Daniel Ikpefan,  13 Guillaume Bousses, 12 Uwa Tawalo (Vincent Martin 52), 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo; 10 Regis Lespinas (Rory Clegg 52), 9 Julien Blanc (Arthur Aziza 62); 1 Laurent Delboulbes (Stan Wright 19), 2 Jeremie Maurouard (Jody Jenneker 59), 3 Marc Clerc (Horace Pungea 48); 4 Power, 5 Fabbri; 6 Ursache (Thomas Bordes 66), 7 Wannenburg, 8 Faure (Viliami Ma'afu 50)

Attendance: 9,200

Referee: George Clancy