OUCH! BADLY STUNG

 

The line ups had seen Marcelo Bosch moved to full back, with Mike Ellery and Chris Wyles on the wings outside a centre partnership of Nick Tompkins and Brad Barritt, whilst Ben Spencer was given the nod alongside Charlie Hodgson in the half backs. Into the forwards, and the front row comprised of Richard Barrington, Schalk Brits and Petris du Plessis, with a second row of Jim Hamilton and Alistair Hargreaves, and a back row which included Michael Rhodes, Jacques Burger and Samu Vunisa. Although Saracens are heavily involved in the Six Nations squads, the voluntary rotations of earlier in the campaign have highlighted the talents of all of the players who started today, so it's not an excuse for a very bad day at the office. Wasps had Elliot Daly and Matt Mullan from their England contingent available, although not James Haskell of course, so their starting XV saw Charles Piatau at full back, with Christian Wade on the right wing and Josh Bassett on the left, and the centre partnership featuring Daly and new signing Siale Piatau. Jimmy Gopperth was at fly half, with Dan Robson at scrum half due to the injury of Joe Simpson. The pack saw Simon McIntyre at loosehead, Ashley Johnson at hooker and Jake Cooper-Woolley at tighthead. James Cannon and Kearnan Myall teamed up at lock, whilst Thomas Young, George Smith and Hughes formed the back row. 

 

Moments into the game, the tone was set in a blistering start by the visitors. Wasps won the first scrum of the match against the head, and the ball was clipped forward down the right flank with Wade in pursuit, and he picked up to initiate a right to left move which culminated in Charles Piatau going over in the left corner for an unconverted try after three minutes. A minor blip, but, something more serious was emerging for Saracens after an incisive move by the Coventry side yielded a second try with the match only five minutes old. Hughes won a turnover in his own 22, allowing Charles Piatau to break from deep and find the supporting Bassett at pace, who supplied the pass for Young to go over to the left of the posts, and this time it was converted. And on seven minutes, the visitors had a third try as they continued to break at ease, and this time it was Smith who set up Robson to go into beneath the sticks, and a 19-0 lead. Having staged stirring comebacks in the last two matches, Saracens would once again need to prove you can score too early, and got off the mark as Hodgson converted a scrum penalty in the tenth minute. 

 

Could the comeback be on? The odd error began to creep into the visitors play, with passes sailing out of play and penalties not finding touch, and on 16 minutes, Saracens managed to form a dangerous rolling maul, but, despite Wasps sometimes struggling against this facet of play in some previous matches, they kept this one out. It would only be a short respite, as the hosts continued to suggest that they could recover from this nightmare start, as after Wyles went close on the left after a move initiated by a wayward Spencer pass, the rolling maul produced a 21st minute try through Barritt, and Hodgson converted for 19-10. Given that Saracens had recovered from deficits last season to win at both Twickenham and Coventry last season, it was all about how Wasps would respond to being pegged back. 

 

But, just when the momentum appeared to be swinging back in the favour of the home side, their opponents forced a vital 27th minute scrum penalty which set up a rolling maul and a series of crashing drives which concluded in Hughes going over from close range for the try bonus point. Sarries were grateful for another missed conversion, but were still 10-24 down. Saracens made the first change of the match as Barrington made way for Rhys Gill, and an offence at the lineout saw Hodgson trim the visitors' lead to 24-13 on the half hour, as the hosts continued to look threatening when they managed to get into the Wasps 22. That said, they kept being caught out by quick counter attacks, as the ball worked loose when Siale Piatau was tackled and Hughes picked up and broke forward for a fifth try confirmed by the TMO. The home side did have the last word, though, as Robson's kick out on the full provided some late pressure, as Bosch narrowly failed to latch onto Hodgson's deep pass, but play was pulled back for an earlier infringement and the fly half made it 16-31 at the break. 

 

The sense at half time was that the visitors' lead was daunting, if not entrirely insurmountable. What emerged in practice was a shocking half which Saracens lost 33-7. It had seemed momentarily promising when they won a penalty almost from the kick off, but Spencer's kick was charged down, allowing Young to advance at pace and setting up the move which brought Gopperth an easy finish at the base of the posts. Now 38-16 down, the home side responded with a trio of changes, with Titi Lamositele, Will Fraser and Richard Wigglesworth introduced for du Plessis, Vunisa and Spencer, but they were three more points down, within moments as Hargreaves was sin-binned as well. Even when Saracens had the ball, there was a real energy in the Wasps defence, and a ominous rolling maul which went 20 metres in the midfield earnt a penalty, taking the visitors back into home territory again, and allowing Charles Piatau to ghost in for another score. Sarries were penalised in the aftermath of the five pointer for fighting, providing the unusual scene of a penalty kick from halfway in place of a restart, and Gopperth stepped up for what was effectively a ten point try and a 51-16 advantage.

 

By now the substitutions were coming thick and fast, with Saracens struggling to gain the territory to have a chance of making the scoreline respectable, as they didn't have much of an advantage in the scrum. However, they did make the most of an opportunity on 53 minutes when Wasps were penalised for holding on, and they patiently went through the phases eventually collecting the seven points through Hamilton and Hodgson. The new faces did at last add a bit more zip to their attacking play, although they still struggled to make much ground otherwise as the Wasps defence lost little of its intensity. Instead, they paid for a lineout error as the visitors claimed their final try with 67 minutes played, as a weak lineout throw was stolen by Highes to burst forward and slip a fine pass to Robson for a converted try. The last word in a stunning statement by the visitors brought two late penalty kicks, first from Daly, and then from Saracens-bound replacement fly half Alex Lozowski. 

 

A  bad day at the office for sure, and not a memory to savour for Saracens, but there will be good days in the future, and with a string of surprise results elsewhere, not much ground has been lost at the top of the table.

 

Line Ups:

Saracens

15 Marcelo Bosch; 14 Mile Ellery; 13 Nick Tompkins (Ben Ransom 53); 12 Brad Barritt; 11 Chris Wyles; 10 Charlie Hodgson (Nils Mordt 59); 9 Ben Spencer (Richard Wigglesworth 44); 1 Richard Barrington (Rhys Gill 28); 2 Schalk Brits (Jared Saunders 68); 3 Petrus du Plessis (Titi Lamositele 44); 4 Jim Hamilton; 5 Alistair Hargreaves (Hayden Smith 56); 6 Michael Rhodes; 7 Jacques Burger; 8 Samu Vunisa (Will Fraser 44)

 

Wasps

15 Charles Piatau (Rob Miller 62); 14 Christian Wade; 13 Elliot Daly; 12 Siale Piatau; 11 Josh Bassett; 10 Jimmy Gopperth (Alex Lozowski 68); 9 Dan Robson (Jamie Stevenson 68); 1 Simon McIntyre (Matt Mullan 56); 2 Ashley Johnson (Carlo Festuccia 59); 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley (Phil Swainston 65); 4 James Cannon (Will Rowlands 65); 5 Kearnan Myall  6 Thomas Young (Alex Rieder 59); 7 George Smith; 8 Nathan Hughes

 

Attendance: 8742

 

Referee: Ian Tempest