FOURTEEN'S PLENTY

Once more, Sarries demonstrated the spirit and commitment we have become accustomed to, with some superb work in the much-changed pack, in particular the back row, which saw Will Fraser continue his impressive form with the Man of the Match award, allied to typically assured kicking from Charlie Hodgson. Brits had been sent off for puching Gloucester loosehead Nick Wood. Ironically, Wood had been sent off for stamping in the corresponding fixture in September 2013, when the Cherry and Whites were beaten 44-12, and he was banned for eight weeks. but escaped sanction on this occasion, although in practice, it was his last action of the match as he went off injured.

 

Both sides made a number of adjustments to their starting XV's. For Saracens, in came Ben Ransom, Duncan Taylor, Richard Wigglesworth, Rhys Gill, Hayden Smith, Will Fraser and Jackson Wray. Marcelo Bosch, Ben Spencer and Jacques Burger dropped to the bench, with Nick Tompkins, Richard Barrington, Samu Vunisa and Alistair Hargreaves missing out entirely, the last at least through injury, as he was seen pre-match with a protective boot on his right leg. That meant a line up of Ransom, Mike Ellery and Chris Wyles on the wings, with Taylor and Brad Barritt in the centre, and a half back combination of Hodgson and Wigglesworth. The front row was comprised of Gill, Brits and Petrus du Plessis, with Smith and Jim Hamilton at lock, and a back row of Michael Rhodes, Fraser and Wray. 

 

Gloucester made five changes from the starting side which beat Harlequins at Kingsholm in their last match, Mark Atkinson, Callum Braley, Wood, Jeremy Thrush and Ross Moriarty came in, whilst Willi Heinz and Tom Savage dropping to the bench, with Paddy McAllister, Bill Meakes and Ben Morgan missing out. So, Billy Burns started at full back, with Charlie Sharples and Steve McColl on the wings, and Twelvetrees switching from 12 to 13 to accomodate Atkinson. Hook continued at fly half, alongside scrum half Braley. Forwards-wise, Wood, Richard Hibbard and John Afoa formed the front row, with Thrush and Mariano Galarza at lock, and a back row of Moriarty, Matt Kvesic and Sione Kalamafoni, moved from 6 to 8. 

 

In an incessantly soggy NW4, early knock-ons were to be expected, but Saracens seized the lead with the first opportunity of the match. After Gloucester conceded a penalty for not rolling away, the hosts had a lineout on the edge of the 22, and patient play saw the ball spread by Wigglesworth to Ransom on the right flank who chipped through and collected his own kick, whilst Hodgson set the tone for an accurate display with the touchline conversion. A better start than last week ... 7-0 after four minutes. The visitors responded with a kick through by Burns which was scrambled away for their lineout, but the home defence held form and won the penalty as Gloucester were penalised for holding on. Sharples had shown some promise for them on the right wing, but it was a fragmented match with penalties being conceded by both sides for breakdown offences, Hodgson with his only miss of the day from one such example in the 14th minute. 

 

Saracens' discipline was perhaps a little concerning at this stage, although the penalties they were giving away were nowhere near kicking range, but Barritt was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Moriaty. The defence continued to stick to its task well, defending a maul after an earlier stolen lineout, although a scrum penalty allowed Hook to trim the lead to 7-3 in the 22nd minute. Gloucester, though, failed to secure the ball from the kick off, and from the consequent scrum, Afoa offended and Hodgson stepped up to restore the seven point advantage. The visitors had their best spell just before the sending off, with some menacing pressure, which nearly saw Twelvetrees ghost over, but once again the relentless home defence forced the turnover. In the immediate aftermath, Wood's attempted clearout at the breakdown saw Brits respond with a punch, and was sent off following TMO intervention on the half-hour, with Hook pulling the score back to 10-6.

 

The required reshuffle saw Ellery sacrificed for Jared Saunders, although, given the conditions, this wasn't as big a loss at it might have been ordinarlly, and there were further blows, as Gill and Wigglesworth both departed with injuries, with Tito Lamositele and Spencer entering the fray. In the ensuing play, Saracens went on the attack with one of their most sustained passages of play and did well to retain possession, even earning a penalty to make it 13-6 and provide what would seem to be a vital cushion. Gloucester countered as the half drew to a close as a break by Wood's replacement Dan Murphy saw Hook fail to gather, and a similarly promising run by Moriarty went uncapitalised on too, as the resultant line out was easily cleared. At half time, there was a sense, given Saracens' performance, that a Gloucester win was not a foregone conclusion, and, whatever happened, we would learn a lot about this Saracens squad in the 40 minutes which would follow. 

 

It was the Cherry and Whites who struck first as an offence at the breakdown saw Hook claim the three points from 35 metres, two minutes in. However, Gloucester were not taking hold of the game as might have been expected, as despite a radically reshaped front row, Saracens were still enjoying substantial forward advantage in the scrum, as a sequence of three driving mauls and series of penalties narrowly failed to yield a second try, as their numeric disadvantage rapidly seemed to be becoming irrelevant. The visitors escaped as Spencer's crossfield kick elyded Wyles on the left, but when a kick sailed straight out, they were back under pressure with Saracens enjoying a lineout on the edge of their 22, and when they failed to release a tackled player, Saracens were 16-9 in front with 53 minutes played. They fumbled the kick off, though, and were pinged for hands in the ruck in the aftermath, allowing Hook to make it 16-12.

 

Largely, though, Gloucester's attacks were sporadic at best, as Saracens, understandably, used a low-risk kicking game to good effect, as they kicked substantially more than their opponents, who conceded 18 penalties to the hosts eight. The visitors;' afternoon was perhaps summed up just after the hour mark, when, after stealing a lineout, they finally had some possession, a grubber kick by replacement scrum half Heinz rebounded and caught Gloucester offside, allowing Saracens to gain territory back into the away 22, and earning another penalty to make it 19-12.  With the minutes ticking down, there was a growing sense that Sarries could hold on for a stirring victory, more so when a flowing left to right move on 67 minutes saw Wyles narrowly fail to gather a pass from Taylor on the flank. They continued to pin back Glicester with a real intensity and earnt another penalty to establishe a ten point lead with nine minutes remaining, and when Wyles forced the visitotors to concede a five metre lineout in the 75 minutes after a tricky kick through, the win was settled by Hodgson's sixth penalty. 

 

Not every side would have managed to see out such a comfortable win when down to 14 men. But, not every side is Saracens. 

 

Line Ups

 

Saracens:

15 Ben Ransom; 14 Mike Ellery (Jared Saunders 34); 13 Duncan Taylor; 12 Brad Barritt; 11 Chris Wyles; 10 Charlie Hodgson; 9 Richard Wigglesworth (Ben Spencer 34); 1 Rhys Gill (Titi Lamositele 34); 2 Schalk Brits; 3 Petrus du Plessis (Juan Figallo HT); 4 Hayden Smith; 5 Jim Hamilton; 6 Michael Rhodes (Kelly Brown 52); 7 Will Fraser (Jacques Burger 77) ; 8 Jackson Wray. Replacements not used: 22 Nils Mordt; 23 Marcelo Bosch

 

Gloucester

15 Billy Burns; 14 Charlie Sharples; 13 Billy Twelvetrees; 12 Mark Atkinson (Henry Trinder 59); 11 Steve McColl; 10 James Hook; 9 Callum Braley (Willi Heinz 51); 1 Nick Wood (Dan Murphy 29); 2 Richard Hibbard (Tom Lindsay 71); 3 John Afoa (Paul Doran-Jones 67); 4 Jeremy Thrush; 5 Mariano Galarza (Tom Savage 55); 6 Ross Moriarty; 7 Matt Kvesic (Jacob Rowan 62); 8 Sione Kalamafoni. Replacements not used: 23 Rob Cook

 

Scorers:

SARACENS  try: Ransom;  Conv: Hodgson;  Pens: Hodgson (6)

GLOUCESTER   Pens: Hook (4)

 

 

Attendance: 8432

 

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys RFU