SARRIES HOLD ON AGAINST RAMPAGING SCOTS

Well what do we make of that? On the face of it, job done, 5 points in the bag and a home win. But in practice it didn’t feel like that at all at a very cold StoneX. Edinburgh so nearly did the job and took the points home. Was it the cold (Edinburgh presumably are more used to freezing conditions)? Was it the lack of gametime? Was it better preparation by the Edinburgh coaches ? Did Edinburgh play an inexperienced referee better? Had the squad just forgotten how to play together? Whatever, Edinburgh came very close to victory today and Sarries will need to up their game in France next week.

On paper Sarries’ were about as strong as they could be with the return from International duties of Faz, Billy, Mako, Maro, Theo, Hugh & Nick T plus the return from injury of Marco Riccioni and (on the bench) Woolfie and Aled Davies. Edinburgh were a team packed with Scotland regulars with the notable exception of Darcy Graham. Unusually (and due to the versatility of Alex Goode & Elliot Daly) Sarries had a 6:2 split on the bench.

So what happened then? We started with a minute’s applause for Doddie: Edinburgh shoulder to shoulder in their playing kit, Sarries protected from the elements with white long-sleeved tops which were removed to reveal the Men in Black. Our referee was Nika Amashukeli from Georgia. An unknown quantity to say the least!

Sarries started brilliantly with Mako neatly popping the ball inside for Sean Maitland to burst through almost to the 22. Tompkins and Daly almost made it to the try line before Van Zyl’s toe touched the line and that was that. Edinburgh won the first of too many penalties leading to a break by Van der Merwe and another penalty when Sarries were adjudged to have not rolled away. From the resulting line out, Edinburgh, worryingly easily, scored through their tighthead Luin de Bruin. The tall Emiliano Boffelli never looked like missing and the Scots had a 7 point lead.

A lovely kick from Kinghorn was superbly taken by Boffelli who found Goosen. Goosen just lost his footing as he approached the tryline enabling Faz, Jamie George and Daly to stop him and steal the ball. Van der Merwe dropped a high ball under no pressure. The first scrum ended in a scrum penalty to Sarries. Sarries gained territory from the kick and a sustained attack in the Edinburgh 22 eventually ended in a lovely cross field kick to Daly on the wing. Daly took the ball, side-stepped Van der Merwe and scored in the corner. Faz kicked a tricky conversion, to level the scores.

Sarries were penalised again for crossing this time, and Edinburgh once again stormed into the Sarries’ 22. Already there was clear tension between Faz and Mr Amashukeli. Not a good sign to get on the wrong side of the man with the whistle. Another scrum, steam rising from the pack and another Sarries’ penalty – at least Sarries seemed to have the upper hand at the set piece. Edinburgh were also pinged for not rolling away and Faz set the ball up for the posts. Maybe it was the incongruous calls of Parakeets flying overhead that put him off but he missed. Needless-to-say that didn’t improve his humour! Van der Merwe’s nightmare continued with another dropped high ball. Another scrum, another Sarries penalty and a lecture for Richie the Edinburgh captain. Mr Amashukeli has the rather worrying habit of signalling the penalty raising 1 arm then immediately raising the other. Surely not backchat? No just his way. But it didn’t really matter because Sarries conceded yet another soft penalty at the lineout followed by a high tackle by Itoje (which looked pretty innocuous to be honest). Boffelli landed the kick from the 10m line to put Edinburgh back in front.

Sarries attacked again but struggled to make ground and when they did get close through Loz and Maitland, Billy’s pass went straight into touch. Another soft penalty conceded at the breakdown against Loz. One had the feeling that Edinburgh were just being more streetwise and Sarries a bit naïve, making it easy for Mr Amashukeli to penalise the Men in Black. Edinburgh decided to change their tighthead with WP Nel coming on for the try scorer De Bruin. It worked, with Edinburgh getting a free kick from the next scrum and then another penalty once again for not rolling away. Sarries were falling into Edinburgh’s trap every time and now the Scots had the referee seeing things their way too. Boffelli once again took the points (the referee appearing confused as to where the offence occurred and plumped for a spot a good 5m closer to the centre than it should have been) and Edinburgh now led 7-13.

Damian Hoyland came on for his 100^th cap as an HIA replacement for Bennett. Things were looking up a bit from the restart when Sarries won a penalty for obstruction which was marched forward 10m for dissent. Faz put the ball in the corner and Earl took it over the try line. Faz again missed the kick but 12-13 seemed a bit more comfortable. Just as it looked like we would get to half time without further insult, another penalty this time won by McInally (who seemed to fall to his knees before he got the ball but what do I know?) and the Scots went into the warm leading 12-16.

To be honest it was a pretty disappointing 40 (going on 55) minutes. Edinburgh had done their homework and were very efficient at slowing the game down and suffocating the Sarries’ attacks. Although Sarries had the upper hand at the set piece, their poor discipline and Edinburgh getting away with some suspect dealings in the loose, was leading to frustration and the exasperation of Faz and most of the crowd. Hopefully MMc could work his halftime magic.

Sarries began the 2^nd half brightly with a quick tap by Van Zyl taking play into Edinburgh’s 22 but Edinburgh pushed them back forcing Farrell to go for touch. McInally’s throw wasn’t straight so another scrum and this time a Sarries’ free kick taken quickly to Billy. A beautiful Daly cross field chip found Lewington out on the wing, the bounce was kind  and he scored in the corner. Once again Faz had left his kicking boots in the locker but for the first time in the match Sarries took the lead 17-16. Undaunted Edinburgh pushed on. Without Goode’s rock solid hands, compounded by the cold, Sarries weren’t dealing well with the barrage of high balls coming their way but were saved by a forward pass (called loudly by the crowd and the referee finally agreed). His largesse didn’t last long as Sarries conceded yet again at the breakdown and Boffelli took an easy 3 in front of the posts to put the Scots back in front.

Christie replaced a heavily strapped Theo who hadn’t looked himself all afternoon – maybe he didn’t relish the cold. Another crooked line out from Edinburgh and another turnover in the red zone (literally as the red stuff was pouring from Earl’s eyebrow). A 3^rd wonky throw, a scrum penalty for Sarries and Faz had an easy shot to take the lead again 20-19. Goode came on for Lozowski. A cynical tackle on Van Zyl by his opposite number gave Faz another shot and another 3 points: 23-19. From the restart Faz almost committed suicide when his pass wide was intercepted by Hoyland who almost ran the length of the field, avoiding 3 tackles by rapidly retreating Men in Black. A try looked inevitable as Lang headed for an open goal but somehow Faz and Tompkins got their bodies under the ball and it was held up. What a let off!

MMc started to ring a few more changes with Mako, Hugh Tizard & Jamie heading for the warmth of the changing rooms to be replaced by Mawi, Hunter-Hill and a welcome return for Tom Woolstencroft. Fresh (warm) legs and Sarries were back on the attack with a turnover from Woolfie and Faz found a long touch. Once again the Edinburgh line-out misfired and was pouched by Mawi standing at the back. Wave after wave of Saracens threatened the line but it seemed Edinburgh would hold until finally Woolfie himself grounded the ball for the bonus point try. Faz landed the extras and Mr Amashukeli sent McInally to the bin. 30-19, finally some clear water and most of the rest of the game against 14 men. Surely Sarries would kick on now? Would they heck!

Edinburgh bounced straight back as Kinghorn ran through a gap as wide as the Firth of Forth, offloaded to Goosen who scored. Of course Boffelli converted making it 30-26. More cold bodies were given respite as Riccioni, Billy and Van Zyl were replaced by Clarey, Wray and another welcome returnee, Aled Davies. Wray almost immediately won a rare loose field penalty for Sarries. From the lineout, Hunter-Hill was upended by WP Nel. To us he seemed to land on his head and it looked like a red but Mr Amashukeli opted for yellow (and given there were less than 4 minutes left the result was the same). So Edinburgh were now down to 13. Faz decided against taking the 3 (presumably because the gap would still have been breachable at 7 had he got it) and went for the corner. Hindsight is 20:20 vision. The 13 men of Edinburgh defended amazingly well and inevitably Sarries were once again pinged for not releasing (it appeared they still hadn’t got to grips with Mr Amashukeli). Could Edinburgh do it? A lineout thrown superbly by Jamie Richie and second Edinburgh penalty, Edinburgh back up to 14 and the danger was looking real.  A huge hit from Mawi forced a knock on and that was it. We all breathed a huge sigh of relief.

On paper this was a 5 point win (despite which Sarries are only 6^th in pool A – all 6 winning teams got 5 points and all the others have a better points difference.) Sarries need to be aware that being back at the top table will not be a walk in the park. All things considered this was a pretty underwhelming performance from the Men in Black. Yes they got the job done but it could so easily have all gone horribly wrong. Edinburgh had done their homework, adapted better to the conditions and the referee and took their chances. In Boffelli they had in my view the best player on the pitch (although MOTM went to Daly). Were it not for Saracens’ dominance at the set piece, this could have been a very different outcome. Thank goodness this season Sarries have found a way to win games they should have lost! But we will learn from this and the team will benefit from another week together. I expect a very different performance in Lyon next weekend.

SARACENS:

Daly, Lewington, Lozowski (Goode), Tompkins, Maitland, Farrell, Van Zyl (Davies); M Vunipola (Mawi), George (Woolstencroft), Riccioni (Clarey), Itoje, Tizard (Hunter-Hill), McFarland (Christie), Earl, B Vunipola (Wray).

EDINBURGH

Boffelli, Goosen, Bennett (Hoyland), Lang, Van der Merwe, Kinghorn, Vellacott (Shiel); Schoeman (Venter), McInally, De Bruin (Nel), Hodgson (Sykes), Gilchrist, Ritchie, Crosbie (Muncaster), Mata

SCORERS:

Saracens 30: Tries: Daly, Earl, Lewington, Woolstencroft. Conv: Farrell (2); Pens: Farrell (2)

Edinburgh 26: Tries: De Bruin, Goosen; Conv: Boffelli (2); Pens: Boffelli (4)

Yellow Cards: De Bruin, Nel

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)