DARRAGH THE BULLY

Let’s start like all good award ceremonies: I’d like to thank my friend, the eponymous Storm Darragh, without whom none of this would have been possible!  Maybe a slight exaggeration but undoubtedly good ol’ Darragh was once again our Man of the Match. Darragh is also the reason this report is not as detailed as usual: StoneX was no place for a pen and notepad last night so this report is largely what I remember plus a few prompts from Sarries’ Twitter (sorry X) feed.

Darragh was showing his full range of powers. Rain driving horizontally (although mercifully that stopped quite early on) and a mighty powerful wind blowing straight down the pitch from the North making the posts vibrate like tuning forks. For a game that was allegedly almost sold out there were a lot of empty seats (no way were there over 9,000 people there!) – I suspect many fans decided to stay home and possibly fork out for Premier Sport to watch the action but this was a night for being there and experiencing Darragh in all his glory. The “light show” was a bit of a damp squib with a few people making the effort to hold up their twinkling phones but the whole thing rather petered out.

The Bulls team featured Springbok Internationals Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marco van Staden and Cobus Wiese along with returning fly half Johan Goosen. Sarries welcomed back Jamie George, Nick Isiekwe and Maro Itoje with Ben Earl on the bench. Loz was missing following the injury he picked up last week with Cinti taking his place at centre. Speaking of benches, the Bulls’ bench looked stronger at least on paper.

Bulls kicked off with the wind behind them in the first half and already we could see Darragh’s impact. Ominously, the first scrum ended in a Bulls’ penalty. This could be a long evening! Bulls hammered the Sarries’ try line but the Men in Black stood firm and eventually won a lineout when the ball was passed into touch. But Darragh made it really difficult to clear the 22. Kicks were more likely to travel backwards and Burke’s attempt at a clearance penalty barely made touch just outside the 22. After 10 minutes all the play had been in Sarries’ half. Bulls were awarded a controversial penalty and kicked to the corner. Another great defensive set but this time Bulls managed to score in the far corner through de Klerk. Darragh sent the attempted conversion way wide.

Sarries made it into the Bulls’ half from a flattish restart and somehow Sarries were on the attack. Itoje won a penalty. Burke’s kick, which would normally have been a nailed-on 3, hit the post. Having managed to work the ball upfield into the teeth of the gale, Sarries weren’t giving up territory easily. Reverting to good old up the jumper rugby, Carre managed to score the equalising try. Darragh once again sent the conversion way off course but we were back level. Goosen’s restart bounced over the dead ball line. Sarries managed to win a penalty from the resulting scrum. Daly’s kick ended up on the SARRIES 10m line but just found touch. Bulls were back on the attack but once again the Men in Black held the bridgehead with Willis finally winning a turnover. Keeping the ball in hand, with the help of a couple of penalties, Sarries managed to get back into the Bulls half. A penalty in front for Burke and this time even Darragh couldn’t blow the ball off course. 8-5 and almost half time. Bulls got themselves back into Sarries 22 and it looked like they might snatch another try as the clock went dead but Sarries managed to halt the driving maul, win a turnover and get the ball out of the scrum and into touch just as the gong sounded.

So a positive first half and we felt with Darragh on our side in the second half we could do this. It was somewhat disconcerting though to see a zebra walking round the pitch at halftime firing zebra teddies into the crowd. What have they done with Sarrie? (Safe in his stable? Not the right weather for a camel maybe?)

Darragh continued to blow with all his might as the match resumed. As expected most of the 2^nd half was played out in the Bulls’ 22. Sarries probably should have scored early on but the final pass went astray. Then a bit of luck. Kirsten’s tackle on Segun was deemed high. Ironically Kirsten came off worse and his HIA was compounded with a yellow card. (Seriously, this looked like a rugby incident to us – how on earth do you get low enough to tackle Segun legally when you’re nearly twice as tall?) Burke found a good touch and a 2^nd penalty got Sarries to the 5m line. It also resulted in a yellow for de Klerk – one offence too many for Mr Evans and possibly a bit of backchat as well. So Sarries had nearly 10 minutes against 13. Jamie scored straight away from the lineout maul and despite the conversion being from wide out, Darragh decided to show compassion and helped Burke’s kick over the crossbar. 15-5.

A big cheer saw the arrival of Ben Earl for Juan Martin Gonzalez (who had looked much more like his old self this week). Bulls just couldn’t get the ball into their own half. With a kicked clearance not an option they didn’t seem to know what to do. Riccioni charged down an attempted box kick from Bulls’ 22 and Willis powered over for try number 3. Yet again Darragh was merciful and Burke landed the extras. 22-5. Sarries looked to have this one and we were talking more about the 4 try bonus than the possibility of defeat. Even when back up to strength, Bulls didn’t seem to know how to handle the Darragh or the Men in Black. Even when they seemed to be getting something together, Segun intercepted the pass, Burke put the kick in behind the Bulls’ defence then forced the Bulls’ scrum half to carry over his own try line. The 5m scrum didn’t go to plan but the respite was only temporary. Sarries were back on the attack and Ben Earl managed to squeeze through a tiny gap on the blindside and score the bonus point try in the corner. Darragh decided that Burke had had enough help and this time the kick went wide.

With just over 10 minutes left, Bulls seemed to have given up and just looked like they wanted to go home. Sarries did what was needed, wound down the clock, managed the final scrum and kicked the ball into touch to seal the win.

What a night! Sarries were everything they lacked up in Newcastle last weekend: they were a team, they had a plan, they dealt with the worst Darragh could throw at them and cajoled him onto their side. Bulls were a bit disappointing. They clearly didn’t enjoy the conditions – it probably doesn’t do that sort of thing up on the high veld – and bereft of the kicking option seemed rather clueless. Sarries on the other hand played the conditions well, hardly kicking at all in the first half and using the wind to their advantage in the second. Willis was deservedly the official Man of the Match but Nick Isiekwe was immense, McFarland’s huge hands were invaluable, Burke played a very intelligent game and the midfield combination of Tompkins and Cinti seemed to work well. The return of George and Itoje was clearly a huge benefit and Earl as always made his presence felt.

I thought referee Craig Evans had a pretty decent game (and for once Sarries seemed to be on the right side of him) although his Assistants both looked to be freezing cold.

So off to Paris next weekend for what will certainly be a different challenge but at least our European journey has got off to the best possible start. Thanks Darragh.

SARACENS:  Daly, Elliott (Parton), Cinti, Tompkins, Segun, Burke (Eden), Van Zyl (Simpson); Carre (Mawi), George (Dan), Riccioni (Clarey), Itoje, Isiekwe (Wilson), McFarland, Gonzalez (Earl) Willis.

VODACOM BULLS: Le Roux (Dyantyl), de Klerk, Moodie, Kriel, Williams, Goosen, Papier (Johannes), Steenekamp (Tshakweni), Grobbelar (van der Merwe), Klopper (Smith), Vermaak, Van Heerden, Van Staden (Vorster), Wiese (Kirsten), Hanekom

SCORERS:
Saracens (27):  Tries: Carre, George, Willis, Earl; Conv: Burke (2); Pen: Burke

Vodacom Bulls (5)  Try: de Klerk

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)

Attendance 9,035