Saracens v Newcastle Red Bulls Premiership Cup Report

On a wet and windy Saturday afternoon, it was Saracens who took the spoils at the StoneX with a thumping 7 try win. This one was always going to be important in deciding the table in our pool for the Premiership Rugby Cup ahead of the return to Premiership action this coming weekend (a preview for the Bath game will be released shortly).

Sometimes I think we don’t acknowledge just how difficult it can be to play on a wet 3G pitch, the rubber bits stick to ones skin and the ball and make it like a bar of soap. Wet surfaces generally favour simpler, territory-first rugby (kicks, strong driving lines, pick-and-go) and make handling and backline moves harder. Saracens adapted very well by:

• Winning set-pieces (lineouts) to get stable ball to feed to the fly half and centres.
• Using forward power and strong carries to gain metres (510m gained in total).
• Keeping ball retention and offloads when safe; limiting handling errors relative to Newcastle.

Unfortunately I couldn’t make it to this game, with a prior commitment taking priority. However I did watch some of the highlights and was very impressed with how we played in all departments. Onto the report.

First Half

The opening 20 minutes were scoreless, with both Sarries and Newcastle trying to unlock the opposing defences in challenging conditions however it seemed Sarries were setting the tone. Carries from the tight 5 established forward dominance, winning quick collisions and breaking the gainline. Newcastle came close to scoring but turned the ball over in our 22. That seemed to be the story of their day.
We did come close to scoring when Luke Davidson’s neat grubber in behind forced them in to touch, but from the lineout Charlie West spun wide to Brandon Jackson who couldn’t quite gather in the corner. Angus Hall thought he had scored an absolute flyer as he intercepted and ran the length of the field, but the referee came back for an earlier infringement and his efforts were unfortunately for nil.

Charlie Bracken’s box kick in behind then bounced up to Olly Hartley who eyed up a free run to the line, but his offload back inside went to ground and the visitors cleared the ball. Another chance followed on the 20 minute mark as a lineout in the 22 gave a young Sarries side a good platform, but Tayo Adegbemile was held up over the line and once again the Red Bulls cleared. Unlucky but things were definitely moving in the correct direction from our perspective.

Brandon Jackson had clearly eaten his Weetabix that morning as he then took the next chance as Sarries opened their account for the afternoon. From a sarries scrum on the 22, the ball popped up to fly-half Louie Johnson whose lovely floated pass to the winger allowed him to race over the line in the corner. The conversion went wide, but the hosts now had a 5-0 advantage. A platform to build on.

That lead then grew just five minutes later as another lineout in the 22 allowed Sarries to enter striking territory. Following lots of big carries from Harry Wilson and Charlie West, a huge overlap  appeared on the openside and Louis Johnson passed perfectly to Luke Davidson who could mark his full debut for the club with a memorable try. Johnson’s conversion made it 12-0.

Then with the final play of the half Sarries took full control of the match. Sarries won a scrum advantage, a Louis Johnson Crossfield kick found Angus Hall and he evaded 1 defender but then got tackled. The ball found its way back infield and after a bit of hot potato, the ball found Tayo Adegbemile (how good is he becoming?!) and he picked a great line and showed impressive pace to break the defense and dive straight under the posts practically untouched. The conversion went straight through and made it 19-0 to the hosts at the break. Lots of positives for Sarries and numerous problems for Newcastle, no doubt Alan Dickens was keen to try and boost his squad/give them a rather stern talking to perhaps?

Second Half

To their credit, Newcastle did put Sarries under pressure at the start of the second half as the heavens opened, and they got to within one metre of the line but some ferocious defence held firm and we were able to win a turnover and clear our lines.

That then gave the hosts a real boost and they then secured the try bonus point just five minutes later with some first phase brilliance. Following an attacking lineout on the Newcastle 22, A lovely one-two allowed Angus Hall to break the defensive line, he drew in the final defender and then passed to Nathan Michelow who cantered over to make it 24-0 and was celebrating before he even got to the line.

It got even better just two minutes later, a huge carry from Hartley took the ball up to the line and then Bracken picked and went, carrying from the breakdown to cross for try number five. Johnson’s conversion extended the lead to 31-0.

The bench was then emptied as more of the squad got some much needed game time, and Ivan van Zyl marked his return to action with a try as we entered the final quarter. Following a box kick that was a bit too long, the Newcastle back dropped the ball and Angus Hall picked it up. He was then tackled but a penalty was awarded on the 22 ine and in trademark fashion the returning Springbok Ivan Van-Zyl tapped it quickly and ran over the line, despite the best efforts of Boeta Chamberlain. Johnson’s fourth conversion made it 38-0.

Following a Newcastle free kick, a bit of interplay between Louis Johnson and Noah Caluori allowed the former to race into the Newcastle half and then made his trademark impact and step back inside. Following a precise pass from IvZ, the ball found its way to Kennedy Sylvester who charged towards the line but his wide pass to Hall went straight in to touch. Unlucky indeed, that would’ve been a great try.

Hall didn’t let the next chance go though, Hartley ran from right to left and created an overlap, allowing the winger to stroll over for a deserved try.

Sarries then saw out the final few minutes as the weather somehow worsened, Brandon Jackson came close to scoring from a smart quick lineout, but he sadly knocked on whilst trying to regather the ball. Nonetheless a young Saracens outfit celebrated an impressive victory.

Set Piece Battle

Lineouts

• Lineouts won: Saracens 21, Newcastle 11
  It did seem that Saracens dominated the aerial contest. A 10 lineout margin is decisive: it supplied Saracens with more clean, structured ball and allowed their backline and forwards to run controlled attacking phases. Particuarly dominant in the air were Olamide Sodeke and Harry Wilson, making so few errors Newcastle simply had nothing to capitalise on. In the wet conditions, winning your own and disrupting the opposition lineout is a major advantage — Saracens converted their superior lineout into territory and scoring opportunities.

Scrums

• Scrums won (team scrums recorded): Saracens 13, Newcastle 15.
  Interpretation: On raw count Newcastle show 15 scrums to Saracens’ 13. A higher raw number for Newcastle suggests they had more scrum opportunities (from more knock-ons from Sarries, penalties or tactical choices). Our scrum won several penalties (at least 3 or 4 I think) so its fair to say that we were pretty dominant at scrumtime. Breakdown / Ruck / Maul

• Rucks won: Saracens 59 — Newcastle 52.
• Mauls won: Saracens 5 — Newcastle 1.
• Ruck efficiency & turnover: Saracens edged the breakdown work; they had fewer missed tackles (Saracens 18 vs Newcastle 30) and conceded 6 penalties to Newcastle’s 11. Those discipline and tackle numbers supported Saracens’ control.

Net effect: Saracens’ dominance at the scrum + maul, combined with fewer missed tackles and better ball-carry metres, allowed repeated territorial phases and opened space for their backs to score seven tries.

Attack & defence stats that mattered

• Metres made: Saracens 510m, Newcastle 159m — massive advantage for Saracens.
• Carries: Saracens 110, Newcastle 82.
• Offloads: Saracens 14, Newcastle 5 (illustrates Saracens kept play alive more often).
• Missed tackles: Saracens 18 — Newcastle 30 (more missed tackles from Newcastle explains the space Saracens exploited).

Interpretation: The metres and offload figures show Saracens were far more effective when carrying ball; that combination (big carry count + offloads) created line breaks and try-scoring chances even in the wet.

This result keeps us in firm contention with the semi final spots for the Prem Cup. Weirdly, we will play Newcastle twice in less than a week next year – in the Premiership at StoneX on the 24^th January and again at Kingston Park the next Friday 30^th January. I look forward to January when during the next international (6N) break the Premiership Cup will be back.