Saracens Advance to the Last 8 of the Powergen Cup

By Rupert Thacker
December 19 2004

Saracens held off a determined Falcons fightback on Sunday to move into the last 8 of the Powergen Cup with a deserved 22-20 victory.

Although bitterly cold on Sunday afternoon, conditions were ideal for decent rugby and both sides made ample contribution to one of the most exciting games seen at Vicarage Road for a while.

The opening 20 minutes were instantly forgettable however and gave no indication of the drama to come, a succession of errors, penalties and scrums allowing Sarries to lead 3-0 through a Glen Jackson penalty. The first try was a cracker – Mark Bartholomeusz touching down under the posts following another darting run from Chief Vaikona and tremendous handling from both Dan Harris and Kevin Sorrell to keep the ball alive. Sarries had the bit between their teeth now and, true to Rob Andrew’s pre-game prediction, were beating up the Newcastle forwards. 5 minutes later, a lineout on the Newcastle 22 ended with Taine Randell being driven over the try line by a rampant pack, a successful conversion leading to a 17-0 lead.

A combination of Saracens’ ill-discipline and an inspired fightback by the Falcons then led to the game becoming rather fraught. The ill-discipline was from Kevin Yates, who couldn’t resist a dig on the floor at Dave Walder once he had tackled him – 10 minutes off as a result. This seem to invigorate the Falcons, who suddenly stepped up a gear, Stuart Grimes crashing over to make the half time score 17-5.

A rare event at the start of the second half, with some of the home crowd cheering the appearance of an opposition substitute; time for Wilkinson to pull the strings for the Falcons. Within 10 minutes, substitute Matthew Tait went over in the corner – obligatory conversion and 17-12. Game on for the last half hour, favouring the Falcons who would have wanted an open and pacy game from the start. But following a series of exchanges, Sarries finally engineered some space from quick ball. A three on one overlap wasn’t wasted, man of the match Randell scoring his 2nd try of the afternoon. 22-12 and, finally, the sight of a Saracens team playing with verve, imagination and lots of ideas.

After 60 minutes, a possible turning point. Kevin Yates, already sin-binned, deliberately became involved a ruck from an offside position and killed quick Falcon ball – Chris White seemed to “have a word”, but perhaps Yates was fortunate not to receive another yellow. The immediate substitution of the prop seemed to suggest that the coaches agreed as, with 14 men, it may have been a different story. Wilkinson kicked the penalty, 22-15. 8 minutes to go and a passage of broken play. Wilkinson practiced his sidestep a few times, made good yards and a couple of phases later Joe Shaw touched down in the far corner. Conversion missed, but 22-20 and Sarries staring down the barrel of letting another large lead slip away.

Which is where the game changed again. The Saracens’ defence seemed to increase in intensity and effectiveness, with Newcastle suddenly not making the yardage they had been. As the clock ticked by (including 8 minutes of injury time), nail-chewing became the order of the day, with 2 drop goals from Wilkinson drifting wide. Much relief all round at the final whistle and a place in the draw for the last 8.

Overall, a reasonable performance from Sarries. Good points were the pack (who set up this win), the visible desire of the team in the last 10 minutes (to deny even the chance of a penalty kick) and the attacking ideas going forward. Things for defensive coach Mike Ford to work on for sure, but a definite platform to build from (how many times have we been there?) and one which must send us into the vital game with Harlequins on Boxing Day with great confidence.