By Gryff
December 5 2006

A wet dismal Friday evening in Watford and a meaningless dead rubber match against Wasps with a sparse crowd expected. Teams made up of fringe players on both sides. I struggled around the M25 after work to arrive at the ground as kick off took place only to have to queue at the turnstiles. I assumed the queue was people making a last minute dash from the bars or had suffered the M25 nightmare. We rushed towards our usual seats in the South stand only to find ……. A fairly packed stand! So the first shock of the night was a crowd of 6616 and a well done to Sarries marketing team who had pushed the “Emergency Services Match”.

We settled down with 5 minutes of the match gone and the rain falling. Sarries supporter’s minds were no doubt thinking about the similarity of conditions with the Warriors match. Sarries were attacking and won a scrum against the head in the Pests 22 but nothing came of the attack and Walder cleared the lines. The ball was squirting everywhere, unforced errors abounded and it appeared that whenever Sarries were threatening the Wasps line they served the ball up. Wasps appeared to get the upper hand after the opening 10 minutes and then the pests had a slice of luck. An attempted hacked clearance by Thomas De Vedia rebounded into Danny Ciprinai’s hands on the Sarries 22 and he fed Tom Voyce who went over in the corner. 0 - 5 (13 mins).

Saracens were trying hard and the scrum was dominant. Importantly the lineout was functioning well. Sarries strived hard but the conditions were still causing errors. Eventually the Sarries scrum forced a penalty on a Wasps put in on the half way line and Thomas Castaignede kicked a superb goal from just inside his own half. 3 – 5 (23 mins).

The Pests strove hard to strike back and, following a penalty kicked into the corner, a catch and drive resulted in a score for Joe Ward with Walder again failing the conversion attempt. 3 – 10 (29 mins).

The Men in Black came back strongly and hit back within a couple of minutes the scrum again winning a penalty which MTC converted. 6 – 10 (33 mins). Sarries tails were up and a number of attacks ensued, led by Tevita Vaikona’s attacking runs, however the Wasps defense stood firm.

The Men in Black started the second half as they finished the first. Incisive runs by Adam Powell and Rod Penney took Sarries deep into Wasps 22 and from the ensuing ruck Ben Russell picked up and dived over in the corner. Thomas Castaignede kicked a superb conversion from the touchline. 13 – 10 (42 minutes).

Sarries were well in control at this stage, were stealing lineout ball, and were dominant in the scrum - then came the defining moment of the match and, possibly, the season. MTC collected the ball inside Sarries territory and raced into Pests territory before slipping the ball to Tomas De Vedia. Tomas raced for the line, targeting the full back, and as the tackle hit he passed to Richard Hill who dived over under the posts. The following moments showed for me that Saracens the Club is strong and healthy - forget the Members Bar and Corporate Hospitality. Firstly HRHRH lay there punching the air with joy at scoring. Six thousand people stood to applaud the try and remained standing to give him an ovation. The rest of the Sarries team raced from all areas to leap on HRHRH, such was their delight. The likes of Tomas De Vedia and Rod Penney were as elated as MTC etc who had known Richard for years; young Tom Mercey, only 19, was ecstatic. A true rugby moment and a moment that made me proud to have a Men-in-Black shirt on!

MTC converted having only taken the ball back 10 metres to make the score 30 – 10 (47 mins). Sarries continued to press and following a 5 metre scrum, forced by a Matt Cairns hack ahead, MTC landed a drop goal. 23 – 10 (55 mins).

The Pests, to their credit, had not given up and, despite the conditions and the errors primarily resulting from them, were playing with enthusiasm - the game was a pleasure to watch. A flowing move stretched the Men-in-Black’s defense and Tom Voyce went over in the corner for his second try. Walder hit the post for the second time missing his third conversion – he failed with every kick. 23 – 15 (61 mins).

The weather worsened, but MTC was given a further penalty chance three minutes later which he took with aplomb. 26 – 15 (63 mins). Both sides continued to strive but the ball was squirting everywhere. The scoreboard wasn’t troubled again with the highlight of the last few minutes being the debuts for Noah Cato and Tom Audley. Tom, in particular, was greeted by a loud cheer from a large contingent of former colleagues from Mill Hill School.

So pluses and minuses for the night:
The Pests were beaten, always a pleasant feeling.
The Friday night match had worked with a good crowd and a very good atmosphere.
The team as a whole performed well, with the lineout functioning excellently despite the conditions.
MTC had controlled the match very well, made all his kicks and put distance on his kicks from hand.
Matty C was a handful and hit his jumpers.
Tom Mercey, 19 years old, took apart Tim Payne who had been on the England bench the previous week.
Fullers controlled the lineout well.
And ……………………. 80 minutes of non-stop all action HRHRH with the try of the season to boot (Don’t bother with the end of season poll, editors).

So, a real dilemma for the Gaffer. Players put their hands up all over the pitch and the PI boys are back. Thomas Castaignede is still a magician and has to play in the team. HRHRH is the heart and soul of Saracens and showed what Saracens and England had been missing, both in skill and heart. Quote of the day after 10 minutes from the Wasps supporter in front of me “Look at Hill he’s knackered he’s a has-been”! A Mark Twain quote comes to mind.

Scorers: Saracens: Tries: Russell (42min), Hill (46). Conversions: Castaignède 2. Penalty goals: Castaignède 3 (24, 35, 65). Dropped goal: Castaignède (55). London Wasps: Tries: Voyce 2 (13, 59), Ward (29).
Scoring sequence (Saracens first): 0-5, 3-5, 3-10, 6-10 (half-time), 13-10, 20-10, 23-10, 23-15, 26-15.
Saracens: T de Vedia (rep: D Harris, 79); T Vaikona, R Penney, A Powell (rep: N Cato, 79), R Haughton; T Castaignède, A Dickens; N Lloyd, M Cairns, T Mercy, T Ryder (rep: K Chesney, 63), I Fullarton, B Russell (rep: T Audley, 79), R Hill, P Gustard.
London Wasps: D Cipriani; E Thrower, R Hoadley, D Waldouck, T Voyce (rep: J Staunton, 72); D Walder (rep: M Van Gisbergen, 72), E Reddan; T Payne, J Ward (rep: R Webber, 58), T French, M Purdy, R Birkett, G Skivington, T Rees (rep: G Chamberlain, 72), J Hart.
Referee: A Rowden.
Attendance: 6,616