By Darraghgirl
September 12 2016

  “O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,   Thou, from whose unseen presence the Exeter braves   Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing”   (after Shelley – Ode to the West Wind - a bit of culture for you).  

The second weekend of the regular season brought together last year’s finalists (and for good measure last year’s semi finalists – can this be co-incidence?) After a rather rusty, clanky start at HQ last weekend, the team moved down to the wild west for a shoot-out at the OK Corral otherwise known as Sandy Park. On last season’s form this was potentially our toughest game of the season so we had to hope the team would be rather better oiled than last week. A late change to the squad saw George Kruis drop out with a bad back to be replaced by (don’t mess with) Jim Hamilton (with Kelly Brown coming onto the bench) and Duncan Taylor being replaced by Nick Tompkins also on the bench. Most Saracens’ supporters were not particularly distraught to see former nemesis Gareth Steenson on the bench and Jack Nowell doing TV duties.

The Westerly gale was blowing down at “windy” Park, and Saracens chose to play into it for the first 40 minutes. Almost immediately they won a penalty on the Exeter 10m line, normally well within range for Goode or Lozowski but the breeze upped the distance and along came Bish Bash Bosch. I will not describe the effort, suffice it to say it was probably closer to those famous uprights in Paris than Sandy Park!

Both teams suffered an early blood bin when Dave Dennis replaced Don Armand and Nick Tompkins came on for a bloodied Brad Barritt (who is fast replacing Jacques as the plastic surgeon’s pin-up). With just 6 minutes gone, the forwards drove a lineout for Wiggy to pick up and pass to Lozowski. He brushed past Sam Hill and Henry Slade and scored a second try for his new club under the posts, taking a knock in the process which led to Alex Goode kicking the extras (or maybe it was always the plan for Alex to kick as he retained the kicking tee for the rest of the match).

Slade missed a kick for Exeter and a heavily bandaged Barritt returned. Exeter then lost full back Phil Dollman to be replaced by Max Bodily. Itoje, who was once again immense, turned the ball over and Sarries won a line out in the Exeter 22. Jamie George broke off the back to within inches of the line. The ball came out to Bosch (who looked much more like his old self this week) and he flicked it on to Sean Maitland outside him for Saracen’s second try in the corner with Maitland doing an excellent David Strettle impression, getting the ball down within inches of the touchline. Goodey missed a tricky conversion into the gusting wind but 12-0 wasn’t a bad 20 minutes work.

Inevitably Exeter came back and camped in Sarries’ 22 but the defence held and eventually the ball was turned over and cleared. More blood and Mitch Lees replaced Damian Welch for the Chiefs. Exeter were back in the Sarries’ 22 but this time a super tackle by Hamilton saved the day. Sarries were careless with a line out and Exeter won a couple of penalties in succession which found them with a 5m lineout. The inevitable maul got the ball down but JP aided and abetted by Geoff Warren the TMO, decided it was short and went for a 5m scrum. Sarries defended it well and would probably have settled for the penalty in front of the posts giving Exeter 3 points instead of 7. Exeter continued to besiege the Sarries’ 22 with a long sustained attack which ended in another penalty for Exeter. Right at the start of the phase, Wiggy was caught on the wrong foot by Henry Slade. JP had a quick chat with the TMO who felt it was fine and play continued. As Slade lined up the kick, the incident was replayed on the big screen prompting JP to have a closer look. Geoff Warren was still of the opinion that nothing further needed doing but JP, possibly wary of earlier incidents with a TMO in days of yore (which are still a bit too close to our hearts) decided to take charge and it warranted a yellow and Wiggy was sent to put his feet up for 10 minutes. Slade kicked the penalty and the score was now 6-12.

Alex Goode, full back and fly half also became Alex Goode scrum half. His first feed was straight down the channel which took both front rows by surprised with Luke Cowan Dickie reacting quicker and hooking the ball (he actually did!) for one against the head. Bodily set of for the try line only to be forced into a knock on by a superb tackle from Lozowski. From the resulting scrum (this time Goodey put the ball into the second row) Billy picked up and Goodey perfected a beautiful box kick to clear the danger.

As the teams turned round at half time, Exeter had it all to do, a 6 point deficit and playing into the west wind which continued to blow.

“Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-stricken multitudes”

Figallo replaced Du Plessis. Bosch put through a lovely kick ahead and Wiggy returned to relieve Goode of scrumhalf duties, his first kick a beautifully weighted clearance which bounced into touch in the Exeter 22. Mako and Billy combined well and Barritt delicately kicked the ball ahead for Ashy to run on to but it just beat him into touch. The handling was in several different leagues to last week and Exeter were pinned helplessly in their 22. JP was having no nonsense with resetting scrums, opting for free-kicks instead which at least kept the game flowing. A nice break from Ashton found Mako outside him (O that it had been the other way round). Mako’s arm was just forced into touch as he tried to ground in the corner. Brits replaced Jamie George and immediately Exeter won a scrum penalty to gain some relief which was short lived after they messed up the line out and eventually conceded another penalty. This was a long kick for Goode but with the wind at his back, the ball sailed between the posts. Sadly he missed a second almost identical kick but a 15-6 lead was looking decisive.

Ashton forced Lachie Turner into touch. From the lineout catch and drive, Ashton got the ball in field to Lozowski who lobbed it on to Goode who found Maitland outside him and he was over for his second try. Goode kicked a lovely conversion from the corner to put Sarries into a 22-6 lead. Billy tried a nice crossfield kick which bounced into touch. He was instrumental in the 4^th try which resulted from a scrum when he broke off the back, launched himself down the touch line and slipped the ball inside for Jackson Wray to score the bonus point try. The conversion was missed but it hardly mattered. Spencer replaced Wiggy. With just 15 minutes left, Exeter finally got a toe in the Sarries 22. Saracen’s defence held as they conceded advantage penalty after advantage penalty before Luke Cowan Dickie scored for Exeter and Steenson (who had replaced Hill) converted. JP warned Sarries that the next penalty offence would be a yellow but one felt Sarries had maybe got away with one there.

Not content to sit on their laurels, Saracens continued to pound the Exeter 22 as the clock ticked down. When Exeter finally did break out, the ball was stolen and a beautiful cross field kick from Ashton put Exeter back where they started. Brits and Wray found Ellery (who had just come on for Lozowski) outside them and he really should have scored but ended up seeing stars when he and Turner clashed heads and Ellery departed with Wiggy replacing him and the versatile Spencer moving out to the wing. Last play of the match and Exeter, give them their due, were still looking for a losing bonus point. They ran the ball as far as their own 10m line where the ball went loose, Spencer picked it up and 2 minutes into overtime scored under the posts. The easiest conversion of the day gave Sarries a 34-13 victory.

Jackson Wray was awarded man-of-the-match but it was hard to find anyone who had a bad game. Lozowski and Maitland have really grown into their Sarries’ shirts already. I suspect Wiggy has been picked at 9 to give Lozowski a bit of support but with the prospect of a Lozowski/Spencer axis, the future looks bright.

“A heavy weight of Sarries has chain'd and bow'd
One too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud.”

2 games played, 10 points and 9 tries. Not a bad start to the season then. But let’s not get carried away, it’s a long season and a long cold winter which might just start next Saturday with the visit of Northampton saints.

“The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

EXETER CHIEFS:

Dollman (Bodily), Turner, Devoto, Hill (Steenson), Whitten, Slade, Chudley (Lewis), Moon (Hepburn), Cowan-Dickie (Yeandle), Holmes (Williams), Parling, Welch (Lees), Armand, Salvi (Dennis), Waldrom

SARACENS:

Goode, Ashton, Bosch (Tompkins), Barritt, Maitland, Lozowski (Ellery), Wigglesworth (Spencer), M Vunipola (Barrington), George (Brits), Du Plessis (Figallo), Itoje, Hamilton (Rhodes), Wray, Burger (Brown), B Vunipola

Scorers:

EXETER (13)  Try: Cowan-Dickie;  Conv: Steenson; Pen (2) Slade

SARACENS (34) Tries: Lozowski, Maitland (2), Wray, Spencer. Conv: (3) Goode. Pen Goode

Attendance: 10,322

Referee: JP Doyle

BEST WESTERN

Discussion started by TheSaracens.com , 12/09/2016 11:30

TheSaracens.com
12/09/2016 11:30

Sadly no volunteers for this one so I ended up writing it (how could I not after a performance like that)
We are not going to be able to cover every game this season though without some "new blood"
So please think about volunteering to do a report on a game or 2. Gerard and I (with a bit of help from Jeremy I hope) will endeavour to cover as many as we can but we are getting a bit thin on the ground, especially for away games not on TV!
We still need volunteers for Quins and Brizz away this month!!!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016:09:21:08:02:09 by Darraghgirl.

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TonyTaff
13/09/2016 17:49

Excellent report, DG.

Prometheus Unbound! Heaven help those who steal the fire of JP Doyle!

On a serious note, we need volunteers to write articles, particularly match reports.

This portal is provided, free of charge, solely on the condition that we provide a stream of front-page articles that generates advertising revenue.

Your editors are entitled to a tiny proportion of said revenue. We have unanimously agreed to pass this to the Saracens Foundation.

The editors and moderators work solely for the love of it. We ask that others provide copy, on the same basis. I fear that the site will fail if the editors are relied upon also to provide copy copy. A fate worse than Wasps!

It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!

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The Bard
13/09/2016 21:56

Super report of a super performance! Thanks.

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