By The Saracens
February 15 2021

This was my first experience of the “new normal” rugby – I’d managed to miss the 2 games against Trailfinders (not a bad thing by the sound of things). This is the world of the Championship. The world of the StoneX stadium. The world in which we find ourselves.

In my experience, Sarries have never been flat track bullies – they have tended to play at the level of their opponents, be they Leinster or Doncaster. They are a team who can rise to the occasion like no other, but who can also drift aimlessly in the fog. It sounded like the latter has been the order of the day up until now – what would today bring?

Not an auspicious start. Doncaster won 2 penalties in 1 minute while I was still weighing up Mike Rhodes hairstyle (a no I think) and the amount of bandaging on Joel Kpoku’s feet (wouldn’t it have been easier to get some decent laces?) Doncaster put together a long attacking set but Sarries defence held fast. Both sides were guilty of handling errors and neither side was able to break the other’s defence. Sarries were hampered by slow ball which stopped their forward progress before it had even got going. After 13 minutes, Doncaster should have justifiably taken the lead but Billy McBryde missed a fairly straightforward kick. Sarries gave him a 2nd chance more or less straightaway conceding at the breakdown and with the help of Jerry Sexton steadying the ball in the cold breeze, this time McBryde succeeded and Doncaster went ahead. Shortly afterwards McBryde had another shot at goal, the hardest of the 3 from out wide and missed but on another day Doncaster could have been 9-0 up and Sarries could have had no complaints.

The 1st quarter possession stats were heavily in Doncaster’s favour although James Kane was not looking confident under high ball. Sarrie’s 1st serious attack came after 25 mins and produced a penalty which Manu kicked towards the corner. Temporarily down to 14 with Crossdale injured on the floor, the forwards lumbered up to 5m before Manu found Segun on the wing and he scored in the corner. Manu couldn’t land a tricky conversion but Sarries had their noses in front 5-3 after half an hour. There followed a nice break by Segun into the 22 but he knocked on. Give him the benefit of the doubt, it was jolly cold out there! Doncaster’s scrum was more than holding its own which given the experience in the Sarrie’s pack was a bit concerning as was the departure of Crossdale to be replaced by Sloan. A penalty at the lineout allowed Sarries some territorial gain. Kpoku made good ground with a break but handling errors again got in the way. Luckily another penalty went in the corner. Kpoku claimed the ball and muscled his way to the line. The forwards made a bit of a meal of it but Woolstencroft eventually touched down. Manu landed the extras and Sarries went in at half time ahead but definitely flattered by the scoreboard at 12-3

The 2nd half started a bit more brightly. Good position in the Doncaster 22 was wasted with an overthrow. Sarries managed to regain possession but couldn’t get over the tryline. It seemed

Sarries had more possession in 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half than the whole of the 1st but they struggled to turn possession into points. Mauls were really not working out but some dominance was finally starting to emerge in the scrum enabling Sarries to keep Doncaster in their own 22. But the final piece of the jigsaw kept going missing - a lost lineout, a pass knocked on, a maul collapsed, a careless penalty and the siege was lifted.

Finally a loose ball midfield and a kick through by Manu saw Taylor, the ink barely dry on his new contract,  pounce on a hesitant James Kane to score under the posts. Manu converted again for 19-3 and finally Sarries turned possession into points. Whiteley replaced Davies and Doncaster put a penalty close to the corner flag despite Segun’s best efforts to keep it in field. Doncaster threatened the tryline and forced Sarries to concede another penalty and a stern warning from Mr Jackson the referee (and a guy with not inconsiderable Premiership experience). Doncaster put the ball back in the corner but Sarries defended well. Drive after drive was repelled until Koch took one for the team and was sent to the bin for an offside. It seemed a tad harsh but there we go. A penalty try followed off a single scrum of 8 v 7- a bit previous as they say, but the referee’s word is final.

Into the last quarter and 19-10. A good break from Obatoyinbo. The ball was recycled and Pifeleti powered to the line but was just short. The ball came out to Whiteley but good defence from Doncaster’s replacement full back and he couldn’t finish it off. Much better work at the scrum allowed Sarries to keep the pressure on despite still being a man down. The 4th try was in the end inevitable with the forwards trundling towards the line and eventually Swinson scored at the 2nd attempt. Manu couldn’t add the extras but into the last 8 mins and finally some clear water at 24-10 and back up to 15.

Play continued almost exclusively in Doncaster’s 22. Repeated penalties didn’t draw a yellow for Doncaster as might have been expected if all was fair in love and war. Finally the inevitable happened with a tap and go from Pifeleti and he barged over for the 5th try. 29-10. Whiteley lined up a tricky conversion but it bounced off the upright. For the last 8 minutes Hooley & Whiteley had taken over kicking duties from Manu – hopefully nothing wrong because otherwise I thought Manu put in a decent performance, especially in the 2^nd half, and it would be a shame if he was on the sidelines. The restart somehow found Doncaster pinned back in their 22 once more and that was that.

So Sarries managed a win. The performance in the 2^nd half at least was approaching reasonable although clearly there is still plenty of work to do. One thing these last few weeks have told us is that getting back to the Premiership is not going to be a walk in the park and performances will need to be a darn sight better than we have seen so far. But in Mark McCall we trust (with a little help from his international friends).

SARACENS:-

Obatoyinbo, Crossdale, Morris, Taylor, Segun, Vunipola, Davies; Barrington, Woolstencroft, Koch, Kpoku, Swinson, Hunter-Hill, Rhodes, Christie.

Replacements:- Pifeleti, Mawi, Ibuanokpe, Stonham, Knight, Whiteley, Sloan, Hooley

DONCASTER KNIGHTS:-

Kane, Reed, Newey, Strong, Packman, McBryde, Warr; Hislop, Hunter, Jones, Britton, Sexton, Kelly, Rouse, Davies

Replacements:- Cade, Roberts, Foster, Challinor, Joyce, Cullen, Best, Olver

Scorers:

SARACENS: Tries: Segun, Woolstencroft, Taylor, Swinson, Pifeleti.  Conv: Vunipola (2)

DONCASTER KNIGHTS: Pen try,    Pen: McBryde

Referee: Andrew Jackson