By Jonjo
November 21 2005

A mark of Saracens’ progress is the fact that the team were clearly disappointed with their 27–18 win over the Falcons and, to a degree, rightly so. However, there were some positives to savour: the pack was dominant and the backs had a chance to play with more width and adventure than recently. We managed to butcher a good number of scoring opportunities, both wingers being unable to take extravagant (but forward) passes, and there were a number of slips and fumbles throughout the team. Scarbrough will be furious at missing out when he slipped over with the line at his mercy, leaving the chance for Haughton’s second. In Dimes’ interview on Sky before the game he stated his aims for the game were completing their moves and turning over the ball on their terms. He would not be happy on the first count!

Newcastle turned up without 7 of their regular first team players, including Finnegan, Charvis and Grimes, making an already fragile scrum look very young, lightweight and inexperienced. They avoided the touchlines as if they were contaminated – at one time we had had 10 throw-ins to their 2 – but they couldn’t avoid the scrum. Perhaps it was cold hands that caused so many knock-ons.

3 minutes into the game Newcastle kicked deep, giving the Chief a superb run beating 4 men, Bart beat Tait but a forward pass led to the first scrum. It went down, was reset and down again, immediate penalty for “pulling straight down”. 3 points.

The next memorable move was from Man of the Match Jackson, receiving a kick just inside his 22. He called for the Mark and took it quickly, sprinting 50m. Another huge pass towards Tevi was knocked on by May. The resulting scrum drove 3m before releasing the ball and a neat inside pass from Bart released Scabs and another huge pass flew out, this time looking for Del on the right wing. The next move involved Scabs, Vyvs, Simon, Sorrell, Bart, and Glenda, but again the last pass evaded Del and went into touch.

From the line-out, Flood made the first of his runs, making half the pitch before being tackled. Sorrell managed to intercept his pass to May barely 1m short of the line. A penalty to Falcons led to a line-out with superb tackles from Cec and Scabs, a turnover and a kick to half way. Fullers stole the ball, tapped on neatly by Cairns and a missed pass gave Del the opportunity to turn on the after burners and leave 2 Falcons standing, scoring between the posts.

From the restart, Cec made 30m but could not make the pass to Vyvs. Falcons got a penalty and kicked to the corner. With a clean catch, the ball flew along the line with Burke making the extra man and Hoyle scoring in the corner. Conversion missed, 10 – 5.

From the restart, Tom May sprinted half the length of the field before being brought down by Scabs: penalty to Sarries for May holding on. From the subsequent line-out, we saw the first rolling maul, which was brought down. 13 – 5.

A Saracens scrum, after Brucie beat 3 defenders from the restart, drove a full 10m before Glenda put a neat kick through the line for a line-out deep in Falcons 22. Falcons threw long over a shortened line, but Cec and Vyvs were there like lightning and force the knock-on. Scrum to Sarries, 5m out almost in front of the posts.

The scrum goes down and is reset. Wayne Barnes moves to the other side of the scrum, but it collapses again: would you believe on the side he just left? Reset, the scrum goes down. “Just a slip” he calls and resets. Penalty: we take a scrum. Another penalty given against Robbie Morris for folding in. Scrum goes down and is reset. This time, Falcons are driven back onto the goal post and the ref rightly blows on safety grounds. The reset scrum goes down and Ward is yellow-carded, but still no penalty try. Scrum No 9 and Falcons are again travelling backwards, but the ball bounces off the sole of Simon’s boot and escapes from the scrum. 10 players have a hand in the subsequent move, several of them more than once, and Scabs could have cemented his place on the leading try-scorers table if he hadn’t slipped. Fortunately Del was there to make it 20 – 5.

You may be wondering what you have to do to get a penalty try, if the same team can drop the scrum 8 times in a row on the same spot, and take a yellow card, without a PT being awarded. Here are the relevant Laws.

Law 10 – Foul Play
DEFINITION
Foul play is anything a person does within the playing enclosure that is against the letter and spirit of the Laws of the Game. It includes obstruction, unfair play, repeated infringements, dangerous play and misconduct which is prejudicial to the game.
10.3 (a) Repeatedly offending. A player must not repeatedly infringe any Law. Repeated infringement is a matter of fact. The question of whether or not the player intended to infringe is irrelevant.
Penalty: Penalty Kick
10.3 (b) Repeated infringements by the team. When different players of the same team repeatedly commit the same offence, the referee must decide whether or not this amounts to repeated infringement. If it does, the referee gives a general warning to the team and if they then repeat the offence, the referee cautions and temporarily suspends the guilty player(s) for a period of 10 minutes playing time. If a player of that same team then repeats the offence the referee sends off the guilty player(s).
Penalty: Penalty Kick
A penalty try must be awarded if the offence prevents a try that would probably otherwise have been scored.
10.3 (c) Repeated infringements: standard applied by referee. When the referee decides how many offences constitute repeated infringement, the referee must always apply a strict standard in representative and senior matches. When a player offends three times the referee must caution that player.

From the restart, Skirvs makes another fine break and we get a rare chance to see Cobus carrying the ball at pace before Vyvs takes the ball on for a 50m gain in ground. Shortly afterwards, Flood breaks away again making good ground but brought down by Del who is up and able to make the tackle on Burke who has collected the offload. Penalty follows to Falcons for not rolling away and Burke makes it 20 – 8 at half time.

A few minutes into the second half, Falcons put up a high ball superbly taken under pressure by Del, but the ball is moved wide too fast for Tevi to get there and he gives away a penalty by throwing the ball into touch. Aerial ping-pong follows and Glenda misses touch on the Falcons 22. Burke kicks ahead, runs 30m to take the ball in the air at speed and goes though for a superb individual score. 20 – 13.

Into the last quarter of the match and Glenda puts up a high ball which Falcons’ substitute scrum half Lee Dickson is unable to take on his line, and Jackson re-gathers to make the score 27 – 13. The excitement is not over as Tait looks certain to score at the other end until brought down by Del who is having a great game, but a minute later, Joe Shaw squeezes through to make it 27 – 18. In the closing minutes, Del makes a 40m run to be stopped by Shaw, Falcons break out yet again but Bart forces Tait to knock on, and it is all over.

I thought Wayne Barnes had a very good game with the sole exception of the 9 scrums on the Falcons line. I’m sorry, but I just do not understand how that was not a penalty try. Perhaps he or Jockstrap (or CN(TF)) could enlighten me. The pack were excellent as ever, and Bracken and Jackson looked very much in control at half back. The back three looked dangerous in attack and effective in defence, and the centres are beginning to gel as a pair. Toby Flood slipped through the line too often, and made good ground each time, and while the Falcons do not encumber their back line with slow moving forwards, we seemed to offer Flood a prop and a lock to evade more than once, a task he was fully up to.

Dimes’ comments after the game must be right: we should have put them away before half time, and we should certainly have come away with a bonus point. That we didn’t is down to the amount of enterprise on offer, and this was a good time to experiment with a more attack based game. Onwards and upwards!

SCORERS: Saracens: Tries: Haughton 2 (17min, 35), Jackson (68). Conversions: Jackson 3. Penalty goals: Jackson 2 (4, 24). Newcastle Falcons: Tries: Hoyle (21), Burke (61), Shaw (76). Penalty goal: Burke (40+1).

SCORING SEQUENCE (Saracens first): 3-0, 10-0, 10-5, 13-5, 20-5, 20-8 (half-time), 20-13, 27-13, 27-18.

SARACENS: D Scarbrough; R Haughton, M Bartholomeusz, K Sorrell, T Vaikona; G Jackson (rep: B J Russell, 73), K Bracken (rep: A Dickens, 51); K Yates (rep: B Broster, 48), M Cairns (rep: A Kyriacou, 72), J Visagie (rep: K Yates, 69), S Raiwalui (rep: K Chesney, 54), I Fullarton, H Vyvyan, D Seymour (rep: B T Russell, 69), B Skirving.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS: M Burke (rep: M Wilkinson, 77); T May, M Tait, T Flood, J Hoyle; D Walder (rep: J Shaw, 54), J Grindal (rep: L Dickson, 54); M Ward (sin-bin, 34-43), A Long, R Morris (rep: D Wilson, 69), A Perry, G Parling (rep: A Buist, 66), M McCarthy, B Woods (rep: Wilson, 34-43), J Smithson.

Referee: W Barnes.

Attendance: 9,413.