By Jeremy O'Gorman
December 28 2005

Jeremy O'Gorman's take on Saracens' latest Festive Fiasco at Vicarge Road - last year the stunning 8-8 draw with Quins, this year a last minute loss to London Irish. Who knows what 2006 will bring? There were a number of imponderables in this match:
• How did a pack supposedly invincible surrender so tamely at the beginning of both halves?
• Did the referee understand the offside law?
• How many handling errors can be made with certain tries going begging?
• How did both kickers handle those high-pressure kicks at the end, when they had missed far easier ones though the match?
• Why did we not start playing until a mass brawl in the second-half?
• Why interfere with play when the opposition is clearly going nowhere and out of time?

These and other questions were raised at Vicarage Road yesterday by an erratic Saracens side who played badly for most of the game, with enough flashes to convince me that eventually they would get their game in order. And so it proved, with a rousing late display and a successful penalty to take the lead at the last gasp.

Unfortunately, there was enough time on the clock for the Irish to make one last attack of their own; although they meandered around the pitch, mostly going nowhere against a solid defence, almost losing the ball on two occasions, they finally got into kicking range and the referee was on hand to add another unusual decision to his collection. Everitt kicked the points for what on balance was a fair result.

Disappointment came early yesterday, with the sight of a smartly-dressed Frenchman at the back of the dugout and Kevin Sorrell and Ben Johnston on the team sheet. Examination of the Irish pack warming up showed some big old boys, seeming much larger than the pack from the Powergen game.

Embarrassment came at the kick-off; Irish gathered, rolled their maul effectively and those big old boys trundled upfield. Hugh was left on his own and brought the maul down; no attempt at subterfuge; Everitt collected the 3 points.

Sarries came back with Viakona back to his best after injury with a barn-storming run, but the inside pass did not go to hand. Jackson then fed a lovely cross field kick to Scarborough who was in front of the kicker; fortunately Barnes still had a grasp of the offside law at that point. Jackson 3 points in return.

Then further depression – Armitage is body-checked off the ball, Everitt adds the points. Soon after Irish made a good break and from the ensuing quick ball it is chipped through for Horak to run and score; Dan unfortunately drawn up into the line to cover the blind-side attack. The missed conversion was some consolation. Finally Everitt popped over a long-range drop goal. It did look suspiciously like a punt from where I was, but was assured by a mate in the South stand it was ok.

Finally Sarries seemed to wake up, with a fine run from Simon; Jackson slotting the resulting penalty but a mixture of bad handling and poor decision-making meant that no points were scored for the rest of the half. I will gloss over the lengthy discussion over a penalty attempt at the edge of Glen’s range, which should have gone to the corner, hooked hopelessly wide. Another followed five minutes later after Dickens did well at the base of the scrum.

But the move just before half-time summed up the game for me. Irish were so far offside that when Jackson got the ball there was an Irish player between him and Kevin. A chip-kick to the winger went hopelessly wrong with Viakona having to run backwards to collect it, finally knocking-on.

Thank God half-time rescued us.

Now I don’t normally like taking referees to task, but if a team are offside at every breakdown then pinging them three times in the whole match for it is an excuse for the offside become more and more obvious. And the side being offended is more likely to take more drastic action. And so it proved; with Sarries playing less like a team and more like individuals intent on revenge. The scrum fell completely apart and Everrit was able to add a simple kick to make it 6-17.

Then the punch-up; starting with Armitage, Skirving and a rather lucky Ben Russell. It extended to practically everyone on both sides but it seemed to clear the air and came as a wake-up call to Sarries. Armitage and Skirving both had ten minutes.

A long period of extended Sarries pressure and a fine run from Bailey brought a scrum on the 22. A well worked move saw Kevin Sorrell break the defence open; with an overlap outside, he was brought down just short of the line.

A large number of substitutes (Cairns for Byrne, Taine Randell for Simon ??, the new recruit Hamish Mitchell for Ben Broster and Kyran Backen for Dickens). Further pressure was rewarded with a penalty and Jackson did the honours.

Then a great break by Kevin Sorrell, a pass to Viakona and a good tackle by Horak stopped him just short. With a wonderful inside offload the supporting prop (yes, supporting prop) on his debut scoring the try. Shades of Yates against Wasps last year. Jackson added the conversion to bring it within a point.

Finally, another Vaikona run led to a 79th minute penalty and what most of the crowd thought was an unlikely win. It is worth noting that the two players celebrating the penalty the most strongly were Byrne and Dickens – both running on to the pitch and being sent back by the fourth official (A.Rowden), whom I suspect most of us would have preferred to have seen in the middle.

There were a few positives to be taken from an otherwise poor day:
• Another incisive game from Kevin Sorrell, running and tackling well. If only the passing game was as good.
• A great debut from Hamish Mitchell, solid in the scrum and on hand to score.
• Taine Randell back from injury and looking keen.
• Ben Russell with a solid no-nonsense game.
• Vaikona seems to be back to solid form.
• Jackson’s nerve held for the final kick (pity about the 3 misses).
And so onward to Welford Road, the odds on a 25 man brawl somewhat shorter than they were this time last week.