Saracens
Saracens 26: Leicester Tigers 20
Solid under the high ball
By Josh Black
October 4 2010
Saracens saw off a weakened Leicester Tigers team in the first of this year’s fixtures against last season’s Champions. Much of the talk going into the match has centred around the Final that these two teams fought at the end of last season but without Glen Jackson, Alex Goode, Ben Youngs and Toby Flood, this was a quite different affair.
Saracens will have been pleased with the way they rode out the game, dominating for the first hour, fluent in attack and committed in defence. Nonetheless, annihilation in the scrum and the loss of focus in the last twenty minutes, which allowed Leicester to get back into the game, will be worries for the future.
Saracens started the game brightly and a turnover within the first ten minutes nearly saw them touch down in the corner as they worked an overlap, but Ernst Joubert’s pass to David Strettle was forward and the referee was relieved not to have to judge whether the winger had been forced into touch. Derrick Hougaard’s goal-kicking was the difference last week and the fly-half gave a more complete performance against the club who judged him surplus to requirements, kicking astutely from hand, keeping his options outside him open and even exploiting the gaps that Leicester offered with a couple of half-breaks.
It was Chris Wyles, however, so solid under the high ball and dangerous running from deep, who set up the first try after twenty-two minutes. From what seemed like a dead end, the full back squeezed through two tacklers and sidestepped another before passing to Schalk Brits, who raced under the posts. Hougaard converted and extended the lead to ten points when Leicester were penalised for their work at the breakdown a few minutes later.
Leicester ‘s indiscipline was the main factor working against them, and they struggled to hold onto the ball in the ruck, or stop Saracens’ quick turnover of ball. Nonetheless, stand-in fly half Billy Twelvetrees was outstanding, kicking with confidence even in the face of Jacques Burger, and looking for gaps like the centre that he once was. At this rate, Leicester will not rush Flood or Jeremy Staunton back.
Of course, Leicester fly halves tend to have the benefit of an efficient pack, and it was in the scrum that Leicester excelled. Dan Cole had already got the best of Deon Carstens a couple of times when Saracens knocked-on within metres of their own try-line. After the scrum was thrice-rest (and Leicester opted to turn the screw at each inevitable penalty), Carstens was sin-binned and Matt Parr was sent on for a baptism of fire. Twice more Leicester turned the Saracens scrum before the ball broke loose and Burger dived on it, apparently legitimately. The referee had made up his mind though, and in fairness the Saracens scrum had been wheeled and shoved backwards. The penalty try was misleadingly given for Burger’s offside but the damage was already done.
A man down, Saracens could have lost ground but instead ended the half brightly. Turning over the ball from the restart, Brits made a half-break, and Joubert added a few yards down the flank. As Leicester rushed back into position, a one-two with Brits put Richard Wigglesworth (“Wiggy” as his shirt proclaimed) in under the posts to give Saracens a slightly fortunate ten-point lead.
Saracens continued their high-tempo game without Carstens (still binned) and Strettle (substituted) after the break and though clear breaks were few and far between, the axis of Nils Mordt and Kameli Ratuvou proved solid, with Wyles doing much of the running and Steve Borthwick a lot of the leg-work. Wigglesworth and Hougaard did a sterling job of providing quick service and Leicester didn’t hold out long before conceding another two penalties, one of which was from half way, and was then followed up by a Hougaard drop-goal from outside of forty metres.
Twelvetrees kept Leicester in touch with Saracens, but their famous rolling maul was nullified by a determined Saracens pack. Borthwick’s command of the lineout is often admired for his teams’ ability to stop an opposition dead in its tracks, whereas detractors frequently remark that he rarely challenges the attacking team in the air. Saracens did both against Leicester, with particular success in the former.
And although Saracens were breaking the game line less frequently than in the first half, Leicester did their own cause no favours by having two men sin-binned within eight minutes. First, when Saracens where chasing a kick that got away from the Leicester defender and Wigglesworth making it to within a few metres of the line, Horatio Agulla went off his feet to prevent the try. Saracens opted for the corner but their attack broke down when sloppy passing saw the ball dropped (backwards) twice. Then, as Brits took a quick penalty on half way (more killing of the ball), Ed Slater, not ten metres from the penalty in any case, dived forwards and slapped the ball down.
Saracens were profligate during their numerical advantage, with Hougaard missing a penalty from out wide and on half way, and two long-range drop goals. Brits was also guilty of coming out of the line and giving Twelvetrees space to run into but the fly half only nudged the Tigers back into contention with another penalty from the scrum (albeit much surer with Carlos Nieto in it). Saracens reverted to type, employing a kick and chase strategy with poor results. Hougaard, who in tandem with Wigglesworth had been brutally accurate in the first hour, began kicking towards the centre of the field and Leicester came in waves. Finally, with ten minutes to go the ball was worked out wide with a hint of a forward pass to Lucas Amorosino, who chipped the defender and collected to score.
By this time Andy Saull was on, returning from a broken hand, and Brits was off with concussion. Saull was his usual energetic self, constantly looking to offload, but his enthusiasm nearly went to his head when, with the clock dead and Saracens only leading 26-20, he kicked ahead to chase down the wing. Fortunately for Saracens, Amorosino made Leicester the second team in a week to call and end to the game, happy to leave Vicarage Road with a bonus point – the only thing to have eluded Saracens in the opening weeks of this season’s Aviva Premiership.
The author's blog can be found here:- http://joshblack2.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/saracens-26-leicester-tigers-20/
Saracens Wyles; Strettle (Powell, h/t), Ratuvou, Mordt (Barritt, 61), M Tagicakibau; Hougaard, Wigglesworth; Carstens, Brits (George, 70), Du Plessis (Nieto, 45), Borthwick (capt), Vyvyan (Botha, 55), Brown, Burger (Saull, 55), Joubert.
Tries: Brits, Wigglesworth. Cons Hougaard 2. Pens Hougaard 3. Drop goal Hougaard.
Sin-bin: Agulla 56, Slater 66.
Leicester Amorosino; Hamilton, Hipkiss, Smith (Robinson, 66), Agulla; Twelvetrees, Grindal; Stankovich, Hawkins, Cole (Castrogiovanni, 68), Slater, Skivington, Croft (capt), Newby, Pienaar (Woods, 51).
Tries Penalty try, Amorosino. Cons Twelvetrees 2. Pens Twelvetrees 2.
Sin-bin Carstens 35.
Referee R Poite (France). Attendance 7,517.
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Stumbleupon04/10/2010 11:10
Have we got a volunteer to write a report (or preview) for the Falcons game?
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010:10:12:17:25:06 by Kat..
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Quote:TonyTaff
The alacrity and eloquence hints at a more moderate approach to the consumption of falling down juice than some of us can manage
This may have something to do with the speed of regurgitation, but I wouldn't say that standards suffer on the whole for a bit of liquid enhancement.
I do try to rush home for the ITV4 highlights and set to work but as for the detail, I stand on the shoulders of giants (the 'Fish').
Cheers,
Josh
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