Saracens
A Step too Far
Flags flags flags by PNH
By King Zak
May 14 2012
So the season for Sarries finally came to an end after an enthralling contest in the sunshine atWelford Road. The pre-match ‘Gathering’ was a most convivial affair, although it was a bit of a red rag to a bull allowing local club ‘LeicesterForest’ to approach aDerbyfan and ask for money! A huge thank you to EG and the team for their hospitality, although I’m not sure why he was supporting the Miami Dolphins – run out of Sarries caps in the shop?
In team news,Leicestermade the predicted change to their line-up with George Ford replacing Toby Flood at outside half and Craig Newby coming into the backrow in place of Julian Salvi. The introduction of Ford proved to be inspired as the 19 year old played with the calmness and vision we saw with Owen Farrell at this stage last year.
Sarries got the game underway and with the benefit of a stiff breeze at their backs the men in red dominated the early stages. They were willing to move the ball through hand and asked some probing questions of the Tigers’ defence. Their start got even better when the home side were penalised at a scrum on halfway (cue the booing as clearly the referee had no idea what he was doing!). Farrell slotted the kick from halfway and Sarries had the early lead 0-3. However,Leicesterwere level 5 minutes later as Sarries were penalised at the breakdown and Ford got his first points of the day.
Sarries kept up the pace and momentum and were almost rewarded with the game’s opening try after excellent work on the right flank by Will Fraser. His pass sent Strettle streaking towards the corner; Manu Tuilagi made a desperate attempt to tackle him but couldn’t stop the winger diving for the corner. Although it was in the opposite corner from where I was sitting it just seemed from the way the ball bounced up that the grounding wasn’t quite right. TV replays confirmed the ball had slipped from his fingertips. Strettle had done fantastically well to stay in the field of play but Manu’s tackle was just enough to prevent his momentum over the line.
Sarries did get another penalty kick a couple of minutes later as Tigers infringed again at the breakdown – much to the derision of the home fans, In fact, it was becoming increasingly evident that Mr Pearson was obviously wrong in every decision – unless it favoured the home team. There was also some ill-mannered booing as Farrell lined up his shot at goal – not many ‘supporters’ were involved, but certainly sufficient to be heard. Farrell slotted his kick to restore the advantage but this was short lived as Tigers scored the first try of the day. They won their own lineout just inside the Sarries 22, although from my vantage point at ground level directly opposite it seemed as if the throw wasn’t straight. A couple of passes to the right and suddenly Alessandra Tuilagi had a walk into the try line from 25 metres out to score unopposed by the posts. It was hard to understand how such a hole had appeared in the usually reliable Saracens defensive line; closer inspection revealed Manu’s ‘dummy’ run involved taking Farrell out completely. It was more akin to American football (maybe that’s why Edward had the Dolphins cap on?). This ‘dummy running’ is getting to be a real issue – it’s one thing to distract defenders and take them out of position, it’s another to deliberately run at defenders and take them out of the game completely. One wonders how the home fans would have reacted, had it been Barritt taking out one of the Tigers’ centres in such fashion.
Ford made no mistake with the simple conversion and Tigers held a four point advantage after 20 minutes. Tigers now enjoyed their best spell of the half but were not able to threaten the well organised defence as the ‘usual suspects’ of Botha, Frazer, Joubert and Barritt put in some big hits.
As Saracens moved forward again, referee Pearson penalised the home side (more booing) and Farrell brought the visitors within one point. The deafening silence as the ball approached the posts indicated it was going through – in contrast to more jeering as he took the kick. He had another opportunity a few minutes later from wide right, but wasn’t able to find the target – the cheers indicating he’d missed. He made amends 5 minutes before half time to give Sarries the lead at 10-12 but another kick from ‘Gorgeous George’ ensured the home team held a one point advantage at half time. It was an excellent kick from near halfway into the strong breeze and capped a very good first half for him personally which had included one superb break from his own 22 through a somewhat doglegged defensive line.
With the wind at their backs Tigers started the second period much better than the first and their efforts were rewarded when Mafi scored the second try. Manu made the initial break into Sarries 22 on the right; he was well tackled by Botha and Goode (both of whom were injured in the process). As the ball went to the left quickly, Mafi was able to stroll into the corner untouched. It was a costly effort for Botha who was clearly a ‘little dazed’ and left the fray to be replaced by our own ‘Gorgeous George’ Kruis. Ford missed the conversion but slotted a penalty two minutes later to give Tigers a dominating lead of 21-12. Farrell got three points back as Sarries finally started to threaten the Tigers line but were held out by stern defence – and a bit of illegal play. At 21-15 it was game on again and Sarries showed real adventure in attack (well, compared to what we normally see). Hodgson was the lynchpin in this and had a superb game, including tackling Tuilagi the elder.
Tigers did threaten again as a driving maul was held up over the try line and I very much feared the worst as they packed down for the resulting 5 metre scrum. After a couple of aborted attempts, Sarries won the penalty! We may not have won the game but that one moment will have hurt the much vauntedLeicesterfront five. Sarries maintained their pressure without ever really looking like breaking through and the final points went the way of the home side as Ford added his fourth successful penalty of the day. With less than five minutes to go and nine points adrift the game was up for Sarries who used this as an opportunity to allow Hugh Vyvyan to have one last appearance – much to the delight of the travelling fans.
In the end, a deserved win for Tigers, although I felt a margin of 5-7 points would probably have been a more accurate reflection of the game. Tigers head off to Twickers for a staggering eighth successive ‘Grand Final’ – perhaps it is some surprise that they have only won three of the previous seven. However, they remain the benchmark standard for English club rugby – on and off the field. Harlequins will seriously test them in the final; it could be as good as the one two years ago.
As for Sarries; they fully played their part in an entertaining game but in the end, I felt the lack of experience in the back row was the difference. Jackson Wray and Will Fraser have 49 premiership appearances between them; Newby & Mafi have 176; plus numerous Super rugby and a handful of Internationals. Jacko & Will show huge promise, but it’s only promise – Newby & Mafi are already well established.
Finally, a big thanks to the Tigers fans who made the whole occasion so enjoyable – plus the landlord and staff at the Swan & Rushes, excellent ale as always.
At last, but very much not least, a massive thank you on behalf of my wife and I to all my fellow Sarries fans who’ve made following the team so much fun this season. Thanks to you all, have a great summer and see you next season, KZ.
He had another opportunity a few minutes later but this time the ball went just to the right of the posts
Leicester: 15 Geordan Murphy (capt); 14 Horatio Agulla, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Antony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi; 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Marcus Ayerza, 2 George Chuter, 3 Dan Cole (Castrogiovanni 60), 4 George Skivington, 5 Geoff Parling, 6 Steve Mafi, 7 Craig Newby, 8 Thomas Waldrom
Replacements 16 Tom Youngs 17 Logovi'i Mulipola 18 Martin Castrogiovanni
19 Graham Kitchener 20 Ben Woods 21 Sam Harrison 22 Billy Twelvetrees
23 Scott Hamilton
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode; 14 David Strettle (Short 67), 13 Owen Farrell, 12 Brad Barritt (Powell 78), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil de Kock (Wigglesworth 54), 1 Rhys Gill (Smit 78), 2 Schalk Brits (George 78), 3 Matt Stevens (Nieto 60 – Stevens 75), 4 Steve Borthwick ©, 5 Mouritz Botha (Kruis 50), 6 Jackson Wray (Vyvyan 78), 7 Will Fraser, 8 Ernst Joubert
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 John Smit, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 Hugh Vyvyan, 20 George Kruis, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Adam Powell, 23 James Short
Referee: D Pearson (RFU).
Attendance: 20,173
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:26:21:28:34 by Fozz1e.
I had thought the tap tackle on Stretts was Tuilangi senior, I must look at my photos again. Stretts did exceptionally well to stay in field a great shame his talent was unrewarded.
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Thanks to you KZ and all the other reviewers for such sterling work.
Also congratulations for keeping the little grey cells active when most of us cannot remember what day of the week it is!!
Quote:King Zak
Phil, it could well have been the elder one; it was in the corner diagonally across the field from where I was!
I looked at the photos last night and it was senior T in his last game at Wellie Road. I was opposite but high in the Cat Stand. I may post some photos om Flickr probably more of the gathering as I was way off the pitch for good photos of the game.
Rule 1 - if you let it bounce, you've only yourself to blame!
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012:05:17:16:15:22 by BJ..
Oh, and talking of which, it should be "if you let it bounce, you only have yourself to blame" - but hey, who cares
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
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