By Matty Sarrie
November 12 2013

Saracens are incapable of doing things the easy way, it seems. A cold, wet Adams Park was the venue for the first round of the LV=Cup campaign for Saracens as they took on London Wasps. Two strong teams announced promised much, and was rewarded by an enthralling encounter which went right to the wire.  

After the Aviva Premiership defeat of Newcastle, it was time for some of the younger lads to take centre stage. The first half was mostly a scrappy affair, with numerous handling errors and cheap penalties blighting any real opportunities for point scoring. This soon changed however, as a penalty to Wasps gave them a kick to touch, and despite a knock on from the lineout, the Saracens scrum produced sloppy ball and the ball squirting out gave Matt Everend the chance to go over, giving Wasps a 7-0 lead after the conversion by Joe Carlisle. 

However, the lead didn’t last long. Wasps possession on the halfway line looked safe, before Tim Streather, who was solid throughout, got a foot onto the ball as Wasps attempted to secure possession. A good chase by Jack Wilson secured possession for Saracens, and subsequent quick ball gave Mordt then Tompkins the chance to spread it to Ben Ransom who dived for the line early, using the slippery surface to his advantage to get the five pointer, which wasn’t converted by Spencer. 

Then, a good opportunity for Saracens emerged as Wasps were penalised and Ben Spencer put the ball onto the Wasps 22 metre line. Solid line out ball was followed by a cute grubber kick by Nils Mordt which gave Nick Tompkins the chance to dive over under the posts, which he gleefully took to give Saracens a deserved lead at the break as Spencer converted to make it 12-7.  

Saracens asserted themselves early in the second half, as Spencer had the chance to add to the lead early on with a penalty from around 45 metres. He pushed the kick wide; however the next score soon came. A lineout fifteen metres out was secured by Saracens who started a punishing rolling maul towards the try line. Although the maul was eventually pulled down just short, Richard Barrington, who was superb throughout, picked and went and found himself over the line for Saracens’ third try and a commanding 19-7 lead early in the second half.  

A fourth try soon came. Sloppy handing from Wasps, which was common throughout, gifted the ball to Nick Tompkins who gave it to Jack Wilson for an easy run-in try. Charlie Hodgson hit the post with the conversion and Saracens led 24-7. This was to prove the end of the Saracens dominance however as the half turned into a half of two halves. 

Substitutions were made by Saracens which seemed to have a negative effect as Wasps came out flying in the final quarter. First, a cross-kick by Joe Carlisle found Bassett who had the line at his mercy; however he dropped the ball over the line. A try was coming though, and sure enough Neil Cochrane went over to make it a ten point game with twenty minutes still to play. Jack Wilson being sent to the sin bin for killing the ball made it a very nervy last fifteen minutes for Saracens. Wasps twice went close – once a maul which was nearly converted in the corner before they were pushed to the dead ball line before a held up decision by the referee (with a three-on-one), however it was clear a try was coming, and sure enough Ben Jacobs crashed over to make it a three point game with seven minutes to go. 

At this point Saracens went into the ‘kill the game’ mode, and attempted to keep the ball in the Wasps half for as long as possible. However, a cheap penalty conceded gave Wasps an opportunity, and although this was repelled by Saracens it was clear this game was far from over. Wasps then got another opportunity with around two minutes remaining. However, some fantastic work after the ball was spread wide by Tim Streather at the breakdown won a penalty for holding on and it looked like the game was won as Saracens had a line out with thirty seconds remaining. However, Charlie Hodgson decided to kick down the middle of the park after some sloppy line out ball and a clean break by Wasps saw the ball shipped wide and only a try-saving tackle by James Short saw the ball eventually bundled into touch for a nail-biting 24-21 victory for Saracens. 

Some very good performances on show from Richard Barrington, Jared Saunders, Jackson Wray and Jack Wilson would have surely impressed the coaches. From a Wasps point of view, Josh Bassett was imperious under the high ball and Guy Thompson also deserves a mention for a strong performance.

A 5-point win marks an excellent start to the LV=Cup campaign this year and thoughts now turn to Scarlets and student day on Sunday 17th

Wasps: 15 Tommy Bell; 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Charlie Hayter, 11 Josh Bassett; 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Charlie Davies; 1 Ricky Reeves, 2 Tom Lindsay, 3 Will Taylor, 4 Tom Palmer, 5 James Cannon, 6 James Haskell©,7  Matt Everard, 8 Guy Thompson

Replacements: Neil Cochrane, Alex Lundberg, Phil Swainston, Esteban Lozada, Sam Jones, Jack Moates, Ben Jacobs, Tom Howe

Saracens:15; Ben Ransom; 14 Michael Tagicakibau, 13. Tim Streather, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Jack Wilson; 10. Nils Mordt ©, 9. Ben Spencer; 1. Richard Barrington, 2. Jared Saunders, 3. Petrus Du Plessis, 4. George Kruis, 5. Mouritz Botha, 6. Justin Melck, 7. Will Fraser, 8. Jackson Wray.

Replacements:16 Max Crumpton, 17. Nick Auterac, 18. Biyi Alo, 19. Eoin Sheriff, 20. Matt Hankin, 21. Neil de Kock, 22. Charlie Hodgson, 23. James Short.

Wasps:  Tries - Jacobs, Cochrane, Everard; Convs – Carlisle (3)

Saracens: Tries – Tompkins, Wilson, Ransom, Barrington; Cons – Spencer (2)

Referee Neil Hennessey     

Attendance 5,200

Wasps v Saracens Part 2

Discussion started by TheSaracens.com , 12/11/2013 14:08

TheSaracens.com
12/11/2013 14:08

Thanks Matty for an excellent debut - hope you'll do some more in the future.
Now we need someone for Sunday...........



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:11:24:17:07:38 by Darraghgirl.

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derbyshire fan
12/11/2013 14:21

Thanks Matty - they say that the first one is hardest.....!

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davidthesarrie
12/11/2013 20:40

Well done for a great review!

Thank you.

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dawson9
12/11/2013 22:25

surprised no specific mention of your lad ransom at fullback, thought he was outstanding. if he ever gets bored being behind goode and wwyles I'm sure we could find a home for him

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Matty Sarrie
12/11/2013 22:30

I couldn't find a place for Ransom because he's been consistently excellent for the past six months, hence I was sort of expecting him to be very good again. He was fantastic though, apart from one long kick he misread!

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TonyTaff
14/11/2013 11:39

Thanks a lot Matty, please do some more.

It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!

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