By King Zak
November 30 2014

  The alarm bells were ringing very early! Sadly, that was Sunday morning in the hotel when a couple of guests decided to cook breakfast in their room. The alarm bells were ringing early on Saturday too as Sarries stumbled to another defeat.  

Firstly I must congratulate Exeter Chiefs, worthy winners by a country mile of what was, in all honesty, a somewhat turgid affair. This was billed as two of the top four teams in the Premiership going head to head. In reality it was a stroll in the (Sandy) Park for Chiefs. It has become increasingly apparent over recent weeks that there is something fundamentally wrong within Saracens game. We know that the players, regardless of various absentees, are good enough. Saracens pride themselves on strength in depth due to the rotation policy and a willingness to bring players into the team at an early stage

So where does the problem lie? From my observations over the last couple of weeks there seems a lack of cohesion and direction in how the team are supposed to play. There is also an alarming failure at scrummage time - I've lost count of the number of penalties they've conceded in the past three games. My abiding memory of what was a chastening experience on Saturday afternoon for Sarries tight five, was the sight of James Johnston being jettisoned backward from a scrum at such a rate of knots that he appeared to fly backward over the second row before landing in a crumpled heap! It was painful to watch, as I'm sure it was for JJ to experience, and pretty much summed up Saracens afternoon.

Their performance was riddled with unforced errors and needless penalties, of which the immaculate Steenson took full advantage. From the opening exchange, in which Goode threw a hopeless pass to Ashton resulting in a scrum (and therefore penalty) to Exeter, Sarries were a mere shadow of what we have come to expect. They appear devoid of confidence; highlighted last week against Saints when they chose three points rather than the possibility of a bonus point try. On Saturday, trailing 21-12, they elected to take a shot at goal (that brushed the wrong side of the upright) rather than trying to put pressure on the Chiefs with a lineout in the corner. There doesn't seem the same belief that they can score from such positions in contrast with the last gasp victory against London Irish.

It's hard to explain why Sarries look so rudderless. Some believe that the loss of Borthwick is the main factor. Others have suggested that Sarries are playing the 'long game', as perfected by Wasps several seasons past. You know, the idea that there's no point in doing much before Christmas, just make sure you finish in the top four and are at full speed in May, not November. I have some leaning towards this theory given the way things panned out last season, but it still doesn't explain the lack of intensity about the whole performance

Sarries seem to have reverted to the out and out kicking game of five years ago - remember the turgid affair v Gloucester at Vicarage Road? Except this version doesn't really have any chase to go with the kick

I lost count of the number of aimless kicks sent skywards by Goode and Hodgson, two of the most creative players in the league. Just as disappointing from a spectator perspective, Exeter allowed themselves to be drawn into a similar tactic - although they executed it much better and were doing so from a winning position for the majority of the game

As for the game itself, there was very little rugby evident from either side. What little bit there was largely came from Chiefs although the most devastating break of the day came from Ransom in the dying embers of the game, leading to a first premiership try for Itoje

Chefs were dominant throughout and had they chosen to utilise their overpowering scrum when they had the chance 5 metres out, the margin of victory would have been much greater.  The fact they chose to kick penalties rather than press for tries was perhaps indicative of a rather cautious approach that epitomised the game as a whole

Chiefs closest effort came towards the end of the second half. By then though, the fog was descending and I couldn't really see what was happening at the far end of the pitch! I think Chiefs were denied when Nowell knocked the ball on a coupe of yards out. The referee went to the TMO who took a long time to determine a scrum to Sarries. The irony of Sarries players disappearing into the mist in their white shirts summed up their performance perfectly!

I would like to write about the scintillating breaks, crunching tackles, great breakdown work etc, but I suspect the seagulls flying over Sandy Park saw more of the ball than the three-quarter line for either team

All in all a very disappointing game. Chiefs will rightly be very pleased with a convincing win and they, currently at least, look strong contenders for a top four finish. The challenge for them will be to maintain their momentum all the way to May. As for Saracens, the alarm bells are ringing loud and clear. The next two games will pretty much define their season. They need two wins with at least one bonus point from the back-to-back European games against Sale. Given current performances, that seems very unlikely indeed.

There was one glimmer of light amidst the gloom – the return of Mako Vunipola to the fray. Saracens will certainly need his ‘go forward’ in the coming weeks and months. However, even that bit of light may be eclipsed by the sight of Brad Barritt departing Twickenham bloodied, bruised and limping.

Man of the Match? To be honest, no idea - but I guarantee he'd be wearing the black of Exeter!

Exeter 27         Pens Steenson (9)

Saracens 19    Try: Itoje Con: Goode  Pen: Hodgson (4)

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Matt Jess,

10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley; 1 Ben Moon, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Moray Low, 4 Dean Mumm ©, 5 Damian Welch, 6 Dave Ewers, 7 Don Armand, 8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Ryan Caldwell, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Haydn Thomas, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Byron McGuigan

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil de Kock; 1 Rhys Gill, 2 Jamie George, 3 James Johnston,

4 Mouritz Botha, 5 Alistair Hargreaves ©, 6 Will Fraser, 7. Jacques Burger, 8. Ernst Joubert.  Replacements; 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Ben Ransom

Referee: Greg Garner

Attendance: 10,335