By Innings
January 4 2015

  As we were applauding the teams off the field at full time, one of my fellow watchers challenged me to find even a short paragraph to write about the first half of the match.  In his view and mine this first one had been a half of purist’s rugby, which is another way of saying that it offered little to attract any casual ticket buyer to repeat the experience.  So to find out what really happened I broke my invariable rule and watched the recording of the game at home before writing up my thoughts.  

The first thing I learned form the recording was that Irish played the entire first half with 16 players. The overlap came at 10, where Austin Healy kept commenting on the skills, threats and game management skills of a chap called Shane Geraghty, but who clearly had a doppelganger on the field, also called Shane Geraghty, most of whose contributions on the field in this 40 varied from inept to thoughtless. I know that TV commentators start every game with some preset scripts, but if ever one needed to be torn up and the commentator required to comment on what was actually happening, this was the time.

Irish started having won the toss and electing to play north to south, with the strong and difficult wind, and some grim drizzle, behind their backs. The plan must have been to go in for the tea and oranges with a first half lead and then come out to defend it like grim death against the Sarries wind-assisted onslaught in the second 40.

The Irish first-half tactic was clearly to clear long, threaten the Sarries back three and gain from their heavy counter-attacking centres using Sarries’ returned kicks in broken play. But this tactic requires some reading of the wind, and ability to adapt one’s principal kicking weapon according to conditions, and the Geraghty we were watching, who had more ball than the one whom Healey was lauding, singularly failed to make the adaptation needed. In the first 22 minutes he made eight meaningful kicks. Of these three can be said to have been worthwhile, including one that Ben Ransom fumbled uncharacteristically: two led to marked takes by Ransom that gave him time to stop, brush his hair and polish his boots before the ball arrived so far ahead of any follow-up that the kicks were utterly unthreatening, and a third to Ransom was also easily fielded and returned for no use by Irish. The seventh and eighth long clearances by Geraghty were simply unacceptable, and no doubt his forwards will have told him so. A clearance from the 22, straight up the middle of the field and over the dead ball line is not a welcome sight for forwards who are not enjoying scrum time. To make the same mistake twice within four minutes is not that way to ensure remaining on the forwards’ Christmas cards lists, especially when one leads directly to three points from a scrum penalty.

For Sarries, meanwhile, Billy was laying down some serious questions for Stuart Lancaster. He began the half with a series of heavy carries, and some equally heavy tacking, and used his ball skills to deliver some clever link moves as well. Irish had given away a couple of pressure penalties and Irish 15 Tom Homer had fluffed the only kick that Sarries had offered him in the half. But Farrell had taken the points on offer, both straightforwardly within his range, and so after 30 minutes we had not much to excite about at 6 – 0. Then on 30 minutes, a surge up field, a set piece, driving break fro the line by Billy, re-cycle, fast through several hands. Mako had the ball for just a second, long enough to distract most of the Irish defence, before his wobbly but effective pass popped through the hands down the backs to Strettle, giving him a difficult try, requiring some work in traffic, to touch down in the corner.

Half time came, and we considered the new corn plasters that many Sarries players were sporting behind an ear. Was there an outbreak of boils in the camp? Perhaps a vampire on the loose?   Nothing so mundane, when we learned that the squad are trialling a new concussion monitor tab based on measuring the head’s movement in collisions.

Irish came out having to re-think things. With no lead to defend, they had to start playing catch-up into the continuing wind, and with few answers to the Sarries speed of defence. They caught Sarries a little napping and Homer took advantage twice within the first six minutes of the half, hauling his side back to 11-6. However, the effort was all too much, and within ten minutes Farrell has redressed the gap to 17-6. All the while, the second half plan seemed to be to pass to Geraghty and for him to feed close-in runners, usually forwards who would threaten to look like breaking the gain line. Unfortunately, that game plan plays right into the hands of the Sarries close-in defenders, and the Sarries back row of Billy, Burger and Wray, supporting the already powerful work of de Kock and Farrell, with Taylor outside, were generally on top of things. Lots of side to side does not mean that progress is being made, however many phases are involved, and Irish really only had anything to show when they belatedly began to put width into their game.

On 61 minutes we were given the moment of real pleasure of the afternoon. Neil de Kock had been busy and effective all afternoon, and made a telling little break that took him almost to the try-line. Checked, he delivered a sleight of hand pass out off the back of his hand, well-taken by Chris Wyles, who sped the ball wide, again through several hands, to Strettle, who had less to do this time but achieved the same result. The score was to remain at 22-6 for the remaining quarter. Sarries were not ambitious enough to threaten a third or fourth try, Irish were never likely to go away with anything, and Billy’s MotM award was the most predictable thing about the whole afternoon.

The most disappointed man of the afternoon was undoubtedly skipper Hargreaves. On 20 minutes, during a moment of pressure on the Irish line, the ball had squirted back to him, pretty much at bootlace level. A skilful gather, a quick glance and a sweetly struck dropped goal. Sadly, referee Tim Wigglesworth had been playing advantage to Sarries and blew a shade too quickly for no advantage coming just as the ball left the big man’s boot. So the Sarries second row drop goal memorial cup still only has one name on it, Huge’s.

We have one more game to go before the big ones return, with Munster at home first up. We have to go to Kingsholm where Gloucester will be hoping that their rare away win, at Exeter of all places, will have shown signs of an upturn in their form. After that, there will be no hiding places.

Occasionally, we get to see a young player as he makes his first strides towards a successful career with honours beckoning. Much has been written of Itoje, but we have yet to see enough of him to know how he will come on. However, we had two other young talents on show today, Ransom and Tomkins. Ransom is 22, not the largest unit on the field but blessed with the qualities that make a player into something special. He is solid in defence, in getting himself into the right places, fielding the high ball from long range or closer up, tackling very strongly and reliably when he needs to. His ability to look up, see space and use his greater than average turn of speed make him a formidable attacking 15 as well. Nick Tompkins is 19, has played through the England age groups and shows every sign of being that rare centre, the man who can see spaces, wriggle through them, stay on his feet and draw defenders whilst releasing the ball to those around him. We shall see more of both.

Saracens: Ben Ransom; Chris Wyles, Nick Tompkins, Duncan Taylor, David Strettle; Owen Farrell, Neil De Kock; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Petrus Du Plessis; Geroge Kruis, Alistair Hargreaves (capt); Jackson Wray, Jacques Burger, Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: Brett Sharman, Richard Barrington, James Johnston, Maro Itoje, Kelly Brown, Ben Spencer, Nils Mordt, Tim Streather.

London Irish: Homer; Ojo, Mulchrone, Sheridan, Lewington; Geraghty, Steele; Court, Allen, Cross; Skivington (capt), Rouse; Low, Gilsenan, Treviranus.

Replacements: Palframan, Halavatau, Aulika, Cox, Guest, O'Leary, Dorrian, Fenby.

Attendance: 9,306

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth