By Darraghgirl
November 8 2015

  A new stand to unveil, over 15,000 spectators invited, top names back in the team, even the sun peeked out for a few minutes and along come Sarries, party poopers extraordinaire!  

The rain and the wind meant this was never going to be a rugby exhibition to match the occasion. Both teams were as strong as they could be - Saints missing Lawes & Clark but welcoming back Hartley & North and Sarries starting Brits, Wiggy, Wyles and Barritt.

Farrell, perhaps misjudging the wind, put the kick-off straight into touch. Saints won a penalty from the resulting scrum when Fotouali’i threw the ball straight at an off-side Hargreaves. Myler kicked the points. Farrell’s second attempt at a restart was much better and led to plenty of ball for Sarries but not much progress (the boot on the other foot somewhat!) When they did get into the 22, mainly through the efforts of the Vunipolae, Saints turned the ball over, something they did repeatedly throughout the first half. A Saints’ scrum resulted in a penalty to the home side and thus began scrumgate. Sarries had the ball but went nowhere and when they did Saints turned them over in the scrum. 3 scrums, 3 Saints penalties.

Saints finally made it to the Sarries 22 after about 20 minutes following a soft penalty and kick to touch. The lineout was overthrown and knocked on. Another scrum deep in dangerland albeit a Sarries put in – and glorybe this time a Sarries’ penalty. Alex Goode showed a lovely bit of skill flicking the ball up with his feet then a lovely long clearance only for Foden to show he has class too with a beautiful long crossfield kick to put Saints back into pole position. Again the scrum held when it mattered and the ball was cleared. Better was to follow when Sarries were awarded a kickable penalty for a late tackle by Wood on Farrell. Farrell’s retaliation was studied by the TMO but the penalty wasn’t reversed much to the dislike of the Saints crowd who then whistled throughout the kick. In didn’t bother Farrell though, the kick was never going to miss. The incident though seemed to wake the crowd up and reinvigorate Saints.

A bizarre series of events followed when a Farrell kick was charged down but luckily fell kindly. Saints turned the ball over and North broke dangerously down the left wing, evading 2 defenders before a good tackle from Ashton in the Sarries 22 stopped him and somehow Ash came up with the ball. He then threw the ball over his head in the general direction of Taylor but sadly not near enough! The ball was loose in the Sarries 22. Fortunately Taylor reacted more quickly than anyone else and gathered the ball but he was isolated and Saints were awarded a very kickable penalty when he didn’t release. Myler really should have secured 3 points but his kick went wide. The half ended with a series of huge hits on Farrell, first from Wood and then Pisi but he literally rose above it and to add insult to injury, kicked a huge penalty right on half-time to give Sarries a somewhat fortunate 6-3 halftime lead. An attritional half with most of the play between the two 22’s and excellent work from Billy Vunipola (who looked like he’d never been away), Goode and Farrell.

The second half started more promisingly with a scrum penalty to Sarries and another 3 points from Farrell to extend the lead to 9-3. North again looked dangerous and again it was Ashton who successfully brought him down to earth. Saints pressed hard and camped in the Sarries 22 but the famed wolfpack held and again we had a Saint’s attacking scrum deep in Sarries’ 22. Hargreaves departed (to be replaced by Rhodes) leaving Barritt as captain and Jamie George replaced Brits. The scrum was reset twice with the ball lodged in the channel before a free kick to Sarries when Tom Wood hooked the ball. Things were getting feisty. What appeared to be a late tackle on Alex Goode went unpunished and again Saints attacked the tryline. A dangerous-looking maul was well defended and gradually Saints were pushed back beyond the 22.

More changes with Hartley & Myler coming off for Saints (enter JJ Hanrahan) and Billy and Taylor being replaced by Kelly Brown & Bish Bash. Bosch’s first kick, like Farrell’s, went straight out. Du Plessis & Mako were replaced by Figallo and Barrington and Saints replaced Waller with Waller.

Sarries won another penalty and Wiggy produced a splendid kick from a narrow angle. The maul went nowhere and eventually Sarries settled for the penalty. Another tricky kick but Farrell wasn’t missing anything today. The lead was a more comfortable 12-3 but with over 10 minutes left the game was not safe.

Hodgson replaced Farrell and went for touch with a tricky but kickable penalty (the high penalty count was now hurting Saints). Sarries really should have scored after a period of sustained pressure. The maul stopped short, the various pick and drives got closer and closer. Finally Hodgson broke but Wyles couldn’t secure the pass with the tryline begging. The clock ticked down and there were just 30 seconds left. Saints were awarded a penalty. Hanrahan pragmatically kicked the points to give Saints the loosing bonus point and Sarries the win.

Not a pretty game but one Sarries deservedly won in the end. The scrum was in trouble in the first half but the coaches worked their magic at half-time and in the second half it was much more secure. It was good to see Billy back to his old self and Wyles looking sharp after his adventures with the USA. Kruis was the official man of the match but Goode, Itoje, Burger and Wiggy all had excellent games.

So the first part of the Premiership season comes to a close and Sarries are sitting pretty: top of the table and the only unbeaten team in the Premiership. Next Saturday things go up another gear with the arrival of Toulouse. 2 years ago the French team did the double over Sarries although the home game was at Wembley and many felt this played into Toulouse’s hands. On Saturday we shall see!

Northampton Saints:

Foden (Tuala), Elliott, G Pisi, Burrell, North, Myler (Hanrahan), Fotouali’i (Dickson), A Waller (E Waller), Hartley (Haywood), Brookes (Hill), Craig (Patterson), Day, Gibson, Wood, Dickinson (Harrison)

Saracens:

Goode, Ashton, Taylor (Bosch), Barritt, Wyles, Farrell (Hodgson), Wigglesworth, M Vunipola (Barrington), Brits (George), Du Plessis (Figallo), Kruis, Hargreaves (Rhodes), Itoje, Burger, Vunipola (Brown)

Scorers: 

Northampton: Pens, Myler, Hanrahan

Saracens: Pens: Farrell (4)

Att: 15,169

Referee Luke Pearce