Daniel Davis

By Monaghan Boy
October 24 2023

And so Saracens returned to the Stonex, hoping to refortify their home, their focus on putting right the humiliation of last week’s defeat at Sandy Park. Visitors Bath, meanwhile, looked eagerly to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. 

In a first start for his new club Bath, the opening minutes proved to demonstrate both sides of Finn Russell rugby. A poorly judged kick found only the down-charging arms of Andy Christie, who gathered and raced to score before the north stand. Finn Russell’s immediate response, however, would silence Saracens for much of the remainder of the contest. Slipping the tackle of Mako Vunipola, Russell skilfully linked with fullback Tom De Glanville to open Bath’s account.

Minutes later, a second followed from Miles Reid - simple but effective carrying put to good use, ploughing though the Saracens defence. As the rain began to fall, a more elegant third score followed still - vision from captain Ben Spencer putting Ruaridh McConnochie away in the corner with a textbook cross field kick. Missed conversions from Russell, however, kept the scoreline closer, with both sides trading penalties to close out the first half. 13-20 the score, and Saracens lucky for it.

Had the home team been leading, what followed would have been a wet weather masterclass orchestrated from 9 - relentless box kicks raining down upon greasy hands. A game plan to force mistakes was undone however, by De Glanville’s imperious mastery under the high ball, unfazed by pedestrian kick chases from the Saracens wingers. As the visitors stretched their lead to 9, with a Thomas du Toit try on 55 minutes, Saracens would need to show versatility and now chase the game with attacking intent. Instead, ex-Saracen Ben Spencer eased into a MOTM-type performance - expertly marshalling his forwards, and relenting his former club with an aerial blitz.

Any Saracen ambition quickly nullified. Both sides scoreless in the last 20. 16-25 full-time. Individual performances were once again lacklustre across the board. Only a returning Andy Christie seemed to bring focus and direction to the team, something required of and lacking from many others. While commitment in the forward pack greatly improved on the previous week, decision making across the back line continued to lack. The scrum, too, faltered often, keeping Saracens pinned back in their half from the resulting penalties. One wonders if the stream of opportunities given to those expected to step up might run dry by the season’s end. Similarly, aging, relied-upon stalwarts may find their game time limited once the squad’s international contingent returns from French pastures.

In Paris, just a few hours later, a captain’s performance from Owen Farrell showed the passion and intensity desperately missing from Saracens this past fortnight. The quality of his domestic understudy can be argued, but his absence as catalyst and heart of Saracens has left a crippling hole at the club, barely plastered over, with integral performers Ben Earl, Maro Itoje and Jamie George also yet to return.

And so to Gloucester. A preview best left for someone of far better rugby insight and journalistic skill than myself

SARACENS:

Goode, Maitland, Lozowski (Hartley), Tompkins, Segun (lewington), Manu Vunipola, Davies (Simpson); Mako Vunipola (West), Hadfield (Adejimi), Riccioni (Clarey), Hunter-Hill (Knight), McFarland, Christie, Willis

BATH

De Glanville, Cokanasiga, Redpath, Butt (Ojomoh), McConnachie, Russell (Bailey), Spencer (Shreuder); Scheumann (du Toit), Annett (Dunn), Jonker (Griffin), Roux (McNally), Ewels, Reid, Cloete, Barbeary (Coetzee)

SCORERS:-

SARACENS:  Try: Christie, Conv Lozowski; Pen (3) Lozowski

BATH:   Tries: de Glanville, Reid, McConnachie, du Toit; Conv: Russell; Pen: Russell

Referee: Hamish Smails