Thanks to Daniel Davis

By The Saracens
December 23 2024

I have to say I had misgivings about this one. Saints on top form, Sarries missing a few key players, weekend before Christmas: but as ever there is nothing predictable about this team of ours! It was good to meet up with Jonny and Mrs Jonny in the bar beforehand (hob-knobbing with the enemy I have to say!) but I did say I hate writing the reports when we lose. Oh yea of little faith.

Isiekwe &, Riccioni were already casualties of the win in France and Daly pulled out just before kick-off (apparently with a tight hamstring). The back-line at least had a bit of inexperience so it was good to see Nick Tompkins and his baby daughter lead the team out for his 200^th appearance. It was another windy one (although nothing like Storm Darragh a couple of weeks ago) and yet again we seem to have won the toss and are playing into the wind in the first half (is Maro just amazingly good at calling correctly?) We had a minutes’ applause for the late Tom Voyce them Santa delivered the ball with rather too much theatricality for Mr Leal,  the referee, and finally Saints kicked off.

It was all Saints for the first 5 minutes but too many errors from the holy ones made it easy for the hosts to clear. The visitor’s discipline was getting ragged and a Sarries penalty was marched forward 10m for dissent (makes a change it wasn’t us!) Fergus found a great touch and followed up with a lovely grubber kick which Tompkins appropriately touched down. We’re all cheering loudly only for the ref to signal “no try” (apparently he was offside). But undaunted, 2 minutes later a great lineout take from Theo (those hands……just wow), allowed Van Zyl to break and find Elliott who kicked ahead for Burke to score in the corner. He judged the wind perfectly to land the conversion. 7-0.

Saints continued with their generosity – the 2 lovely Saints supporters next to us had their heads in their hands. Finally a brief foray into the Sarries 22, aided by Jackson who didn’t commit to a high ball and knocked on, (he got a real ear-full from Liam!) Fortunately more Christmas gifts from Saints with a low throw that caught everyone by surprise and ended in a Sarries turnover.

Once more we are up in the Saints 22 and after several pushes, Willis seemed to have scored. Just as Fergus is lining up the kick we go back to the TMO who decides Van Zyl knocked the ball forward (have to say it looked a pretty marginal decision but this was one of the more pernickety TMO’s). Saints were unable to clear their lines and another pummelling from Sarries eventually led to try number 2 from Carre. Fergus seemed to snatch at the kick, which was almost in front, and hit the posts (about the only thing he did wrong all night). So it was going to be one of those games where you have to score 2 tries for every one that counts!

There was the inevitable bit of fisticuffs (amazing really it took until 20 minutes!) and the captains were spoken to but Sarries  now had the bit between their teeth. Theo Dan broke off the back of the maul and powered through 3 Saints’ defenders to score the 3^rd try. An unkind gust took the conversion wide but 17-0 was a good place to be.

Just to show that it was still there, the wind took one of Van Zyl’s box kicks backwards but Saints just didn’t seem to be able to get any momentum. As half time approached Van Zyl managed to get his box kick in the right direction, Cinti knocked it back and it landed perfectly for Burke to score the bonus point try under the posts (no mistake this time on the conversion). Saints failed miserably with a last minute opportunity in Sarries 22 and we were off for the break.

What a first half! Not in my wildest dreams did I expect that. Sarries were good and played the conditions pretty well but Saints were woeful. Surely they couldn’t continue to be that bad! The scrums were a bit of a mess: it was one of those games where you could pretty much predict whose turn it would be for the penalty. Given the huge number of handling errors, I think we managed 1 completed scrum in the first half. That always suggests to me that the ref isn’t sure what’s going on either! Despite having the wind in their favour, Saints hardly kicked the ball at all. On the other hand Sarries used the swirling breeze well and poor George Hendy must have had his head spinning after a nightmare half (that’s what happens when you get talked up by Stuart Barnes!)

And so to part 2. I am always a bit nervous when Sarries have such a big lead come half time. We do have a habit of switching off a bit and surely Saints couldn’t continue to be that bad. And so it came to pass. Saints had obviously had the hair-dryer treatment at half time because within seconds of the restart, Tommy Freeman broke free and scored for Saints with Smith adding the extras for 24-7. Balmain and Carre departed after 5 minutes to be replaced by Clarey and Brantingham. Fraser had looked lost for much of the first half and out on his feet by the time he departed. Maro was in trouble when Lockett’s head seemed to hit his shoulder. A tense few moments but Mr Leal decided there was enough mitigation for it to be a yellow and we were down to 14 for10 minutes. Sarries often play better with 14 and the arrival of Loz for Jackson was a positive. Sarries held out well until Pearson broke free (the pass to him was so close to an interception but “nearlys” don’t count) and eventually Pearson finished off his own move for Saints’ 2^nd try in 5 minutes. Smith missed a very tricky conversion but at 24-12 things were looking a bit uncomfortable.

Time for England captain Jamie George to steady the ship which he absolutely did although Mr Leal seemed to have taken a dislike to Sarries, giving Saints penalty after penalty (not that they seemed to be able to do much with them). As is often the case, a little incident can spark a team into action. This time Mr Leal got in the way of a Sarries’ attack then penalised them for crossing round him. Ironically Saints then did the same thing (without Mr Leal’s help) and were somewhat belatedly penalised (TMO call maybe?) The injustice seemed to be what was needed.

Saints brought on their dangerman when Sleightholme replaced Ramm and Maro rejoined us. Saints continued to be generous with the ball and on the hour, Sarries had a lineout on the Saints’ 5m line. Catch and drive, the backs piled in and Jamie came up with the ball. Burke missed the kick but 29-12 was a bit more comfortable. Almost immediately things got even better when the ball went loose and Earl emerged from the melee and motored half the pitch length to score under the posts. He can run, that man, and there’s nothing stopping him once he’s in full flow! Fergus landed the extras and we relaxed at 36-12.

There were still 20 minutes to negotiate. Mark McCall rang the changes but there were no further scores until we neared the end. Maybe (and I’ll forgive them) they switched off a bit but Sleighthome took his chance to score a 3^rd try in the corner (the conversion hit the post) and with 2 minutes to go Hendy and McParland combined to run the length of the pitch and score. Smith converted for 36-24 and Saints celebrated the bonus point which they probably didn’t deserve. The game ended with a Sarries penalty in front of the posts so Burke wound down the clock and took the 3.

So all in all a very satisfactory afternoon helped by Saints’ generosity. Sarries played the conditions far better than Saints but interestingly, of the 10 tries scored, only 2 were scored with the wind! So much for wind-assistance! Another assured performance by Burke and yet again McFarland, Gonzalez, Earl and Willis were outstanding. The scrum held up pretty well (although Saints aren’t the strongest scrummagers) and it was encouraging that the replacement props also held their own. Theo Dan won MotM – he was decent but I’d have gone with McFarland or Burke.

And so to Christmas before we head down to Bath next Saturday. Given a 6 day turnaround I suspect the lads won’t get much of a break but I’m sure they’ll enjoy it anyway.

Merry Christmas to all of you that read this drivel. Thanks to my fellow Eds Jonny and James for their help and support over the year and to Philip for his reports earlier in the year until he threw in his pen. I think we can look forward to 2025 with hope and excitement. Have a good one.

SARACENS

Williams (Hall), Elliott, Cinti, Tompkins, Jackson (Lozowski), Burke, Van Zyl (Simpson); Carre (Brantingham), Dan (George), Balmain (Cleary), Itoje, MacFarland (Wilson), Gonzalez, Earl, Willis (Knight)

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

Handy, Freeman, Lichfield (Dingwall), Hutchinson, Ramm (Sleightholme), Smith, Mitchell (McParland); Iyogun (Haffar), C Langdon (N Langdon), Davison (Millar-Mills), Lockett (Mayanavanua), Munga, Coles, Pearson, Augustus (Pollock)

SCORERS

Saracens  Tries: Burke (2) Carre, Dan, George, Earl; Conv: Burke (3), Pen: Burke

Northampton Saints  Tries: Freeman, Pearson, Sleighthome, McParland; Conv: Smith (2)

Referee: Adam Leal