MoTM: Sarries at home - the pain continues!
By Saint Tim
February 24 2011
The bogey club at home – could this be the opportunity to nail that bogey man? Now Sarries are an odd club to me in that I like an awful lot of their supporters I have met but I have to say I detest the club itself. This isn’t helped by having Dr Evil in their ranks and he was at the gardens. I have to say I respect him as a rugby coach – but as a player he had no place on the pitch – he was dangerous. As many know I have spent time in SA recently and I met people there who know him and I have to say it confirmed my opinion!
Can you pick a MoTM as Saints came off second best against Sarries?
Enough about my personal view of Saracens as a club there is no doubting their ability on the pitch. They do not play with the most flashy style but they are relentless and effective. This game was no exception. Despite taking an early lead through a Jon Clarke try Sarries never looked worried by this. Indeed they did not look worried when thy had first one man and then a second man in quite quick succession sent to the bin. The second binning for Farrell was not even a penalty in my humble opinion. It was just one of the outrageous decisions by the man in the middle who looked out of his depth (yes the simile is intended) and whilst they did not really affect they outcome they did ruin the game. Saints do not seem to have a clue on how to play against a team with a man in the bin. They kicked for the corner and then failed to get point from the resulting play. One thing I have noticed is how little support there is in our midfield at the moment. The teams we play against seem to have men to support the runner and get over the gain line and produce quick ball. We have a single man running into two or three defenders who knock him back and slow the ball down. It really is a big worry!
So at the turn around it was 10 – 6 to Saints. Sarries would however be playing down the hill (surely slope is just not the right adjective for the north face of the Eiger which we have at FG!) and as Eif is keen to point out this makes a big difference. And so it was to prove as Sarries quickly got a penalty and then a try from a charge down. Saints did manage to get over the whitewash again courtesy of Paul Diggin but Myler could not nail the conversion from out wide so going into the final quarter we were still behind. Then Wilson was carded and as I only saw the game live with no replays I have no idea why Small reached for his pocket. Sarries used the time with a man over much more effectively than Saints did and scored a forwards try right under the sticks. That was really the end of the game. Saints never really looked threatening with the ball in hand and always looked nervous in defence. Sarries did get another couple of scores via a penalty and a drop goal to ensure the Saints got nothing from the game. This is now getting really worrying for us Saints fans. I have not seen us put in a good performance for a long time.
On another note - The FG pitch cut up far more than I have seen in recent seasons. Come on Piggy sort it out :)
So, who caught the eye?
In joint second place this week were Grieg Tonks and Stephen myler with 13% of the vote. Many will be surprised at Stephen as he looks out of sorts at the moment and is not threatening with ball in hand and his kicking is also suffering. I feel for him as he is not getting the armchair ride that we had earlier in the season but this is when he needs to earn his corn!
Tonks had another assured game at full back and looks steady under the high ball and had some good runs. He seems to be developing well.
The winner this week was the evergreen Bruce Reihana. Bruce struggled to get back into the team following an injury earlier this season. On this form he will again become one of the first names on the team sheet. He is the definition of Saintsman!
Thanks to the 75 who voted it is appreciated.
Just a quick observation – I have never seen such a low vote for the forward division in any poll before – between them the 8 forwards received just 9 votes. This is not a good sign! I would also say that we really do seem to be missing Lee Dickson.
Full Result
Previous Winners
Vote History
Who wins?
Leaderboard
Players Used
So far this season we have now used 36 different players with 1 new starters this week. I do notice however that after 22 games we have 3 players who have only missed two starts. This isn’t really rotation and could be a key reason for the sub standard performances we are now seeing.
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“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
Reassuring to know that your SA compatriots have a similar opinion to the good Doctor as many on here!
(cue - the gobby teenager...)
Although I will only vote if I have seen the match (which is most at the moment whether on the telly or live), I find it easier to vote when I've reviewed it on telly and when we have won. But a loss doesn't stop me voting!
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Not sure if I have said before but I do not vote for these as I do the write up and I do not want to colour my views too much.
You are all too kind - but I do thank you.
“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tetleys Block F E143
echo Phil's comments re Dr Thug as a player
Also agree with you about Dickson - boy are we missing him!
David L
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
- Live wrong and preposterously
Come On You Saints