FORWARDS TOGETHER

Saracens made a trio of adjustments from the win at Wasps, as Marcelo Bosch, Charlie Hodgson and Schalk Brits started in place of Duncan Taylor, Owen Farrell a and Jamie George, meaning a starting XV of Alex Goode, Chris Ashton and Chris Wyles on the wings, with Brad Barritt accompanying Bosch in the centres, and Hodgson with Richard Wigglesworth in the half backs. Into the forwards, and the front row consisted of Mako Vunipola, Brits and Petrus du Plessis, with Maro Itoje and George Kruis continuing in the second row, and a back row of Michael Rhodes, Will Fraser and Billy Vunipola.

 

Leicester made a number of changes from their previous line up which had secured an unconvincing home win over Newcastle Falcons last week, as Argentinian winger Gonzalo Camacho and centre Seremaia Bai came in for Peter Betham and Matt Smith, causing a backline shuffle, which saw Telusa Veainu shifted from right wing to full back, displacing Mathew Tait to centre, whilst Veriniki Goneva remained on the left wing. Freddie Burns remained at fly half, but Sam Harrison came in for Ben Youngs. Moving to the front row, Marcos Ayerza came in for Logovi'i Mulipola, whilst Harry Thacker remained at hooker and Fraser Balmain stayed at tighthead. In the second row, Dom Barrow was partnered by Graham Kitchener instead of Ed Slater, who moved into the back row at 6 alongside the continuing Tom Croft, who switched to 7, with Laurence Pearce at 8, although both Slater and Croft would depart the action in the first half through injury. Perhaps surprisingly, Dan Cole and both Youngs were only amongst the replacements. If some had said Wasps had changed their tactics too much last week, then perhaps the Tigers made too many changes to their starting XV this week, although the match outcome was undoubted affected by the loss of their two influential back rows. 

 

Starting off damp and gloomy and getting steadily worse, some early handling errors were to be expected, with the first move with any flow seeing a Hodgson pass just elude Wyles on the left wing in the fourth minute, but from the resultant pressure, Saracens failed to roll away, and Burns put the Tigers 3-0 up from 35 metres in the fifth minute. Within moments, though, Sarries had sounded a warning of how the game would pan out, as a threatening rolling maul was only blunted when Wigglesworth knocked on. On eleven minutes, they had the first try, as Ashton claimed a high ball well, and from the resultant breakdown, Leicester failed to roll away, giving the hosts a lineout inside the 22 and a fierce rolling maul which Tigers brought down, meaning a penalty try, and a 7-3 lead. Although both sides were opting to kick in the main, there was some sporadic running threat by Leicester, mainly through Veainu, and though the first move ended with a knock on, Saracens were then caught offside from a promising break through the centre, and Burns made it 7-6 with 22 minutes played. 

 

However, despite their attacking ambition, the visitors had failed to enter the home 22 at this stage, as their efforts were successfully defended against. Wigglesworth took a quick tap from a scrum penalty which led to a series of drives but Leicester won a clearing penalty to add to some important turnovers they had made. By now, Saracens' edge in the scrum was clear in particular, and they might have had a second try when a move from a lineout 40 metres out  featuring purposeful breaks by Bosch and Billy Vunipola was only halted when the ball trickled forward on the left.  What seemed costly at the time were the two missed penalties in the closing minutes before the break, as Leicester were penalised for hands in the ruck, amd then strayed offside, as Hodgson and Goode were off target and it stayed 7-6 at the break.

 

On as a second half replacement, George wasted no time in getting involved. From Goode's initial run into the heart of the visiting 22, a pinpoint kick to the left corner forced Veainu to concede a close range lineout, and George to cap the rolling maul for an unconverted try. The home pressure continued as Ashton was challenged in the air, winning a penalty to bring a return to the Tigers zone, with a series of drives taking play across the pitch but halted by a knock-on. More patient play did, however, yield dividends in the 54th minute as they went through the phases from halfway, and Itoje went close before Mako Vunipola was held up over the line, play was pulled back for an earlier infringement, and when Leicester offended again, Sarries had a second penalty try. More scrum woes, this time on halfway, saw them wheel the scrum on halfway, three minutes later, and up went the cries of "Bosch, Bosch. Bosch". With the bonus point within range, though, Hodgson kicked for the corner, but the visitors turned over to just about remain in the game. 

 

They were not getting inside the Saracens half, though, and were hanging on again as they stole another close range lineout. It was only a temporary respite, though, as in the aftermath of the home side being held up over the line again, a series of infringements from the scrum eventually saw Cole sin-binned, and, when the visitors offended again, the bonus point try was Saracens' with twelve minutes to spare. They could have had a fifth try just a minute later from a rolling maul, but this time it was Saracens who were penalised. On 72 minutes, Tigers had a rare chance of a consolation when de Kock's kick forward drifted straight over the try line, giving the visitors a scrum on the edge of the 22, but Saracens were able to clear and forced another penalty, but, Leicester found some late resilience as the rolling maul was kept out again. Saracens closed strongly, with an isolated raid by Goneva the only hint of a late chance for the visitors.

 

So, the run goes on, as Saracens come through one of their stiffest tests with something to spare, making an interesting contrast with last week, which was earnt by two moments of quick thinking, whilst today was about a relentless determination and pressure which Leicester could not cope with, and playing an appropriate game to the conditions. 

 

 

Teams: 

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode: 14 Chris Ashton: 13 Marcelo Bosch: 12 Brad Barritt; 11 Chris Wyles (Duncan Taylor 69); 10 Charlie Hodgson (Owen Farrell 55); 9 Richard Wigglesworth (Neil de Kock 55); 1 Mako Vunipola (Rhys Gill 61);  2 Schalk Brits (Jamie George 40): 3 Petrus du Plessis (Tito Lamositele 69); 4 Maro Itoje (Jim Hamilton 69); 5 George Kruis; 6 Michael Rhodes (Jackson Wray 55); 7 Will Fraser; 8 Billy Vunipola

 

Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu; 14 Gonzalo Camacho (Fraser Balmain 66, due to Cole yellow card); 13 Mathew Tait; 12 Seremaia Bai (Owen Williams 47); 11 Veriniki Goneva; 10 Freddie Burns; 9 Sam Harrison (Ben Youngs 62); 1 Marcos Ayerza (Logovi'i Mulipola 53); 2 Harry Thacker; 3 Fraser Balmain (Dan Cole 53); 4 Dom Barrow. 5 Graham Kitchener; 6 Ed Slater (Mike Fitzgerald 29); 7 Tom Croft (Lachlan McCaffrey 21); 8 Laurence Pearce Not used: Tom Youngs

 

Referee: Greg Garner

 

Attendance: 10000