SARRIES JUST NICK IT!

If anyone had watched the Scottish v Ireland game on Saturday they would have been well prepared for this Saracens versus Leicester match. The visitors were masters of the set piece and with a big set of forwards who threatened to steamroller. Strong defence and fleetness of foot plus the extra stamina of youth were all the weapons of the home side. Scatter in a few old stagers like Tom Croft and Kelly Brown. I’m given to understand there was a dose of man-flu making the rounds and a number of Sarries changes from the original line-up, with Jackson Wray and Dom Morris making it to the bench.

Sarries started brightly and kept Tiggers pinned in their own half; this despite them being totally dominant in the set piece as they were all day. I seem to remember only one Leicester scrum that didn’t result in a penalty; they won all but one lineout, which was not straight. In addition they put Sarries under some pressure on their own ball winning half of the line-outs and a couple of scrum penalties. Fortunately for Saracens, Burns and Harrison spent most of the first half an hour kicking the ball away for possession. Like their first team visit, they simply forgot the Chase part of Kick-Chase meaning there was plenty of open possession to run back. Barrington in particular seemed to want to make up for his red card and was bashing away; several bouncing defenders and one short run. Ten yards for a prop is the same as fifty yards for a back; finally he got hold of a short pass and despite being pushed down rolled over with the ball on the line under the posts. The TMO confirmed he had the ball in his arms, and his arms on the line so a try.

Sarries were running everything and within a few minutes had progressed to a scrum in the Leicester 22; although it was under some pressure. Vinusa and Taylor got the ball away and a crisp simple back movement brought Gallagher into the line. It was still 2 v 2, but a nice grubber-kick into space and an injection of pace from Earle meant he was able to dot the ball down before the cover arrived. Whitely was unable to add the conversion but 12-0 was still pinching material after 16 minutes. Even from the kick-off Tiggers still kicked the ball away and Sarries still ran it back. A great passage of play with some flowing movement, a great run by Ellery and Sarries were under the posts again. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) great defensive work turned over the attack and a penalty for hanging on.

I’m not sure if Burns thought he was already at Bath, or the training sessions of the new regime calling for adventure had stirred his blood. When he tapped and went from under his posts none of his teammates went with him; in fact most of them were getting some fluids from the water boys. So when he ran and was caught on the 10 yard line by 3 Sarries defenders, Tompkins was able to strip the ball with ease. He then found himself with no defenders between himself and the try-line. Whitely made the conversion for 19-0 and we were pinching ourselves and laughing at the craziness of it all. Normal service was resumed shortly afterwards when someone told the visitors to stop kicking away possession. Working through the phases they approached the line by small degrees. Slow but almost impossible to resist given the disparity in body size between the teams. A penalty was awarded and Burns kicked it.

Sarries did manage to get some possession again and walked upfield before a long range penalty was available. The kick hit the outside post and nobody was chasing up allowing to Tiggers to almost break clear. Again they made their way upwards in small degrees bludgeon rather than Sarries rapier. They were rewarded when Hamilton drove over with 5 minutes of the half remaining. Suddenly 19-10 didn’t look so easy. There was just enough time for Sarries to make it up the pitch again into long range for a penalty, but again Whitely pushed it wide.

Half-time came And went and Leicester came out of the traps firing. They didn’t kick anything away and played a lot of phases on or around the 22. Lots of overlaps were created and a number of clever but desperate smother tackles by Earle stopped them being rewarded. Finally though a well worked crash ball from around 10 yards out by McGuigan brought the score to within 2 points. At that point the game seemed to enter into a different phase. Leicester seemed to run out of puff a bit and the kicking restarted. You did feel that with Tiggers getting more and more ball it was only a question of time, but great defence and low chopping tackles were having their effect.

Finally Sarries got some ball and won a penalty for a high tackle. Fortunately it was right in front and 5 points seemed a bit better. But Tiggers came back to keep battering and looked to have the game under control. Winning a penalty almost under the posts they took the points, to bring it back to 2 points again. It did almost seem to me that Leicester were expecting Sarries to just roll over, but the intervention of Thompson-Stringer and Jackson Wray stiffened the resolve. Stringer had evidently played for Bedford the day before so his crashing bruising performance was incredible. With three props and two hookers in their pack they seemed to be winning the fitness battle as the big guys from the East Midlands started to run out of puff. Interventions from Kelly Brown (who played very well in the second row) and now some decent lineout ball saw them moving forward.

An intervention by Earle off his wing drove him forward for some 20 yards still managing to stay on his feet and even if another score wasn’t on, the last 10 minutes played in the Tiggers 22 was just the ticket. A number of short drives followed with 3 different penalties being awarded. Finally a flop to kill the ball by Tom Croft saw both a penalty smartly awarded and a yellow card with 4 minutes to go. It seemed all over and the fight had gone out of the visitors; they were just looking to hang on now. A kick to the corner; some drives and another penalty. Another drive and then the ball out to Whitely. A little bit of magic as a gap appeared and he darted into it, twisted out of the tackle, dove in under the posts. Time was up as the conversion was taken and Sarries had a bonus point win, with no bonus for Tiggers.

Net result the same game between the same teams for a place in the final in 5 weeks time. Lets hope the ticketing gremlins are solved before then

Saracens: 15 Matt Gallagher; 14 Mike Ellery; 13 Tim Streather (c) (Morris 26); 12 Nick Tompkins; 11 Nathan Earle; 10 Tom Whiteley; 9 Henry Taylor (De Kock 55); 1 Richard Barrington (Lamositele 52); 2 Jared Saunders (Wray 71’); 3 Petrus Du Plessis (Walker {19-32} & {66}); 4 Mark Flanagan; 5 Brian Tuilagi (Thompson-Stringer 66); 6 Kelly Brown; 7 Will Fraser (Spurling 55); 8 Samu Vunisa

Replacements 16 Scott Spurling; 17 Titi Lamositele; 18 Billy Walker; 19 Hayden Thompson-Stringer; 20 Jackson Wray; 21 Neil De Kock; 22 Dominic Morris; 23 Rotimi Segun:

Tries: Barrington (12); Earle (16); Tompkins (24); Whiteley (54):

Cons: Whiteley x 3/4:

Penalties: Whiteley X 1/2:

Leicester Tigers: 15 George Worth; 14 Peter Betham; 13 Charlie Thacker; 12 Oli Bryant; 11 George Catchpole (Brady 30); 10 Freddie Burns; 9 Sam Harrison (White 78); 1 Michele Rizzo (Brugnara 55); 2 George McGuigan;                        3 Pat Cilliers (Betts 66); 4 Harry Wells; 5 Dom Barrow (c) (Maksymiw 59); 6 Tom Croft; 7 Harry Thacker (Williams 52) ;8 Luke Hamilton (H.Thacker 52).

Replacements 16 Brendon O'Connor; 17 Riccardo Brugnara; 18 Ben Betts; 19 Joe Maksymiw; 20 Mike Williams; 21 Ben White; 22 Maxime Mermoz; 23 Tom Brady:

Tries: Hamilton (34); McGuigan (50)

Cons: Burns x 2

Penalties: Burns x 2/3

Yellow card: Croft (76):

Man of the Match: Nick Tompkins