THANK GOODNESS WE DIDN'T PAY THE PENALTY

  So here we go again, the annual bun fight at Wembley (only 4 miles from Allianz) against the only other ‘proper’ London club, Harlequins. The match had an air of the after/before the Lord Mayor’s Show about it, squeezed as it was between a European quarter & semi final tie so maybe there was some logic in scheduling it at Wembley thus raising the profile of the game (although I do wonder at the wisdom of conceding home advantage now we have our own place up the road at Allianz).  

Arriving at Wembley Park Station, we were greeted by a whole barrage of stalls selling flashing wands and pink tiaras and red and white spotted mouse ears. Looking round there were more little girls dressed as Cinderella or Belle or Elsa than rugby supporters and for a moment we wondered if we were in the right place but there in the corner was a stall selling the now obligatory half and half scarves so we followed the little girls, tripping over their ball gowns, along Olympic way to the Stadium itself (most, but not all, of the princesses diverted to Wembley Arena to enjoy 25 years of Disney on Ice).

I was a tad underwhelmed by Foxes. I still don’t see the point of wearing trousers that are split down the sides. Doesn’t it defeat the object somewhat? The obligatory Rock Choir did their stuff along with a lot of kiddies in white tee-shirts (the non-Disney Princesses I assume). I do wonder though why they are all seated so prominently when everyone knows they will all disappear after half time leaving acres of empty red seats behind the goals.        

And finally (some might say thank the lord!) to the match. Mark McCall opted to rest Barritt & Itoje for the game. I am always uneasy when Barritt doesn’t play. He is our defensive rock and although he needs a break, I wish we could clone him! As for Itoje – who would have thought a year ago that the team would look so vulnerable without him! What a player he is – what a player he should become! We did however welcome back Charlie Hodgson for his 250^th Premiership Game and almost certainly his last appearance at Wembley. McCall gave the captaincy to Mako Vunipola in the absence of Barritt & Hargreaves & George & Farrell (and anyone else who has captained the team this season).

More than 80,000 assembled on a chilly but sunny day in the beautiful stadium that is Wembley (for all my reservations, it is a fabulous place to play a game of rugby). As the match kicked off a Sparrowhawk flew across the open roof of the stadium. Charlie showed a bit of rustiness by putting a long kick over the dead ball line resulting in a scrum back on half way for Quins and the first in a succession of scrum penalties against Mako. Botica kicked the points for an early Quins lead.

A couple of half chances went begging: a grubber kick from Ashton went into touch then a break from Billy found Kruis whose pass was fumbled by Du Plessis. Sarries secured 2 quick penalties (lineout-maul-pull it down and repeat) in succession which gave them a lineout in the Quins 22. Quick hands got the ball to Bosch who found Hodgson and Goode threw a lovely cut-out pass with 3 men outside him. Wyles must have thought he was a shoe-in when from nowhere up popped Ashton on the left wing, gathered the pass and scored in the corner where he had no right to be! Charlie missed the conversion but Sarries were up and running.

From the restart, Quins attacked. Mr Garner played a very long penalty advantage where Care almost put Marchant over in the corner but went back for the kick which again Botica nailed to put Quins back in the lead 6-5. Visser departed for a head injury assessment never to return and was replaced by Chisholm. Sarries began upsetting Mr Garner and started leaking penalties like water. Fortunately Care’s box kicks & the Quins line-out left a lot to be desired and Sarries lived to fight another day. Mike Brown helped out by putting a kick straight out. With a penalty advantage, Charlie sent a huge Garryowen skywards into the Quins 22 – it could have gone anywhere but somehow Sarries came up with the ball and Garner went back for the penalty. Charlie went for the corner but when it mattered the lineout failed however Danny Care was careless with the ball allowing Kruis to wrestle it out of his flailing grasp and score a second try. This time Charlie added the extras and Sarries were back in the lead 12-6.

Rhodes unluckily conceded a penalty when he was pinned under 2 Quins players but again Botica’s kick was accurate and we were back to 12-9. Sarries should have scored again when a beautiful pass from Wyles found Billy running free. He lobbed the ball back to De Kock who juggled the ball and dropped it with the line begging. There was only going to be one outcome from the ensuing scrum – another Quins penalty. From the lineout Quins elected to drive the ball up field but Sarries defended it well, got the better of the kicking game and we were treated to a Brits’ Blitz, when Schalla, minus his headgear, began one of his twinkly-toed runs from 22 to 22 through 5 Quins’ defenders and finding Ashton, tracking him across the field like only Ashton does, on his inside. Ash put the after-burners on and performed a superb swallow dive under the posts. Charlie couldn’t miss for 19-9. From the restart, Ashton looked to be almost in again but appeared to be brought down by Chisholm as he kicked the ball ahead. A brief look from the TMO said it was accidental and that was half time. The penalty count was worrying, 8-4 against Sarries, as was the scrum where all 4 ended in a penalty or a free kick to Quins with Mako the culprit on each occasion.

I decided to forgo another round of Foxes for a trip to the Ladies and a cup of tea (bargain at £2.10). I think we all expected Sarries to push on in the second half, get the try bonus and put their neighbours to bed. How wrong can you be!

The half started with 2 more penalties to Quins including another at the scrum and Brits conceded a third in the loose which Botica kicked to reduce the difference to 19-12. There was a moment of danger when Care intercepted a pass from Brits and kicked the ball down field. A chase ensued between Care & Chisholm for Quins and Alex Goode for Sarries. Chisholm’s foot kicked the ball towards the try line, Goode ran a really intelligent line and got his body between Chisholm and the ball and grounded it. Ashton took a quick dropout which almost produced results at the other end.

McCall decided it was time to send on the front row cavalry so on came Barrington, Saunders and Lamositele. Nothing changed though as the next scrum produced another Quins penalty (and ironically a team warning from Mr Garner to the new front row). Billy Vunipola did concede again but fortunately no card was proffered although Mr Garner marched the kick forward 10m for a bit of backchat. Wiggy replaced De Kock. A good Sarries’ attack started through Goode then Wiggy & Bosch found Ashton on the right wing. He stayed in field and off-loaded but unfortunately the touch judge had missed his check-up at Specsavers and put his flag up.

Captain Charlie departed to a huge ovation to be replaced by Farrell who also took over the captaincy. Finally after 55 minutes, Sarries had a scrum on their own put-in. The previous 6 scrums, all on Quins’ feed, had resulted in 5 penalties & a free kick but at last a scrum was allowed to proceed to its (very messy) conclusion, Billy picked the ball up and eventually Sarries knocked on giving the advantage back to Quins. Quins played for the scrum penalty but Mr Garner wasn’t buying it and eventually Sarries came away with the ball!

Goode displayed another lovely piece of skill when Chisholm kicked the ball on. Goode watched the ball, let Chisholm commit himself, calmly picked the ball up, turned on a sixpence and cleared it. Pure class. Yarde wasted a break down the wing kicking the ball into touch. Quins decided to change Gray & Collier for Ward & Sinkler.

Lovely hands got Sarries into the 22. Farrell grubber kicked for an Ashton hat-trick but Robshaw got in the way and cleared. Dickson replaced Care and with 2 new front rows, finally, with 8 minutes left, we had a clean scrum albeit a Quins one. A minute later, Sarries won their first penalty of the second half. Farrell had no hesitation in ensuring the win with a kick rather than going to the corner for a possible try bonus. Vunisa replaced Billy who once again had huge impact although worryingly he seems to look more and more like a mummy with every game he plays. Mike Brown tried to make an impact on the game but lazily carried the ball under one arm allowing Farrell to dispossess him when Chisholm was there for the pass and the try.

Quins won a penalty in front of the posts with the last kick of the game but an awful shank by Botica threw the bonus point out of the window.

So Sarries secured 4 more points, and results elsewhere ensured it will be a home semi final. Alex Goode was man of the match, largely because Quins kicked everything back to him allowing him to make yards and yards and yards (and Yardes). Sarries were always in control without ever really looking like getting the 4^th try. The penalty count was alarming at the end, 18 against Sarries and just 6 against Quins. Wasps will surely punish statistics like that next week. Of most concern though was the scrum. Maybe we just got under Mr Garner’s skin but our first choice front row, principally Mako, were heavily penalised although Barrington and Co held their own pretty much. With regard to England match-ups, Ashton & Goode easily overshadowed Yarde & Brown. Were you watching Eddie?

So back along Olympic Way and there again were the Disney Princesses (you would have thought someone could have co-ordinated things somewhat better so the 2 events didn’t start and finish at the same time.) Starting next week, the Magic Kingdom beckons – but we will need to find a bit more Stardust if we are to get there.

SARACENS

Goode, Ashton, Bosch, Taylor, Wyles (Tompkins), Hodgson (Farrell) De Kock (Wigglesworth), M Vunipola (Barrington), Brits (Saunders), Du Plessis (Lamosititi), Hamilton (Smith), Kruis, Rhodes, Wray, Vunipola (Vunisa)

HARLEQUINS

Brown, Yarde, Marchant, Roberts, Visser (Chisholm), Botica, Care (Dickson), Lambert (Evans, Lambert), Gray (Ward), Collier (Sinkler), Twomey, Matthews, Robshaw, Clifford (Luamanu), Easter

SCORERS:

Saracens (22):- Tries: Ashton (2) Kruis; Conv: Hodgson (2); Pens: Hodgson, Farrell

Harlequins (12):- Pens: Botica (4)

Attendance 80,650

Referee: Greg Garner (RFU)