Saracens v Newcastle Red Bulls Premiership Report

I would say a fair summary of this game was such - six second-half tries rescued us a bonus point win against a Newcastle side who fought and played hard. I confess I was not in attendance for this game, however had some hopes that it would be an improved performance from the shambles of last weekend (not sure how Quins away could’ve been any worse to be frank). From the first 40, I had my head in my hands again. We hadn’t lost at home to Newacastle in nearly 20 years. Was this going to be the one that broke the chain? Thankfully, it was not. The 2nd half was so much better but still not completely comfortable. We slipped into the old habit of gifting teams tries in the last 5 mins when we knew we’d already secured the win. 39-31 the final score and Newcastle took away 1 bonus point to our 5 match points.

First Half

The first half belonged to Newcastle. Josh Hodge kicked a penalty on six minutes giving them the lead from the off, then Werner Kok broke through the middle and ran 40 metres to score under the posts. 0-10 with a mere ten minutes gone. It’s unacceptable really to be missing tackles from an inside pass so close to the breakdown, and we got punished brutally for it. To make matters worse, Theo Dan went off for a head assessment early on which was later failed, so 2 week mandatory standdown for him. Disappointing for him and no doubt highly frustrating. On a positive, Jamie George who replaced him, scored from a driving maul on 21 minutes to cut the gap to three. Newcastle opened up the defence again before the break, with Werner Kok (what a winger he’s turned out to be!) and Hodge both breaking. Tobias Elliott made a fabulous cover tackle, but just before going into touch, Werner Kok made an unbeiable offload back inside to Sam Graham and he finished the move off in the left corner. Newcastle di have troubles of their own with Elliott Millar Mills and aforemtneioned Werner Kok both having to be subbed off, but their spirit was shining through. 7-17 the score at half time and we looked shellshocked.

Second Half

Newcastle’s lack of discipline handed sarries the second half. We made a load of subs early on (Charlie B on for his 50^th appearance, the front row changed) as a statement of intent and it clearly worked. A mere 4 mins in, we made a break and Sam Graham was yellow-carded for killing the ruck near his own line. Sione Va’enuku (back in the mathday XV after being left out last week vs Quins) scored from a quick tap and crash ball. Alex Hearle was then sent off for a deliberate knock-on and we scored three more tries in 20 or so minutes, from Knight, Tompkins and Caluori. Daly and Segun added two more before Newcastle scored twice in the last six minutes to take a try bonus point. Unlike what I mentioned in my preview, Christian Wade, a try short of the Premiership record, didn’t get his record breaking score against us. Another consolation to be had there.

Conclusion

A bonus-point win is a bonus-point win and the table doesn’t care how it got there. Va’enuku’s rise from Ampthill to player of the match is great to watch as he’s rapidly becoming exactly the kind of crashball center we need and the Ampthill play at StoneX next Saturday which is a lovely touch. We now go into the Autumn Internationals break fourth in the table after a hard five weeks and a lot of ups and downs.

The problems are real, though. A team that has conceded 31 or more in three of five league games will find better sides far less forgiving than Newcastle who handed over two yellow cards and were down to 13 for best part of 10 mins. Shaw has admitted the first half was a mess, and Newcastle took the lead from three line breaks. The pack, the bench and Caluori’s quality got Saracens through. The defence and the goal-kicking are the work for the break. Next up is Newcastle again at StoneX on 7th November in the Cup, then Northampton in the league on 5 December. A long way off but still time for progress to be made. As ever come on you sarries.