Saracens 24 London Welsh 16

Coach Danny Wilson’s disappointment at the result against Saracens says more about his ambitions than the performance of his team. The Guinness Premiership side’s eight point winning margin can perhaps be pinned on an interception try and a speculative drop goal from the half way line but Welsh certainly proved more than adequate opposition.

On a glorious afternoon Old Albanians is just about the perfect venue for pre-season rugby. The playing surface is flawless, the food stalls by the side of the pitch easily satisfy the collective appetites of the supporters and the bar is well stocked with queues never becoming too excessive.  

The usefulness of the pre-season matches may not have limited to just the players. With London Welsh supporters heading to relegated Bristol in a fortnight for the first game of the season, it was a chance to experience some of the razamataz that has seeped into the top flight of the game and might have followed Bristol down to our league. Cheerleaders may have become common place but the music played every time play stopped is perhaps more appropriate to Ice Hockey than Rugby Union. If this is the ‘champagne rugby’ experience that the Guinness Premiership aspires to then Dragons’ Den would prefer to stick with a pint of beer or even a cup of cocoa.

Saracens may have recently moved their administration to Old Albanians where, their 1st XV have trained for a number of years, but London Welsh have their own links. Greg Botterman left Old Deer Park to become Player-Coach there and former forwards coach Mark Langley also now has a coaching role within the club. Mark wasn’t the only coach spotted at pitchside today as Newport Gwent Dragons Coach Paul Turner was in attendance. Unfortunately Michael Tagicakibau, who recently moved from London Welsh to Saracens, has fractured a bone in his foot and played no part in the match.

The first few minutes of the game saw both teams make errors but it was London Welsh that opened the scoring. From the lineout the ball was moved through the backs with Greg Evans making the final pass to Errie Claassens who touch down under the posts. Aled Thomas added the two points with the simple conversion and Welsh were seven points ahead. They soon increased the lead by a further three points when Ed Lewis-Pratt gathered a loose ball and a late and high tackle stopped him chasing his chip ahead. A penalty was awarded and Thomas was successful with his kick at goal.

The Welsh attack continued when Mike Powell found a gap and made a break up to Saracens’ 22 meter line. Unfortunately he couldn’t get the ball out to the supporting players and Saracens’ second row combined to take the ball almost the length of the field finishing with a long pass out to Richard Haughton. He scored under the posts and the conversion was added.

The ongoing pressure from London Welsh couldn’t be turned into points and when a speculative pass out the wing was intercepted Saracens’ Haughton had a clear run to the try line and take a 14-10 lead. The three point advantage was reduced to one when Saracens were penalised for not staying on their feet. Aled Thomas decided that the kick was within his range and his confidence was rewarded. He soon added another three points when the forwards patiently worked through successive phases and the fly-half and his centre forced another penalty decision. Welsh finished the half ahead by 16 points to 14.

The second half started with a Saracens’ up and under being misjudged by the defending players allowing Edd Thrower to gather and score under the posts. The conversion extended Saracen’s lead to five points and the next score, a drop goal by Hougaard from the half-way line, took the score to 24-16.

Welsh came closest to adding further points. Consecutive penalties quickly took them towards Saracens’ line and from the lineout the ball was moved across field with Greg Evans’ pass putting Ed Lewis-Pratt over in the corner. The touch judge cut short the celebrations flagging up an infringement at the start of the move and the try was disallowed.

This was another impressive performance against a Guinness Premiership team but the real test will come next Saturday when London Welsh make the short journey to Esher for their final pre-season match. We can expect both teams to be close to those likely to be selected to the start of the league programme and local rivalries, plus Esher no doubt wanting to prove their claims of injustice at being relegated, will ensure another hard fought game

Saracens  15 Michael Horak ©, 14 Richard Haughton, 13 Rodd Penney, 12 Adam Powell, 11 James Short, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Justin Marshall, 1 Frik Venter, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Richard Skuse, 4 Hayden Smith, 5 Mouritz Botha, 6 George Kruis, 7 Jackson Wray, 8 Don Barrell 

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Kas Lealamanu’a, 18 A Brown, 19 Spencer, 20 Jamie Bache, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Jake Sharp, 23 Owen Farrell, 24 Edd Thrower 

London Welsh  15 Errie Claassens, 14 Dominic Shabbo, 13 Greg Evans, 12 Paul Mackey, 11 Ed Lewis-Pratt, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Rob Lewis, 1 Lorne Ward, 2 Dan George, 3 Michael Holford, 4 Ben Thomas, 5 Mike Powell, 6 Jon Mills ©, 7 Robert Bell, 8 Lee Beach 

Replacements: 16 Chris Whitehead, 17 Dorian Williams, 18 Robin Boot, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Tom Brown, 21 Michael Hills, 22 Nick Runciman, 23 Simon Whatling, 24 Neil Starling, 25 Jeremy Giles