TheSaracens.com - Bristol Basics See Off Sarries

Bristol Basics See Off Sarries

By Jason Harris January 6 2008
With both sides reeling after very disappointing defeats the week before, Bristol and Saracens were determined to get back to winning ways at the Memorial Stadium on Sunday. After a bright opening quarter from the visitors, it was the home side who eased to an 18-3 win that, allied to Leicester's demolition of Harelquins, saw Sarries slip one place in the Guinness Premiership table to fourth.

Although Saracens were the better side for the opening quarter, solid Bristol blitz defence kept things tight in midfield and around the fringes as El Abd, Salter and Brew knocked Sarries back at every given opportunity.

And after weathering the early Sarries storm during which Glen Jackson kicked his team into an early 3-0 lead, Bristol kept doing the basics right and it was this pragmatic, patient, no-nonsense approach that stood them in good stead for the rest of the match.

Time and again Saracens were caught with ball in hand either on or behind the advantage line and gave away a whole heap of turnover possession which Bristol were in no hurry to run back willy-nilly; instead opting to pin Sarries back in their own half and force more mistakes, which they did very effectively.

Such was the story of the entire game: Sarries worked hard to get themselves into positions to strike, mainly through Andy Farrell who was the outstanding Saracen on the pitch, but through poor ball retention or unforced errors - notably Gustard's pass into the south stand when it should have been in an area somewhere near Jackson who was waiting to clear to touch, and Jackson himself who punted a penalty intended for the corner the wrong side of the flag - they managed to shoot themselves in the foot time after time.

Bris, meanwhile, were patient and controlled and were rewarded with two tries either side of half time. The first was for captain Matt Salter who came up from the bottom of the pile following a catch-and-drive from a 5m lineout, and fullback Luke Arscott who made a one man advantage courtesy of Kevin Sorrell's sin-binning count by crashing over for the second.

Jason Strange booted two penalties and a conversion and, despite Sarries trying to get back into the game, Bristol had it by the scruff and ran out easy and worthy winners.

Scorers: Bristol: Tries: Salter (23 min), L Arscott (63). Conversion: Strange. Penalty goals: Strange 2 (18, 56). Saracens: Penalty goal: Jackson (14).

Scoring sequence (Bristol first): 0-3, 3-3, 10-3 (half-time), 13-3, 18-3.

Bristol: L Arscott; T Arscott, R Higgitt, N Brew, D Lemi; J Strange, B O’Riordan; A Clarke (rep: D Crompton, 76), M Regan (rep: S Linklater, 72), D Crompton (rep: J Hobson, 56), R Winters, S Hohneck, M Salter, J El Abd (rep: A To’oala, 64), A Blowers.

Saracens: B Russell; R Penney, K Sorrell (sin-bin 59-69), A Farrell, K Ratuvou; G Jackson, N De Kock; M Aguero (rep: T Mercey, 65), F Ongaro (rep: A Kyriacou, 70), C Visagie, C Jack, I Fullarton (rep: T Ryder, 66), P Gustard, R Hill (rep: D Barrell, 65), B Skirving.

Referee: M Fox.

Attendance: 8,129.

Bookmark or share this story with: