The prospect of a more confident attacking display largely disappeared in a rain-sodden first half, before a series of substitutions gave the second half more adventure and Saracens concluded a four-try win.

Great attention was drawn before the game to one particular debutant – teenager Jake Sharp at fly half.  Sharp’s game was assured if nothing else.  He slotted an early (read premature, perhaps) drop-goal, another three penalties and a conversion and was declared the official (sentimental) Man of the Match.  In fifty minutes that offered little in the way of running rugby, he did at least show a varied kicking game, exploiting the considerable space left behind the Italians, and so nearly set up a try with a neat grubber kick into the corner.  In short, a promising, if not perfect performance.

There was never any doubt that Saracens would win, despite being within two scores until relatively late in the game.  The first few minutes saw the ball recycled through several phases, before Sharp took the opportunity to drop a goal and settle a few nerves.  A few minutes later, and after a mystifying Rovigo penalty that did not go through the posts at all, the Italians’ line was stretched and Kevin Sorrel capped his 299^th appearance with a try. 

The rest of the half contained few memorable passages of play.   Debutant full-back Michael Horak had little chance to counter-attack, but at least kicked fairly assuredly.  Likewise scrum half Kevin Barrett, who was little challenged in his first game for the club.  Rovigo could do little to cut through the Saracens defence and a series of messy lineouts and scrappy scrums reduced the game to a sluggish pace.  Fabio Ongaro’s lineout was weak again, but if the Italian was trying to throw the game, well, he probably would have missed.  Nonetheless, Saracens’ ambition was to be applauded.  They took several opportunities to kick for the corner, rather than taking the points.

The second half also started brightly.  Choosing to go for the corner from a penalty in front of the posts, substitute hooker Ethienne Reynecke (another debut) threw to the middle and from the resulting maul Don Barrell peeled off to dive over unopposed. 

That made the score 24-9, which was clearly a relief, though the game was still slow and frustrated in particular by a whistle-happy referee.  Indeed, the most entertainment was had from the half-time entertainment, a brass band, playing a few impromptu numbers.  The Great Escape was cheered, but their lack of rugby knowledge showed when O when the Saints brought boos of derision.

The introduction of Justin Marshall and Derick Hougaard on fifty minutes allowed Saracens to cut loose considerably.  Marshall chased the ball in the way we’ve become accustomed to (maybe he thinks he’s an All Black in our kit) and sped up the distribution of the ball.  Meanwhile, Hougaard is proving himself willing to take on contact, and his quick-tap got Rovigo a further penalty for not retreating, which was almost translated into a try. 

Hougaard’s cross-field kick from a penalty to Noah Cato, which was deliberately knocked into touch by a defender, earned Sarries a penalty.  Captain Michael Owen elected for the scrum and might have been rewarded with a try from the resulting move but his score was disallowed for crossing.

Two more tries sealed the bonus point – the first of the season for Saracens.  The first saw Michael Horak pick a direct line from midfield and the second came on behalf of the much-cheered Rod Penney, returning from injury along with Sorrell.  Rovigo could only offer another three points and when they prolonged the game by not kicking into touch, it seemed to be more for the sake of form than from any conviction that they could cross the Saracens line.

Saracens will take little from the game, besides the points.  Given how closely run Wasps’ game was this weekend and with games against Toulon and Castres to look forward to, that may be no small thing.  The impression that this season’s squad has considerable depth has not been dispelled, although it was the regular supersub Marshall who made the team a much better functioning unit.  One other finding is of note… replacing the first two syllables in ‘Stand Up for the Saracens’ with Jake Sharp is a neat fit.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon