Kevin's Day

 Mrs CH and I were at the England match on Saturday, this is quite unusual as the War Office only goes to one or two matches each year.

 “The supporters here aren't as polite as at Vicarage Road are they?” was the comment a few minutes into the match.

 The club's character is formed by the team and there is no better example of what is good about Saracens than Kevin Sorrell. He has been a shining example of all that is good about sport in general and Saracens in particular, long may it continue.

Saracens 30 – 22 Bath

The Match

Firstly, if you are looking for a concise, objective, report then you would be well advised to go directly to the 'fish or Josh's excellent summary (linky thing on the match thread & here http://joshblack2.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/saracens-30-bath-22/).

For those of you who prefer your reviews in the style of William Blessing, then read on.

The Saracens team selection was a little odd, certainly experimental, and the Bath lineup had a few unfamiliar names.

Saracens set off like men on a mission to rack up a quick tries. The team seems to be trying to move away from the defensive aerial game that was evident in the first matches of the season. It is a style that got them into trouble with the press, eventually causing 'boogate', but I am not convinced that the present cohesion within the team permits them to play an effective running game. Rock solid defence and waiting for the opposition to falter may be dull, but it has reaped rewards.

In this match we saw attacking play and poor defence from the home team for the first sixty minutes. It was only late in the game when Saracens brought on de Kock in the second half and Goode started to push the Bath team back into their own twenty two that Sarries had a decisive edge.

Penney, playing at 13 with Sorrell at 12, made the first play play of the match with a run from the home twenty two that ended deep in the Bath half. The move ended with Reynecke just failing to make the corner. However, sustained pressure resulted in a penalty for Saracens, which was duly collected by Jackson.

Bath were the more physical team in the first half. Whilst they were held back in their own half by the home team, they kicked well from hand and looked threatening on every occasion that they were in Saracens half. A scrum close to Sarries line resulted in a try by Jonny F that simply involved picking up the ball from the base of the scrum and strolling across the line. This follows a similar event against Bath last week.

Sarries had a torrid time at the scrum throughout the first half, with Tom Mercey struggling to hold up the front row. Sarries only achieved parity with the Bath scrum when Tom had a very steep body angle, which suggests that he didn't have as much horsepower from the Saracens second row that was required to hold back a heavy and strong Bath pack. Once Tom's balance was compromised by a poor body angle, it would have been quite easy for the opposing prop to push him down. Our second row also lost their footing on occasions during the push, which makes the prop's job virtually impossible.

 Tom was substituted at half time by Skuse, he has been impressive in the scrum whenever he has played and he was able to immediately stabilise the front row using his greater bulk. It is early days for Tom and he should simply forget the unpleasant experience, as should everyone else in the club. Effective scrummaging requires confidence, Tom has lost confidence in the first part of this season, but it will soon return.

 Sarries continued to play expansive rugby that looked good but didn't seem likely to break the Bath line. Penney played well, but the team lacked the strength to disrupt the opposition defence in the way that we have seen with the Barritt/Ratuvou combination.

 Again, against the run of play, Bath managed to turn Haughton with a clever kick from Cheeseman that forced a Bath line out close to the Sarries try line. There did seem an air of inevitability about the subsequent crash ball try by Hobson. It is the first match this year when Saracens defence has not looked up to scratch.

 Little was having a bad day that soon became worse when he made a hash of clearing from his own try line and got caught by Haughton and WVH. Penney made a neat cross field kick from the turnover and Melck took an easy try in open space.

 Bath missed another penalty kick at the end of the half and went in 15 -14 ahead. It could have been more for Bath and Saracens were fortunate to be so close. Saracens had been more industrious, more skilled, but ultimately lacked the ability to convert pressure into points. By contrast, whenever Bath were in the Saracens twenty two they looked dangerous.

 I suspect that there were a few fireworks let off in the changing room a half time, Saracens certainly looked more formidable from the kick off in the second half. Skuse immediately stopped the nonsense from the Bath front row, and James Short replaced the injured Tagicakibau.

 Haughton who, as usual, looked sublime when running the ball ended a sequence of play by scoring  a few minutes into the second half. With Jackson working his usual magic from place kicks, the conversion and a penalty soon after produced a healthy lead for the home team.

 However, Bath continued to look dangerous at every attack and long sustained sequence of play broke the Saracens defence, with Jonny F scoring a well deserved try in the corner at the end of the third quarter..

 Both teams made numerous substitutions throughout the second half; Saracens strong bench slowly began to turn the match in favour of the home team, although they were never dominant. As is often the case, the match became untidy with the arrival of so many new faces on the pitch.

 The Bard made an excellent observation on one thread about Wilkinson standing too far back and giving England too much work to cross the gain line. Similarly, I had a chance to compare Barrett and de Kock yesterday. De Kock throws the ball faster and more laterally than Barrett, which makes the job of the receiver easier. Throughout the first sixty minutes Bath had time to disrupt Saracens distribution and choke off the attacks by running onto the receiver. Once de Kock came on the pitch Saracens looked more threatening, particularly when linked with Goode's tactical kicking. 

 The sustained pressure produced penalties for Saracens and the match ended with a deserved win, but it was yet another nail biter for the supporters.

  Summary

 Did we play well?

 Not really, the worry is that we didn't look able to press home an advantage until obliged to bring on players who would have stayed on the bench if we had been in a stronger position. I had my heart in my mouth every time that a player went down in case it was a serious injury to one of those that we have come to depend upon. Brits at flanker may be fun, but what if he had got injured or misses a match because of a silly tackle?

Did Bath play well?

 Yes, considering this was far from their first team they played very well and should have had a bigger lead at half time.

In conclusion, the squad has done a fantastic job this season, but there are a number of positions on the field where the Storm players haven't yet made the grade.

Eds Note: To celebrate Kev’s 300^th match (or maybe because I made a mistake), we have a second review tomorrow. Keep an eye out for Jeremy’s review, including all the match stats.

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