The Nightmare...

The nightmare began early. Very early. Falcons kicked off, and had early joy when the first pass to Sarries skipper Simon Raiwalui was knocked on. In the advantage period played, Falcons pushed for the line, before the ball was worked back to Dave Walder for a drop goal attempt. A pair of Sarries hands managed to get to the ball, and with advantage now over, it was unfortunate that the ball ended up in the hands of the magician called Thomas Castaignede. Passing the ball along the line in his own in-goal area is not exactly conventional, but then he’s not exactly a conventional player. He ran around to pick up a return pass still within five metres of his own line, and a couple of jinks later, was well into midfield. A show of the ball dummy took him over halfway, before putting in a little kick ahead for Richard Haughton to outpace Epi Taione to run on and score. One minute. One try. One genius. Not a good start.

It could easily have got worse a couple of minutes later, when Kevin Sorrell made a great break through a huge hole in the back line, but was then penalised when holding on too long just short of the line. Amazingly though, considering the disarray that the defence was in, Sarries looked as vulnerable when the ball was run back at them. Consequently, when Dave Walder had a go in the ninth minute, he opened a huge hole for Hugh Vyvyan to run into. Unfortunately, Vyv didn't offload when the line was gaping, and passed from off the ground straight into the arms of a retreating Taine Randell. Just when it looked as if the chance had been lost, Sarries tried to run the ball clear, but had reckoned without Joe Shaw ripping the ball in a tackle and running into the corner from the 22. Level pegging, and it remained that way as Walder stuck the conversion across the face of the posts whilst trying to allow for a strong, swirling wind.

Much was made on the message board during the week of the decision to play Epi on the wing. Well, it worked to a certain degree, in that when he came forward to was going through the first tackle every time and creating space, but all of the defensive fears were coming to light, and on 16 minutes, they were brought out in the harshest possible style. Richard Haughton absolutely skinned Taione on the inside, and as he looked to be heading for the posts, a pass outside to flanker Ryan Peacey led to him going over in the corner unchallenged. Castaignede kicked the conversion from wide out and it was 12-5.

It was still all Sarries. Raphael Ibanez nearly went over before becoming another victim of the holding on curse, and Falcons were only making very rare excursions forwards, whilst Sarries looked like scoring every time, such were the lines being ran by Castaignede and Ben Johnston. Ironically though, Falcons got closest on 28 minutes, when after running a penalty, and gaining some useful yards courtesy of Craig Hamilton, Epi made a gap for Joe Shaw, and he was only denied a repeat of his first try by a desperate last gasp tackle that knocked the ball out of his hands whilst he was in mid-dive. Amazingly, from the five metre scrum, Matt Thompson won one against the head, and the ball was worked out once more, only for Taione to pass the ball straight into Robbie Kydd’s hands, and he was away. He nearly got to the line, being dragged down by a pursuing Dave Walder, but play had been called back for offside against Sarries. Having ran all the way back to tackle Kydd, Walder then came all the way back to kick the penalty amidst a cacophony of booing at the offside decision.

Backs Waste Forwards Efforts...

Still the Falcons forward power, Hamilton and Vyvyan in particular, was making ground, but unfortunately it was being wasted by the backs, and the beleaguered Taione in particular, knocking on with another possible try begging. The worse news for Falcons though was that the Sarries backs were having an electric afternoon, with every one of then shining. Johnston could have had a try when he threw an outrageous dummy on halfway to escape one poor tackle and two other defenders, but his kick through went dead, and then Haughton added to Taione’s woes by doing him again but was then penalised for holding on (again!). That didn’t end the pressure though; the subsequent lineout from the penalty was lost, the ball was fed inside to Castaignede who jinked across five men before creating a gap for Randell to come though on the inside to score the third try. A straightforward conversion made it 19-8 at the break.

Need to make changes...

Personally, I was surprised to see no changes at half time; I thought maybe the introduction of Michael Stephenson may have shown some positive intentions, but nope, still the same. And still the same results; Sarries attacking, Sarries scoring. Johnston broke through a huge gap, and Hamilton was penalised for not rolling away in the tackle five metres out - a cynic would have given a yellow card, as it definitely saved a try. Castaignede kicked the penalty for 22-8. Two minutes later, the by now inevitable binning came; Haughton skinned Taione again (getting predictable this), put a ball in for Kris Chesney for the big flanker to try and force his way over, but in the process of getting held up, Garath Archer went in to get the ball before it had come out, and went to enjoy a ten minute rest. Thirty seconds later, exactly the same incident, different result. Hamilton stuck his hands in, but this time didn’t get a card, captain Vyvyan getting the obvious warning that next time was a penalty try. Sarries tried the same move again, but were this time held up by some terrific defensive driving, and when the ball was fed out along the line, a forward pass brought the pressure to an end.

On 51 minutes, Daryl Lilley replaced Joe Shaw at full back after a reasonable game, and Falcons started to go forwards. Or so we thought. With Falcons camped on the Sarries line, the ball was fed along looking for a gap. The gap wasn’t meant to be filled by Richard Haughton’s hands, and even from 95 metres, that was that. Jamie Noon gave chase but didn’t get near as the England 7s star went under the posts for his second try of the afternoon. An easy conversion made it 29-8, and the game was effectively over.

Epi In The Bin...

On the hour came the official ending of Falcons chances, when with Sarries moving the ball on halfway, Epi Taione’s unfortunate afternoon was made complete when he was binned for a very late, high, and frankly dangerous tackle. It was the sort of tackle displayed week in week out by the likes of Trevor Leota or Freddie Tuilagi; it kind of summed up his day that he went off for it. Robbie Kydd kicked the long penalty (although right in front), and it was 32-8 and a question of how many.

At last!

And then it happened. Three substitutions - Ward, Britz and Stevo on for Marius, Dunbar and Mayerhofler - and a probable lapse by Sarries, and suddenly Falcons looked a better unit, even though they only had fourteen men on the field. A break by Jamie Noon, combined with great follow up work from Vyvyan and Phil Dowson led to a five metre scrum, and with the ball shipped out from that scrum, good recycling led to a simple pick up and flop over the line for Warren Britz. The conversion went over, and there were 12 minutes left for a possible charge towards a bonus point.

Fightback

Four minutes of normal time to go. A Falcons lineout in the Sarries 22, the catch and drive became a rolling maul that ended up over the Sarries line, and Dowson was at the bottom of the heap with downward pressure. The conversion came off the top of the post (which was blowing sideways at the time), and 32-20 led itself nicely to an all out assault for that fourth try.

It didn’t quite work out like that. The all out assault came from Sarries, but it did mean that in the 80th minute, Taione finally had a chance to run at Haughton. Kind of summed up the afternoon that Haughton won that battle with ease, and won a penalty for his side. That was Haughton’s last involvement, something that would prove vital minutes later. Now if they’d kicked it, then that would have killed off the chance of a losing bonus point. Instead, Sarries went for a lineout and try number five. As they looked along the line for a gap, the ball went from one touchline to the other, and attempted to go back again.

Another Walder Interception

Just as he did against Northampton, Dave Walder was the man in the right place at the right time. He made the interception on his own five metre line, skipped a tackle, and ran the rest of the way to the line despite a great chase from Paul Bailey. The conversion went over, but it was too late for any more, as Mr Barnes brought the game to an end, and yet another defeat.

Final Score: Saracens 32 - Newcastle Falcons 27

Any Positives?

So what positives from today? Well, not many. Britz and Stevo both looked fit when they came on, and will be needed for next Saturday. Dave Walder played with more confidence at fly half. Tries are still being scored. Negatives? Well, too many tries are being conceded. The team only really played for twenty minutes at most. And Epi on the wing is just wrong; as a barnstorming centre, possibly, but then he’s not better than Noon or Mayerhofler.

I’m more confident for next Saturday than I was, but the team must play better and longer than today, and then we can maybe start thinking of semi-finals and beyond.

Team:

Joe Shaw (53, Daryl Lilley) , Tom May, Jamie Noon, Mark Mayerhofler (64, Michael Stephenson) , Epi Taione, Dave Walder, Hall Charlton, Ian Peel, Matt Thompson (69, Nick Makin) , Marius Hurter (61, Micky Ward) , Garath Archer, Craig Hamilton (81, Geoff Parling) , Jon Dunbar (64, Warren Britz) , Phil Dowson, Hugh Vyvyan (c)

Cards:

Garath Archer 44 (professional foul), Epi Taione 60 (high tackle)

Scorers:

Tries from Shaw, Britz, Dowson and Walder
Conversions - Walder 2
Penalty - Walder

Falcons' Man of the Match

Very difficult, but I’d say Craig Hamilton just shades Hugh Vyvyan for his work in the lineout and in the loose.

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