ONLY 29!!!!

By Prestwick
October 23 2008

Now, I'm not one to call deja vu or to have any dodgy premonitions and after a nice evening of food, wine and beer I was actually feeling pretty relaxed about returning to Stadio Luigi Zaffanella.

The stadium has improved immeasurably since last season with a new stand being built designed to house dedicated health and physio facilities for the club. You have to note a sense of a club anxious to get in amongst it with Europe's elite. The crowd too has increased, 4,100 attended this year compared with just 3,000 last year.

If only there had been a half-decent game to match the crowd's expectations. Viadana from the start were as they have always been: hyperactive, incredibly aggressive, like a bad rash if you make a mistake and almost always off-side at the ruck. The latter we wouldn't see until later but the former caught Saracens off guard almost immediately after a Viadana break and kick ahead caused problems for the Saracens defence, ending up with Viadana being awarded a penalty which promptly put the side ahead with three points.

This was when the off-side malarky began which gifted Glen Jackson an almost constant supply of opportunities at goal, the first missing but the second going over after ten minutes and then the third soon after putting Saracens ahead six points to Viadana's three. But it was a mere six minutes later that confusion between Wyles and Penney handed the momentum straight back to Viadana. A prompt penalty for Charlie Hore put the scores at even stevens and it was game on.

As the half wore on from the 20th minute, the penalties continued to come in left, right and centre. Glen Jackson putting Saracens ahead after Viadana were punished again for another off side at the ruck but soon afterwards Saracens were punished at the scrum, Cencus of all people not binding properly. This was an interesting occurrence as for the most part, Saracens' experienced pack had the better part of the exchanges but this infringement specifically gifted Viadana three points to put the scores level again. Another Viadana offside put Saracens ahead once more 9 -12.

The game showed signs of opening up with American full-back Chris Wyles and up-and-coming winger Noah Cato both putting in serious efforts. The latter proving to be one of the better breaks for Saracens in the first half with a deft chip over and catch almost putting Cato in a position to make a break for the line before being tackled.

By the end of the first half: so far so good. Not the near rout which we had the misfortune to see last year but we were still troubled by the fact that Saracens couldn't pull away from Viadana. On the positive side, in amongst all this to-ing and fro-ing, the Saracens scrum and line out were operating well. The partnership of Borthwich and Vyvyan at the line out is starting to bring riches to what was once an impoverished area of Saracens' game and the manner in which the pair effortlessly put away 100% of their line outs and even snatched a couple of Viadana ones too oozed confidence. Andy Saull and Michael Owen again were industrious at the breakdown with the former now starting to become a serious first teamer and the latter surely now much have already paid back whatever it cost to get him here by now with his almost constant high work rate.

To Viadana's credit however, they were the ones making all the ominous play with several half breaks and some good moves and could have crossed the line at one point if they had exploited the pressure that they had been building over the phases, sadly a careless knock on squandered all the good work. One of the things that was becoming obvious was their indiscipline which just seemed to be relegated to a couple of scuffles with Co-Captain Borthwick and an almost constant obsession with being offside at the tackle.

The second half began much like how the first half ended except this time Hore missed his effort. Jackson made no mistake in putting his effort over the top to extend Sarries lead further to 9 - 15. This lead itself was almost wasted in an instant after Viadana suddenly broke roughly ten minutes later and after a frantic moment of pounding feet chasing a bouncing ball found myself (who was standing over at the bar area) staring over at poor Rodd Penney buried under a pile of Viadana bodies. Holding onto the ball was the only thin he could have done but it ended up with a penalty for Viadana which Hore took, pulling the home team back closer to Saracens at 12 - 15.

The game however was starting to genuinely open up, starting first with Wyles deft step inside and break, leaving the Viadana defence in his wake as he strode away before realising that nobody had followed him for support. With a hint of sadness in his heart, he resigned himself to his fate and was promptly roughhoused to the ground by Viadana. Soon afterwards however, after Jackson kicked yet another penalty to push Saracens further out of Viadana's reach at 12 - 18, Viadana's Gavin Quinnel was sent to the bin for, you guessed it, offside at the ruck. The extra gap in the Viadana line finally opened things up and after Jackson had kicked the resulting penalty to make it 12 - 21, they started to push harder and make the most of the ten minute winding given to Viadana's proverbial kidneys.

It was another break by Wyles which set the tone for the last ten minutes, coming off of turnover ball in the Saracens 22 it shows just how dangerous Saracens can be when the odds suddenly lurch in their favour. Within seconds, Wyles was up to the half way like and gave a peach of a pass to de Kock who made like hell for the Viadana line, deftly stepping inside Bortolusi before touching down. Saracens finally getting a try although any hope of a bonus point was well and truly dead in the water.

Cato, obviously feeling left out and had spent most of the match itching to show off his skills went on a merry run of his own, this time from the halfway line and sadly could have gone all the way if luck hadn't interveined which held him up at the line. To his credit however, he got the ball back rapidly and let the team do the rest, deft hands getting the ball out to counterpart winger Ratuvou to touch down, thus well and truly ending any hope of a Viadana fightback.

And so, when the final whistle ended, Saracens blushes had been spared for another year at least. But it must be worrying for them that they had to work so hard to put away Viadana who at this point are probably the most on-form Italian team in any European competition. Viadana fought like mad to keep up with Saracens but it was their indicipline which cost them dear, something which any England fan who has had to suffer from the likes of Moody, Worsley, Grewcock and co. will be very familiar with. If Viadana wish to match the grand surroundings of their new stadium and facilities with grand victories in European competition, they will have to cut out the obession with shipping out twelve points a game in easy penalties.

Saracens however have their own problems. At times, they seemed unable to break down Viadana and at other times were made to look very uncomfortable under probing Italian pressure. The pack again performed well and the likes of Cato and Wyles are starting to look like solid gold. But there are worries, is Jack really making the transition to flanker? Now that we have Adam Powell as a hot prospect for centre, what will this mean for Andy Farrell? These questions and more appear to be awaiting the answers currently about to be shipped up north from South Africa but after a very bruising Super 14 and Currie Cup campaign, will they be in any condition to jump head first into a hellish Guinness Premiership schedule?

Saracens keep their season on track and while the future looks better than last season, the same worries still persist.

Red Fez down 2: no Sarrie left behind.

Discussion started by TheSaracens.com , 23/10/2008 12:05

TheSaracens.com
23/10/2008 12:05

Red Fez down 2: no Sarrie left behind.

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BigBri
23/10/2008 12:15

Nice report Prestwick

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The Bard
23/10/2008 13:08

Excellent stuff- did Cato play the whole game or was he a replacement?

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Kat.
23/10/2008 13:11

Quote:

Excellent stuff- did Cato play the whole game or was he a replacement?

Some-one tell me why I bothered adding the team sheet in? [That's a smiley of me hitting you on the head, even though the thread won't show it]

Came on for Penny after 54 mins. [That is also a winky smiley, to show I am only joshing]

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The Bard
23/10/2008 13:18

Fair cop, gov! so why was Noah described as having made a decent break in the first half?

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PhillFez
23/10/2008 14:11

Good report.

I see Bri is in the exalted company of two cheerleaders and Mauro!

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Kat.
23/10/2008 14:48

Fair Cop - I could have read the report a bit more closely before posting - Prestwick?

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BigBri
23/10/2008 15:11

It was after I gave him a Saracens tie

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The Silverback
23/10/2008 18:48

Thanks for the review Prestwick as from my advantage point next to the bar I must admit the second half was slightly hazy!

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BigBri
24/10/2008 13:02

so was the first half and the whole weekend

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