Get Better Soon!

By Darraghgirl
January 20 2009

In his pre match interview when asked if he was looking for 5 points, Eddie Jones said no what was important was the win. This was not the Viadana side who were massacred 71-7 just over a year ago, this was a side who competed well against Sarries in Italy, only conceding defeat in the last 10 minutes.

They are also a team leading the Italian League and in with a real chance of becoming the first Italian Team to Qualify for a European Cup Quarter Final so Eddie was right, this was never going to be a walk in the park. And with Northampton’s points difference, 2^nd place was never really more than a mathematical possibility. 

The Viadana Team contained 6 Italian Qualified players (although only 2 were actually born on Italian soil) along with a bunch of gnarled Southern Hemisphere professionals and a few West Country rejects. But experience they had in spades. OK Sarries only had 7 England qualified players but at least 6 of them were born here! 

It was a perfect January afternoon with blue skies and bright sunshine, almost as bright as Viadana’s dayglo yellow strip. Neil de Kock, arm in sling, walked in front of the South Stand to loud applause. I

t all started well with Viadana conceding a bizarre penalty within a minute of the kick off when a high ball seemed to go backwards which apparently put them offside. Jackson never looked like missing the kick. From the restart Viadana showed good ball retention and Sarries conceded a penalty right in front of the post for not rolling away. After 3 minutes it was 3-3. 

At this point there was already some concern about Monsieur Garces the referee. Now I do not intend this report to be a long tirade against the match officials but I don’t know what version of the ELV’s he was playing. Suffice it to say my 90 year old mother-in-law would have had more idea about refereeing the breakdown. It soon became apparent that although he noticed the knock ons, he seemed to have no idea about coming in from the side, offside, off feet, obstruction, crossing or tripping. All credit to Viadana. They worked it out within minutes whereas it took Sarries until well into the 2^nd half to get the measure of the referee. 

Glen kicked his restart straight into touch. A couple of scrums followed and eventually the ball ended up deep in the Viadana half with a Sarries line-out. Sarries attacked from the line-out but Jaco Erasmus read the interception pass and ran the length of the field to score under the posts with only Richard Haughton bothering to pursue him. From the South stand it was difficult to see who threw the pass. Possibly Glen or Adam Powell. Charles Hore converted his second kick and Viadana were 10-3 in the lead after 7 minutes.

Things went from bad to worse 3 minutes later when Sarries conceded another penalty (apparently not releasing?) This was a more difficult kick for Hore but he sent it straight between the posts to give Viadana a 10 point cushion. Then followed the shape of things to come when Sarries won a penalty at a Viadana scrum.

Shortly afterwards Census made his first of several attempts to be picked on the wing next week with a burst down the touchline before eventually knocking on. There was some nice attacking play from Sarries with plenty of activity on the wing from Cato and eventually the forwards forced a penalty (again from the South Stand I’m not sure what the offence was) which Jackson kicked from in front to reduce the arrears to 7. 

The restart saw another good run from Cato who almost beat 2 defenders but in general Sarries seemed to be missing Neil de Kock’s organisational skills. Chris Wyles showed good awareness when a Viadana kick looked to be stopping before crossing the dead ball line. He put his foot out and Sarries had a scrum back on half way. At this point Viadana lost Luigi Milani their loosehead prop as he hopped off to be replaced by Mattia Cagna. The Viadana scrum was already creaking and I said to little DG I bet we end up with uncontested scrums. How right. 

Sarries continued to play most of the next 10 minutes in the Viadana half without ever looking threatening. The long haired Matthew Harvey seemed to be everywhere (and I mean everywhere, legally & illegally) for Viadana. Sarries were awarded another penalty at the scrum and Monsieur Garces had a chat with the 2 hookers with presumably Fabio translating. Glen converted the penalty and after 25 minutes it was back to 9-13.

However within 3 minutes Viadana had been awarded a penalty on half way wide out on the left (no I don’t know what it was for). Garry Law stepped up and slotted a magnificent kick between the posts to restore the 7 point lead to Viadana. Viadana seemed to take heart and for the first time had a sustained period of attack in the Sarries 22. At one point they had a 2-1 overlap on their right wing but Cox opted to come back inside when a pass to Bartolussi on his shoulder would probably have been a try.

Encouragingly Sarries won a scrum against the head only for Glen to kick the ball out on the full.  Sarries again got themselves back into the Viadana half but a high clearance was dropped by Wyles. From the scrum Viadana again attacked but conceded another penalty on their own 10m line. Glen missed touch and Viadana returned the ball. There was an amazing kick from Wyles which seemed to hit the line then bounce back onto the field only to be kicked out by Viadana. For once I think the Touch Judge got it right and gave Viadana the throw. Another Sarries attack petered out as Monsieur Garces blew for half time. 

The Viadana subs looked very fetching in their designer overcoats as they practised at half time. We watched Chess Valley break the Sling-low equipment then mend it and win. (I have to say I’m not a fan of this particular form of entertainment. Last week when they fired it at the South Stand there seemed to be real danger to life and limb whereas this week when it was fired at the empty bit of the North Stand it was completely invisible from the South!) 

Sarries reappeared early for the 2^nd half and went through their now traditional formation dancing. Alex Goode replaced Richard Haughton moving to fullback with Wyles moving to wing. Immediately Sarries looked a better team – more purposeful, more dynamic, more effective. On the other hand Viadana’s main aim seemed to be to sit in their own half and waste as much time as possible.

Within a minute Sarries had a penalty which Jackson again converted for 12-16. Viadana put the restart straight out resulting in a Sarries scrum and eventually a Viadana free kick (no idea how – Sarries by now were controlling the scrum with ease). Alex Goode made a promising attack before allegedly knocking on despite the fact he was obstructed by 2 crossing Viadana players. Viadana cleared and some quick thinking by Mosese looked promising before Viadana were awarded another penalty on half way.

At this point Mattia Cagna decided he’d had enough and hobbled off to be replaced after an interminable delay during most of which the clock continued to run, by Joshua Sole and my prediction came true. Uncontested Scrums. Much has been discussed on this & other boards about uncontested scrums but surely it is no coincidence that it happened in at least 2 other European Games this weekend and each time it was the team with the weaker scrum who forced the issue. I find it amazing that with all the attention given to ELV’s, no one has found a way of overcoming this gross unfairness. 

Sarries were awarded a penalty out on the left, just in the Viadana half but Glen was obviously feeling confident and it never looked like missing. 15-16 with 37 minutes left. Straight from the restart Viadana were awarded another penalty which Hore converted to restore the 4 point lead. Glen was then reprimanded for foul play (seen by the touch judge) but stayed on the pitch (I’m pretty certain Monsieur Garcia had left his cards in the dressing room). Viadana had another penalty, out wide on the left just in their own half. Up stepped Law again. The way the kickers were playing we expected it to go over but for once he missed and the scores stayed at 15-19. He managed to take 2 and a half minutes over the kick what with waiting for a kicking tee which was brought on at funereal pace by a Viadana coach but Monsieur Garcia seemed unperturbed. 

From the 22 drop out Sarries were awarded another penalty which Jackson kicked to perfection right down to the Viadana 5m line. Sarries won the line out but play disintegrated with tackles off the ball which eventually left Mosese vainly trying to clear the ball on 1 leg having had his knee pulled from under him. Census again did a fine impression of the outside centre we know he is before being tripped as he headed for the line but the ball was recycled across the backline out to Cato who scored in the corner to much relief all round. Glen kicked the touchline conversion and Sarries were at last ahead again 22-19.

Mosese’ departure led to a collective intake of breath as Mickey Wilson, our only fit European qualified scrum half took the field. We needn’t have worried. He looked as if he’d been in the first team all his life. His handling was good as was his distribution. Which considering he’s on the team sheet next week was just as well! The first uncontested scrum followed the restart and set up another Sarries attack. They conceded a penalty in front of the Viadana posts when it looked like the entire Viadana team had gone off their feet.

Substitutions followed, Birchall for Persico and Aguero for Vyvyan. Another promising attack from Cato ended when Powell knocked on with the line beckoning. Viadana replaced their remaining prop Rouyet with Phil Murphy.  The match continued to be played in the Viadana half with repeated Sarries attacks breaking down until a clearance to Goode saw him break then find Jackson who seeing Ratavou out wide on the right found him with a lovely kick that Ratavou touched down in the corner.

In the meantime an all-out brawl had broken out on the other side of the field that neither I nor the referee saw (we were watching the ball). In the end Sam Cox was spoken to but stayed on the field. Glen kicked another touchline conversation – on this day there was no doubt – and at last Sarries were putting some daylight between themselves and Viadana with the score now 29-19. There were 13 minutes left. 2 tries was a possibility.

Viadana’s blocking tactics were becoming even more outrageous and largely unpunished. Sarries won a penalty almost on the Viadana try line. Despite the uncontested scrum Borthwick decided to take that option. Saul was pulled down just short of the line and eventually Viadana were awarded another inexplicable penalty. Viadana swapped their scrum halves just because they could and Sarries swapped Census, who was probably a bit tired after his exploits on the wing for Nick Lloyd. Wilson promptly hassled Talotti, the new Viadana scrum half and forced a knock on. From the scrum the ball came out wide to Wyles. Had it been Cato, his pace would have taken him over but Wyles lacked the acceleration to beat his markers. The ball came back to Huge then Cato and Lloyd before Jackson put Powell in for the try. He kicked the simple conversion. 4minutes left, 36-19.

Was there another try out there? Ross came on for Jackson & Kyri replaced Ongaro. Viadana were awarded a penalty (I’ve given up wondering what for). Hore tapped it forward and knocked it on in front of Monsieur Garces who waved play on. Cobus came on for Borthwick. Goode won the ball deep in the Sarries half but Wyles knocked it forward. Somehow Sarries turned the ball over from the Viadana scrum. Ross saw Cato out wide and kicked towards him but the ball was just too long and ended up in touch. Match over. 

At the end of the day there were a lot of positives – 100% line out wins, 100% scrums and Glen kicked 100% for the posts. Cato gets better every game and the team looked much more dynamic when Goode came on. Wilson made an impressive start. The jury is still out on out centres. The ball found its way out to the wings rather more which brought Cato’s skills into the game but we still aren’t breaking the gain line much through the middle. On the negative side, Glen’s kicking out of hand wasn’t great and Wyles had is worst game for the club. Enough said about the refereeing. 

So we have qualified for the quarter finals and barring disaster next Friday should have a home quarter final against the best of the three runners up (unlikely to be Viadana) followed by an away semi probably at Frankin’s Gardens. 

Saracens:-Wyles, Haughton (Goode), Ratuvou, Powell, Cato, Jackson (Ross), Rauluni (Wilson), Aguero (Vyvyan) , Ongaro (Kyriacou), Johnston (Lloyd), Borthwick (Visagie), Jack,  Van Heerden,  Saul, Skirving 

Viadana:-Law, Roberston, Harvey, Cox, Bartolussi, Hore, Canavosio (Talotti), Milani (Cagna) (Sole), Santamaria, Rouyet (Murphy) Hohneck, Geldenhuys, Erasmus, Birchall (Persico), Quinell 

Scores:3-0 3-3 3-10 3-13 6-13 9-13 9-16 12-16 15-16 15-19 22-19 29-19 36-19  

Scorers: Saracens Tries Cato Ratuvou Powell Pens Jackson 6 Conv Jackson 3Viadana Try Erasmus Conv Hore Pens Hore 3 Law 1 

Attendance:  6,000 and a bit