Saracens
Wasps Swatted
Will Fraser
By King Zac
October 6 2013
On Saturday afternoon, Allianz Park witnessed a feast of running rugby combined with passion and skill rarely seen. It was a chance to watch two of the most gifted wingers in world rugby ply their trade; they did not disappoint!
Unfortunately for the vast majority of the 9,642 in attendance, the game between Saracens and Wasps failed miserably to reach the standard ofSouth AfricavNew Zealandshown around the ground after the ‘hors d’oeuvre’. The battle between Ashton & Wade was probably more intriguing than what was taking place around them – but even their ‘spat’ was eclipsed by that between Brian Habana & Ben Smith.
The Aviva Premiership clash was always going to be an interesting contest from the moment Mark McCall announced the starting line up on Friday morning – a selection with both eyes firmly fixed on the forthcoming Heineken Cup games against Connacht andToulouse. How would Ransom fair at full-back? Wyles playing at inside centre (I think for the first time in a Sarries shirt)? Will Fraser’s first game back after a lengthy injury break? But probably the biggest question; how would Alex Goode do at fly half? Wasps had also taken the opportunity to rotate some players, although ‘rotating’ Andy Goode would be challenge! That, combined with a plethora of injuries to some of their more established back line, led to a rather frustrating contest.
Saracens applied all of the early pressure and Wasps were stretched from the outset. De Kock was sharp around the breakdown, offering good service to Goode or making sniping runs and looking to offload to support runners. There were plenty of those too, particularly Jamie George, George Kruis, Rhys Gill and the effervescent Chris Ashton. He really has re-discovered his form and, it seems to me, his love of playing rugby again! They were able to frequently break the gain line but, just as frequently, were let down by poor handling skills at vital moments. Whilst some of this was due to resilient work by the Wasps defence, many were unforced errors or a case of trying to force a pass that wasn’t really on.
The first points of the afternoon arrived courtesy of an Alex Goode penalty after just 6 minutes. Having taken the early lead, dominating possession and territory, all seemed set for another comfortable Saracens victory. But the mistakes and unforced errors kept coming. Of more concern was that with the errors came a loss of control and structure. This has been a hallmark of Saracens early season success, highlighted most clearly against Harlequins last week. The loss of that control, and with it the discipline to retain the ball, led to a very frustrating first 40 minutes. Wasps defended resolutely but there were clear opportunities where a different option in attack would have led to more Saracens scores. Too frequently possession was kicked away inside Wasps 22. This was obviously a tactic they had worked on but executed it poorly. Not once in the first half were Saracens able to regain possession using this approach, allowing Wasps an opportunity to clear their lines and regroup. Notable mention should be given here to the efforts of Eliot Daly and Joe Carlisle who were both able to relieve the pressure with an excellent kicking game.
Half time, 3-0 to Sarries and not a lot to add!
The restart saw a couple of surprising changes with both full backs being replaced. I assumed at the time due to injury as both Ransom and particularly Daly had done well. They were both replaced by fly halves, Farrell the Younger and Goode the Elder, with the starting 10s switching to fullback.
The change brought immediate benefit to Saracens who instantly looked more threatening with Farrell taking the ball right to the defensive line and getting fast runners operating outside him. An early penalty chance came their way which led to an interesting ‘discussion’. Alex took the ball and offered it to Owen, he politely declined, suggesting that as Alex was on kicking duty for the day he should take the kick. Alex duly started to line it up only for instruction to arrive from some other area ofAllianzParkthat Owen should take it! Given the slight confusion it was perhaps not surprising that Owen’s effort drifted wide of the posts from a fairly straight forward position.
However, it wasn’t long before he had another opportunity – this time from wide on the left touchline and an attempt to convert Will Fraser’s try. I’m a huge fan of Will and it was great to see him back in action – a try on his return was just reward for an excellent contribution. It was a try created by Farrell, endorsed by Goode and finished by Fraser. Farrell ran an excellent threatening line at the Wasps defence, opening a huge hole to allow Goode through before his excellent pass found Fraser on the left wing – a simple yet superb score, thoroughly endorsing the further development of Farrell. He, naturally, made no mistake with the conversion and Sarries had a commanding 10-0 lead.
The game continued the pattern of the first half; Sarries dominating but unable to find another way through the stoic Wasps defence. Inevitably a chance finally came Wasps way and, just as inevitably, it was created by Christian Wade. Until that point he had been comprehensively outplayed by not just Ashton but the rejuvenated Michael Tagicakibau. On this occasion, Wade managed to escape the Fijian’s clutches and those of would be tacklers Hargreaves and Goode. By the time he was stopped by Wigglesworth he was just a few metres from the try line; a deft offload to Chris Bell saw the Wasps skipper over the line for an excellent score. It was of some surprise that Goode the Elder missed the relatively simple conversion but it was a reminder to Saracens that the game was not yet won.
They continued to control the game though and were able to eek out penalties as Wasps defence was pushed to the limit. Farrell kept the scoreboard ticking over with his usual accuracy and the game was comfortably won at 19-5, if not spectacular, as the last minute arrived. This saw Ashton dismissed to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on in preventing a possible try. Fair enough in my opinion and Wasps were able to make the most of their numerical advantage with another score by Captain Bell. Andy Goode was left with the final kick to earn a losing bonus point for Wasps – he was successful and the celebrations of the visiting support spoke volumes about the situation their team are currently in. They play some decent rugby, they have undoubted threat in the back line, but aren’t efficient enough at the basics. They were frequently beaten at the breakdown by Fraser and Jackson Wray – both winning several turnovers and penalties. They appear a team devoid of confidence and not for one minute did it appear they were on anything other than a damage limitation exercise. Not surprising perhaps for a team who have now won just one of their last 12 league outings since 24th February. This could yet prove to be another very uncomfortable season for them shouldWorcester actually start to win!
As for Saracens, job done I suspect! Efficient would probably sum it up. Key players rested, another win and all set pretty fair for the forthcoming Heineken Cup games. Individually, Tagi had an excellent game and was awarded man on the match. However, my MoM has to go to Will Fraser. A constant thorn in the side of Wasps at the breakdown, another tackling machine and a try on return from injury – oh, and he’s from Chipperfield too!! J
I’m not convinced the experiment of Goode at 10 worked – hardly surprising given he hasn’t played that position for three years but it was disappointing for Ransom to only get 40 minutes. Wyles at 12 did exactly what you’d expect – Mr Reliable but not offering a great attacking threat from an unusual position. It was also good to see Tomkins back after injury – he is going to be key to any success Saracens can achieve this year. Ashton, another excellent display (with one particularly memorable tackle on Ashley Johnson!) although I thought he was fortunate to get away with an apparent shoulder charge later in the game. Ultimately, not a game that will live long in the memory, but going into the first ‘break’ of the season 6 points clear at the top of the table is a pretty healthy state of affairs.
Saracens: 1.Rhys Gill, 2. Jamie George, 3. James Johnston, 4. Alastair Hargreaves, 5. George Kruis, 6. Jackson Wray, 7. Will Fraser, 8. Ernst Joubert ©; 9. Neil de Kock, 10. Alex Goode; 11. Michael Tagicakibau, 12. Chris Wyles, 13. Joel Tomkins, 14. Chris Ashton; 15. Ben Ransom
Replacements: 16. Schalk Brits, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Petrus Du Plessis, 19. Mouritz Botha, 20. Kelly Brown, 21. Richard Wigglesworth, 22. Owen Farrell, 23. Jack Wilson.
Wasps: 1 Matt Mullan 2 Carlo Festuccia 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley 4 Joe Launchbury 5 Kearnan Myall 6 Ed Jackson 7 Ashley Johnson 8 Nathan Hughes 9 Charlie Davies 10 Joe Carlisle 11 Josh Bassett 12 Charlie Hayter 13 Chris Bell (c) 14 Christian Wade 15 Elliot Daly
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay 17 Simon McIntyre 18 Will Taylor 19 James Cannon 20 Guy Thompson 21 Jack Moates 22 Andy Goode 23 Ben Jacobs
Referee: Luke Pearce
Attendance 9,642
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Stumbleupon06/10/2013 19:48
Thanks Chris, nice to have a different author!
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:10:19:21:51:25 by Darraghgirl.
Watching Toulouse today, the players are in for a bit of a shock at Wembley if they play like that.
Regardez mon visage. Suis-je bovvered?
A win's a win!
Our starting 15 had lots of players you were pleased to see starting, you just didn't expect them all to start together. Still, we won without getting into top gear.
Successful hills are here to stay
Everything must be this way
Gentle streets where people play
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God knows how anyone at Galway will emulate that!
It's a long time since Sports network paid anything!
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
As well as deciding to play a somewhat more expansive game it does look as if rest periods are being imposed no matter what. No Borths for Wasps and was it against Bath that he was replaced 10 minutes into the second half? When was the last time he had that much of a break so early in the season with us?
He's running back towards his own try line and sticks his hand up, seemingly trying to knock the ball back the same direction he's running - i.e. 'backwards'. Because of the pace he's running at it appears that the ball is knocked forward, but it actually lands closer to the Sarries 22m line than from where it was passed by the Wasps player.
Pretty irrelevant in the great scheme of things, but not as blatant as I first thought.
Nous sommes l'armée noir et rouge !
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