Daniel Davis

By The Saracens
February 26 2023

Taking malaria pills gives me very vivid dreams which coupled with jetlag means I’m not sure whether this actually happened or not! We were waking down from Hendon Rugby Club when we saw a rainbow in the sky. At the end of the rainbow, though, there was a Leprechaun. He winked and said to us that Saracens would win today with a bonus point. Then he, the rainbow (and I assume the dream) all disappeared.

Well we were definitely going to take that weren’t we? We had just been discussing the unfairness of the system. How Sarries produce and/or develop players to elite level only for them to be called to represent their countries leaving the club that gave them those skills with little recompense, financially or otherwise and more pressure on the salary cap to cover their absence. You have to question the value to a club like Sarries who constantly produce wonderful players who in turn are available to them for less than half the season!

It was an early kick-off, there were 2 concurrent International fixtures and rain in the air so we weren’t expecting a huge crowd. Newcastle took the field in green. I instantly felt for my colour-blind son-in-law. He would see a lot of disembodied heads and feet running around! Given 10% of the male population has some degree of colour-blindness, you would think such issues could be avoided. There was a gusty breeze which Saracens (who seemed to have won the toss) chose to play in to from the start.

Sarries started promisingly – Tizard turned the ball over and great work from Goode and Earl led to the most delicate of back hand passes from Billy (who clearly had been watching the video of Faz and the Exeter game) to Hartley. He sent  Mawi off down the left wing doing a pretty impressive impression of Segun. He scored in the corner. Goodey couldn’t land the conversion but 5-0 after 2 minutes, we’ll take that.

But this was to prove the sort of game where minutes of brilliance were matched by moments of dreadfulness. From the restart, Goodey had a clearance kick charged down which resulted in a Falcons penalty expertly landed by Connon (who has the weirdest of kicking rituals) for 5-3. Things didn’t improve when handling errors from Sarries gave Newcastle possession and then a penalty at the breakdown which was kicked to the corner. Falcons’ powerful forwards picked and drove closer and closer – for a minute it seemed like the defence would hold but the inevitable happened and Van der Walt scored. Connon rubbed it in with a nice conversion and the visitors took a 5-10 lead. Before the game started we had thought Falcons’ pack looked very strong – afterall Jamie Blamire is on the fringe of the England team – and so it proved. Work to do!

Newcastle seemed intent on the kicking game, using the wind but it wasn’t getting them far and in the end a Conlon kick rolling dead gave Sarries the advantage with a scrum on the edge of the Falcons 22. The pack did well and got the ball out, nice interplay from the backs and Ollie Hartley found Lewington on the wing this time with work to do but he scored in the other corner. Goodey definitely had his boots on the wrong feet because this conversion attempt was dire and barely got off the ground. Still 10-10 after 15 minutes.

3 minutes later a game-changing event as red cards tend to be. The TMO (Dean Richards standing in for Tom Foley) called Craig Maxwell-Keys’ attention to a hit by Greg Peterson on Theo Dan. Fortunately Theo seemed non the worse for wear but it was one of those that looked far worse in slow-mo and with repeated reruns. The officials took an age to decide what the crowd had concluded some time ago. It had to be a red and Peterson got his marching orders. The hill Newcastle had to climb became a mountain.

A couple of Sarries’ penalties got them into the Newcastle 22. The catch and drive worked and although Falcons defended well, the extra man paid off and Lewington claimed his 2^nd. Goodey’s conversion attempt was better but still no cigar. 15-10 quickly became 15-13 as errors by Sarries gave Connon another shot. Sarries replied with a lovely period of play with some delightful passing. Eventually Billy managed to find Christie with another of those back of the hand off-loads (obviously spent the week practising). Christie made good ground before finding Van Zyl on his shoulder and the scrum half scored the bonus-point try after half an hour. Goodey must have got his boots on the right feet because finally he landed a conversion for 22-13 (to a big round of applause!). More good work from Tizard, Billy and Hartley could have paid off but the bounce took the ball into touch. Sarries were on fire though, Goode put a penalty deep into the Falcons’ 22 only for Dan to mess up the throw. All was not lost though because after a strong carry from Hartley again (he was looking decidedly useful) Christie, playing a blinder, off-loaded for Theo Dan. Looking more and more like Brits every time we see him, Dan left the Falcons’ defence behind him and scored pretty much under the posts. Goodey couldn’t miss this one so we went into half time at 29-13. I think we were all pretty happy with that. In the 2^nd half Sarries would have the wind behind them and Falcons, having played for so long a man down, would surely get tired. This could be fun. The pixie promised us a 5 pointer didn’t he? How wrong can you be?

In my experience, Sarries are rarely flat-track bullies (with the notable exception of Bath!). They tend to rise or fall to the level of the opposition. That’s not to denigrate Newcastle in any way but it seems mentally Sarries felt they had put the match to bed. I doubt we will ever know what went on in that half time dressing room but, put it this way, let’s not do that again!

Sarries started OK, another nice break from Hartley but the attack stalled with a knock on from Manu. A series of scrums all seemed to end with a penalty to the attacking side. Sarries decided on a tap and go on the 5m line. The 2 props set off for the line but Newcastle stood firm. We did it all again and this time the props messed it up and Newcastle cleared. It was just all a bit casual. Sarries were back on the attack – there were some lovely phases of play with Christie often involved and he put in a delightful grubber to within 5m of the Falcons’ line but every time Sarries just couldn’t finish it off. Christie fashioned a lovely break and off-loaded to Earl with barely 20m to go. We’ve seen this so often, had to be a try but for some reason Earl ambled towards the line, seemingly unaware that Adam Radwan was just behind him and Radwan made a superb tackle. Had that try been scored, I think the match would have been over but Newcastle seemed to be invigorated by their success. McCall also decided on a change to the front row with Pifileti, Hislop & Bello coming on and Davies replacing Van Zyl.

Sarries continued to create some good openings but always there was a knock-on or a turnover. Sarries seemed dominant in the scrum with a penalty coming on every put-in. Pifileti’s first lineout was predictably lost. I don’t know how much possession the men in black had but it was a lot yet the scoreboard hadn’t moved. More changes – the excellent Hartley was replaced by Hallett and Sean Maitland came on for Lewington. Newcastle conjured up a length of the field break through Stevenson and a try looked on but Blamire on the wing couldn’t quite hold the pass and the danger passed. Then came a bizarre passage. Sarries won a scrum penalty in their 22 and with the advantage Segun set off with Hallett and Christie (who else). Somehow the ball ended up in touch. Falcons took a quick lineout while most of the Saracens players were catching their breath and Adam Radwan ran unopposed to score while most of the Saracens team looked on with astonishment. Nobody chased him so he was able to place the ball almost under the posts giving Connon and easy conversion. That whole passage was just unforgiveable, and as I have said before, I cannot imagine Farrell allowing something like that to happen on his watch. So with 10 minutes left, the score was now 29-20 and Newcastle were back in a game that should have been well and truly put to bed. Cameron Boon replaced Tom Ellis (who also looked impressive), Pifileti messed up yet another lineout and Newcastle looked the likelier team to score. If it wasn’t for the scrum dominance, Sarries would have been in even bigger trouble. Newcastle tried the quick throw again but mercifully this time Sarries were more vigilant. Billy of the silken hands was replaced by Knight. There was another terrible Sarries line-out but eventually Sarries secured a scrum in front of the Falcons posts. Incredibly CMK gave Newcastle a penalty. I’m no scrum expert but such was Sarries dominance at the scrum in the 2^nd half, why would they transgress when a couple of little nudges would have been more than enough? Anyway into the final minute and CMK awarded Falcons a series of debateable penalties. Finally one was close enough to kick. Connon did successfully (as he had done all afternoon) and the game finished 29-23 with Falcons having claimed a well-deserved losing bonus point.

We all looked at each other – what was that? How can a team who were so dominant in the first half be so dire in the 2^nd? When did Sarries last fail to score after half time? Had they mentally switched off, job done? Were the substitutions too many and too quick? In the words of Fred Trueman, “what the heck was going off?” I assume Pifileti practises line-outs all week yet when it comes to match day, he can’t hit a barn door! Manu did OK and at least played fairly flat but it didn’t seem to be enough. Goodey had a dreadful day with the boot. There were far too many knock-ons and turnovers. With the notable exceptions of Andy Christie (who was absolutely on fire) and Olly Hartley (who looks distinctly useful) it wasn’t good enough, at least in the 2^nd half. Big improvements required against Sale next week!

Despite all that, with 5 games remaining, we are 11 points ahead of Sale (in 2^nd place) and 23 points ahead of Gloucester in 4^th (5^th placed Exeter have a game in hand). We lead 3^rd placed Northampton by 19 points which means we can confirm a semi-final berth next weekend and all-but a home semi-final depending on results elsewhere. So let’s look on the bright side: 1 more game until the cavalry returns then catch us if you can!

Walking back to the car the Rainbow briefly reappeared: the Leprechaun doffed his cap to us then raised two fingers and vanished.

SARACENS

Goode, Segun, Lozowski, Hartley (Hallett), Lewington (Maitland), M Vunipola, Van Zyl (Davies); Mawi (Hislop), Dan (Pifileti), Clarey (Bello), Ellis (Boon), Tizard, Christie, Earl, B Vunipola (Knight)

NEWCASTLE FALCONS

Obatoyinbo, Radwan, Moroni (Schoeman), Orlando (Lucock), Stevenson, Connon, Young (Stuart), Mulipola (Brocklebank), Blamire (Fletcher), Davison (Tampin), Peterson, De Chaves, Van der Walt (Lockwood), Graham (Fearns), Chick

SCORERS:-

Saracens 29 :  Tries: Mawi, Lewington (2), Van Zyl, Dan; Conv: Goode (2)

Newcastle Falcons 23: Tries: Van der Walt, Radwan; Conv: Connon (2); Pens: Connon (3)

Attendance 4,500

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

HALF WAY THERE

Discussion started by TheSaracens.com , 26/02/2023 19:15

TheSaracens.com
26/02/2023 19:15

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:03:07:20:37:52 by Darraghgirl.

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OldMarovian
26/02/2023 19:34

Great summary thank you.
I can't wait till it's available for a re-watch although I think I might watch the first half twice rather than the full 80 based on that report!

Totally with you about Internationals. Time to stop the easing payments for teams that provide little or no players and let the whole payment from England count against the cap.

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The Bard
27/02/2023 16:19

Think the late scrum penalty to them was because we pushed early for the second consecutive scrum. Summed us up in the second half

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OldMarovian
27/02/2023 16:31

Quote:

The Bard
Think the late scrum penalty to them was because we pushed early for the second consecutive scrum. Summed us up in the second half

Or CMK got conned on a soft-engage for the second time? Absolutely no reason to risk an early push when a man-up and in their 22. A French ref would've caught it

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