By Josh Hawken
April 3 2011

Bath were beaten in a rather uninspiring encounter at Vicarage road by a Saracens team which, despite themselves not playing near their potential, were clinical enough to take their chances when it mattered.  The conditions were perfect for rugby, with no rain, some watery sunshine and a firm pitch.  Bath began brightly with a restart to Banahan, followed by a clever chip through from James that forced Goode to take the ball behind his own goal line and offer Bath a 5 metre scrum close to the touchline.  Bath were awarded the first of several penalties at the scrum as Matt Stevens was penalised for not binding.  However, Butch missed from a tight angle.

There followed several rather messy periods of play, with both sides gaining possession around the half way line and contriving to knock on or turn the ball over before running through many phases.  Both sides had opportunities to break the line, most notably Saracens, who butchered a chance to kick through with no-one back when Abendanon was caught out of position after failing to re-gather a chip.  However, after one of several scrums, Duncan Bell was penalised and Alex Goode made no mistake from 40m to put Saracens 3-0 up.  The score seemed to spur Saracens on, and after running through some good driving play in the forwards, were adjudicated to have just come up short after Nigel Owens referred the decision to the TMO.  However, Bath were penalised for offside in the ensuing phase and Saracens made it 6-0. 
 
Bath then established the pattern they would follow for the rest of the game - good initial play setting up a strong position in the 22, followed by poor decision making or execution - in this case 3 players in front of an attempted chip through from Butch James.  After some further scrappy play, Bath finally earned a second shot at goal after Saracens went in from the side at a ruck on their own 10m line to make it 6-3. 
 
The score line at this point was a fair reflection of a very dull half of rugby in which neither team threatened to so much as run a backs move or complete more than two or three phases of play without making an error.  However, with time up on the clock, Saracens found the ball retention skills to suck in the Bath defence around the ruck to create space for Strettle, who found his way through several rather half-hearted tackles to score in the corner and send Saracens 11-3 ahead at Half Time. 
 
While Saracens seemed to have remembered after the break that they were there to play rugby, Bath were still only half with it.  A sharp break from Strettle brought an excellent try-saving tackle from Abendanon, and Saracens then threw away the opportunity after butchering a clear 2 on 1 with plenty of space.  They were fortunate to be awarded the scrum immediately afterwards as Nigel Owens had apparently spotted a knock on the tackle by a Bath player, and from the ensuing play caught the Bath defence offside, allowing Goode to stretch the lead to 11 points.
 
As they needed to, Bath hit back from the restart, piling pressure on Saracens and earning a penalty at the ruck, which was well converted from out wide by Butch bringing the score back to 14-6.  However, just when Bath needed direction from half-back, it seemed to be lacking.  Both Butch James and Matt Banahan kicked the ball dead, with several of Butch's efforts also sailing straight into touch from outside the 22.  Having missed a chance to press, they found themselves on the back foot after a break from Schalk Brits that was more worthy of a centre than a hooker.  Hape was very fortunate to remain on the pitch after taking out Brits' support without the ball, but Owens missed the incident completely.  However, he awarded another penalty for an infringement at the ruck, and Saracens extended their lead again.
 
Abendanon then showed another flash of what he is capable of, running back a clearance that failed to find touch, beating two defenders before being dragged down for a ruck at which Saracens were once more penalised and Butch converted from 40 metres to drag the score back to 17-9.  Bath then completely lost their heads from the ensuing restart, attempting to play from their own 5m line which led to a lazy half-kick being charged down and Saracens almost pouncing on the rebound to score.  However, Bath had to resort to holding on to retain the ball at the following ruck and Saracens again took the penalty to make it 20-9. 
 
The game finished with Saracens camped in the Bath 22 looking for a final try; the Bath defence held out resolutely and there was a glimpse of hope when Banahan intercepted and showed excellent pace to go the length of the field to touch down, but Owens had been playing advantage for offside, and Bath were denied even a losing bonus point.  To be fair, I'm not sure we deserved one.  Despite some solid foundations in the scrum and, encouragingly, at the lineout, and good work from the back row, there was little direction in the play.  James looked to be feeling the weight of being the sole playmaker with Hape outside him, and there was little coherence to our back play. 
 
Apart from one incident of handbags at the scrum, there appeared to be little spice between Matt Stevens and the Bath players, and he got a generous hand from several of the Bath backs when he was substituted late in the game.  However, the way he played for Saracens reminded me how much Bath miss his strength and handling in the loose - despite only playing 60 minutes, the local announcer named him Man of the Match. 
 
There seemed to me no lack of commitment amongst the team, but more worryingly, there was a distinct absence of co-ordination and communication.  Watson once more played with passion and intelligence and was well supported up front.  However, the lack of creativity in midfield led to a lack of continuity in the Bath game, and we never really came close to threatening the Saracens try line.  This game was a reminder of just how much Olly Barkley contributes  - I suspect a midfield axis of James-Barkley-Williams would have found a way to break down a Saracens team that were nowhere near their best.