Leicester 25 Saracens 50

Welford Road, built on decade of hard graft in the West Midlands, used to be thought of as a bit of a fortress. No one has a higher opinion of the Leicester Tigers than their quite considerable support base and it is this self-belief, together with a stable and self-sustaining coaching system that has always led Leicester to imagine themselves as naturally amongst the finest of England’s rugby clubs.

Until two years ago Saracens had never won at Welford Road, so it was a surprise, and the first moment when fans felt that there might be something truly special about the Venter revolution, when a famous win was stolen at the end of the 2009/10 season. Victory in successive seasons by narrow margins was almost too much to ask for, but inflicting Leicester’s biggest ever Premiership defeat has left many a Sarries fan giddy.

Leicester were missing sixteen first team regulars, it is true (if such a thing is possible). Yet Saracens have players at the World Cup, on the physio table or on the bench who could fill almost any position in the side, and it certainly isn’t our responsibility to make sure that Leicester have a strong enough squad to cope with the World Cup. A period of transition is biting now, and may cost Leicester this year, but they will always be back.

Amongst the least experienced members of the Leicester side today were the half back pairing, James Grindal and George Ford. Many Saracens fans have wondered aloud what must be so special about Ford that he keeps our Owen Farrell out of the England Under-20 side without making a single appearance in the Aviva Premiership. Well, it is true on this viewing that he is a precocious talent and full of confidence, but poor service and a seconds’ delay saw him snagged in dangerous positions several times in his own half in the first ten minutes, many of which (along with a charge down of Grinal’s first box-kick) led to the three penalties Charlie Hodgson slotted to take his side into an early 9-3 lead.

Saracens have been accused of not running the ball enough, and though ‘boring’ is a label too far, it is true that they have lacked ruthlessness in front of the try line and the confidence to move the ball quickly. Today the very opposite was the case. Neil de Kock was powered by duracell for his hour and Hodgson’s intuitive knowledge of when a side is vulnerable to running rugby meant that the not so slight talent of Saracens’ backs was on show.

Indeed, it was Hodgson who slipped inside his man for the first try and who continued to confound Leicester’s tacklers all day, but it was certainly not a one-man show. Aside from a dominant scrum in which Carlos Nieto was a constant pressure on the not inexperienced Boris Stankovich and perfect lineout, the marauding Ernst Joubert and the space granted to Saracens’ new centre-pairing of Farrell and Brad Barritt accounted for much of the high score. Indeed, in a week where Brendan Venter has placed high praise on the shoulders of Barritt, the centre showed the full breadth of his game, confounding the the crash-ball stereotype he is lazily painted as.

Joubert’s first try, a run from twenty metres out, exposed another; chronically weak Leicester tackling. Receiving an Alex Goode pass thirty metres out, the number eight handed off Steve Mafi and slipped another two tackles on his way to the line.

After an opening ten minutes when possession of the ball was about seventy per cent in the visitors favour, Leicester began to exert themselves in typical style, going through phases and working off their lethargic start. A lineout on the Saracens five metre line gave them the desired result a few minutes before half time when a maul splintered, drawing in the closer Saracens defenders and creating an overlap as the ball went wide for Niall Smith to score.

At 11-23, the half-time score was as ominous for Saracens fans as it was for Leicester’s but doubts were dispelled in short order. A Saracens attack appeared to have broken down when a loose pass went to ground but as it bounced up into the hands of birthday boy Owen Farrell, the young lad was perfectly positioned to exploit a gap in the defence to score his second premiership try.

Less than ten minutes later, Jamie George answered the question ESPN had been asking (namely, how good a Schalk Brits impersonation can the young hooker do) by popping up on the wing to exploit an overlap. Usain Bolt-like on account of the comfortable space afforded for his finish, George’s delight was less Brits’ sharkish grin and more Free Willy. Nonetheless, it is clear to see why he is held in such esteem, given the way he charged around the park for seventy-five minutes and hit every lineout jumper with perfect pitch and the bonus point gaining act was deservedly his.

The match was soured somewhat as scraps began to break out off the ball but it was a knock on by Joe Maddock as he went in for a tackle that threatened to shake the match up. Ruled deliberate, the slap down saw the winger sin binned and Leicester grabbed a penalty before a darting run from replacement Matthew Tait set up the base from which Leicester number eight Julian Salvi darted over.

Saracens did not rest on their laurels, however, and neutralised the effect of the sin binning when after the introduction of Adam Powell’s fresh legs a wrap around move saw Barritt stroll in for a well-earned try. Leicester were forced to run the ball from deep, hoping for a four-try bonus point, but it was they who were pinged and Saracens, having already beaten Wasps’ previous best score of 47 against the Tigers in the Permiership, opted to take three points to add insult to injury.

It is easier to take a feeling, rather than concrete conclusions, from such a rare result. Leicester’s young players, undoubtedly great talents to a man, appeared thrown together without much time playing together. Introducing the three props, regular half backs and Tuilagi brothers, all of whom are on international duty would have made a significant different to the Leicester side Sarries dismantled.

For the visitors, it was hard to fault any player, such was the comfort with which fifth and six choice back rowers Will Fraser and Jackson Wray acquitted themselves. Farrell and Barritt, for all their confidence, actually appeared to enjoy and read the game better from their centre partnership, though they were equally deadly when moved to ten and twelve when Hodgson departed. The three quarters are still under-utilised, but Strettle and Goode went looking for work and were helpful. Joe Maddock is still waiting for an opportunity to impress but was rather upstaged again by James Short. And as Wray has said, ‘it all looked so good on the outside because we (forwards) were working our nuts off in the tight.’ As representative of both sides of the game, it sure is good to see Joubert flying again.

Saracens 26 Leicester Tigers 20

Saracens saw off a weakened Leicester Tigers team in the first of this year’s fixtures against last season’s Champions. Much of the talk going into the match has centred around the Final that these two teams fought at the end of last season but without Glen Jackson, Alex Goode, Ben Youngs and Toby Flood, this was a quite different affair. Saracens will have been pleased with the way they rode out the game, dominating for the first hour, fluent in attack and committed in defence. Nonetheless, annihilation in the scrum and the loss of focus in the last twenty minutes, which allowed Leicester to get back into the game, will be worries for the future.

Saracens started the game brightly and a turnover within the first ten minutes nearly saw them touch down in the corner as they worked an overlap, but Ernst Joubert’s pass to David Strettle was forward and the referee was relieved not to have to judge whether the winger had been forced into touch. Derrick Hougaard’s goal-kicking was the difference last week and the fly-half gave a more complete performance against the club who judged him surplus to requirements, kicking astutely from hand, keeping his options outside him open and even exploiting the gaps that Leicester offered with a couple of half-breaks.

It was Chris Wyles, however, so solid under the high ball and dangerous running from deep, who set up the first try after twenty-two minutes. From what seemed like a dead end, the full back squeezed through two tacklers and sidestepped another before passing to Schalk Brits, who raced under the posts. Hougaard converted and extended the lead to ten points when Leicester were penalised for their work at the breakdown a few minutes later.

Leicester ‘s indiscipline was the main factor working against them, and they struggled to hold onto the ball in the ruck, or stop Saracens’ quick turnover of ball. Nonetheless, stand-in fly half Billy Twelvetrees was outstanding, kicking with confidence even in the face of Jacques Burger, and looking for gaps like the centre that he once was. At this rate, Leicester will not rush Flood or Jeremy Staunton back.

Of course, Leicester fly halves tend to have the benefit of an efficient pack, and it was in the scrum that Leicester excelled. Dan Cole had already got the best of Deon Carstens a couple of times when Saracens knocked-on within metres of their own try-line. After the scrum was thrice-rest (and Leicester opted to turn the screw at each inevitable penalty), Carstens was sin-binned and Matt Parr was sent on for a baptism of fire. Twice more Leicester turned the Saracens scrum before the ball broke loose and Burger dived on it, apparently legitimately. The referee had made up his mind though, and in fairness the Saracens scrum had been wheeled and shoved backwards. The penalty try was misleadingly given for Burger’s offside but the damage was already done.

A man down, Saracens could have lost ground but instead ended the half brightly. Turning over the ball from the restart, Brits made a half-break, and Joubert added a few yards down the flank. As Leicester rushed back into position, a one-two with Brits put Richard Wigglesworth (“Wiggy” as his shirt proclaimed) in under the posts to give Saracens a slightly fortunate ten-point lead.

Saracens continued their high-tempo game without Carstens (still binned) and Strettle (substituted) after the break and though clear breaks were few and far between, the axis of Nils Mordt and Kameli Ratuvou proved solid, with Wyles doing much of the running and Steve Borthwick a lot of the leg-work. Wigglesworth and Hougaard did a sterling job of providing quick service and Leicester didn’t hold out long before conceding another two penalties, one of which was from half way, and was then followed up by a Hougaard drop-goal from outside of forty metres.

Twelvetrees kept Leicester in touch with Saracens, but their famous rolling maul was nullified by a determined Saracens pack. Borthwick’s command of the lineout is often admired for his teams’ ability to stop an opposition dead in its tracks, whereas detractors frequently remark that he rarely challenges the attacking team in the air. Saracens did both against Leicester, with particular success in the former.

And although Saracens were breaking the game line less frequently than in the first half, Leicester did their own cause no favours by having two men sin-binned within eight minutes. First, when Saracens where chasing a kick that got away from the Leicester defender and Wigglesworth making it to within a few metres of the line, Horatio Agulla went off his feet to prevent the try. Saracens opted for the corner but their attack broke down when sloppy passing saw the ball dropped (backwards) twice. Then, as Brits took a quick penalty on half way (more killing of the ball), Ed Slater, not ten metres from the penalty in any case, dived forwards and slapped the ball down.

Saracens were profligate during their numerical advantage, with Hougaard missing a penalty from out wide and on half way, and two long-range drop goals. Brits was also guilty of coming out of the line and giving Twelvetrees space to run into but the fly half only nudged the Tigers back into contention with another penalty from the scrum (albeit much surer with Carlos Nieto in it). Saracens reverted to type, employing a kick and chase strategy with poor results. Hougaard, who in tandem with Wigglesworth had been brutally accurate in the first hour, began kicking towards the centre of the field and Leicester came in waves. Finally, with ten minutes to go the ball was worked out wide with a hint of a forward pass to Lucas Amorosino, who chipped the defender and collected to score.

By this time Andy Saull was on, returning from a broken hand, and Brits was off with concussion. Saull was his usual energetic self, constantly looking to offload, but his enthusiasm nearly went to his head when, with the clock dead and Saracens only leading 26-20, he kicked ahead to chase down the wing. Fortunately for Saracens, Amorosino made Leicester the second team in a week to call and end to the game, happy to leave Vicarage Road with a bonus point – the only thing to have eluded Saracens in the opening weeks of this season’s Aviva Premiership.

Guinness Premiership Final: Leicester 33 Saracens 27

The first duty of any match reporter is to explain where the game was won and lost. Sometimes the closer matches present considerable challenges, when the slightest of differentials can mean three or seven points, possession or territory. Then there are matches like last year’s second Lions Test, or this year’s Guinness Premiership Final, decided in horrendously obvious fashion.

The game had been an extraordinary spectacle of ebb and flow, with the lead changing hands nine times – including seven in the first half. The two finalists traded kicks and brilliantly inventive tries, but Leicester had begun to dampen the flames after scoring their second try and held their lead from the thirtieth to the seventy-sixth minute. Then a Glen Jackson penalty edged Saracens in front and it seemed that if the Londoners could just show the composure they had displayed lately against both Leicester and Northampton, they might win their first Championship.

It was not to be, for from the kick off, Scott Hamilton caught the ball neatly and set off, for Danny Hipkiss to come racing off his shoulder at a devilish angle and touch down. Saracens were nearly broken, but chasing the ball from the re-start, managed to extract a penalty from the miserly Leicester pack. Jackson drilled the ball into the corner to set up the pick and drive but in professional sport’s cruel way, it was hooker Schalk Brits, who having given Sarries fans so much pleasure this year, threw short in the lineout. Geoff Parling leaped eagerly and came away with the ball and the stadium erupted in triumph and disappointment.

Premiership Finals, since their inception, have frequently seen only one team turn up. That this year was the exception made it truly great. Another factor was that both teams started by giving full reign to their playmakers. For Leicester, the young player of the year Ben Youngs retrieved the ball from the ruck and spread it around the park breathlessly. Having come close twice in the first ten minutes, Leicester’s – and the game’s – first try owed much to this dynamism, as Matt Smith benefitted from an overlap and ran the ball in under the posts.

Saracens struck back almost immediately. This was a day for the retiring Glen Jackson and it bore his unmistakeable imprint – the calm decision-maiking,  short pop passes with constant changes of direction and even the sometimes misjudged kicking from hand. But it was an overwhelmingly positive start when, taking the ball on the Leicester 22, Jackson offloaded to Barritt before looping round to make space for Jacques Burger to break. Typically, it was the man who has seemingly been on the end of scoring passes all season, Ernst Joubert, who grounded the ball in the corner.

The exchanges over the next ten minutes were feisty, with plenty of movement but no breakthrough in the face of brutal tackling. Leicester soon reverted to type, bringing in the charging forwards, and with brilliant effect. Jordan Crane, whose surges around the ruck were the platform for many of Leicester’s attacks, took the ball into the Saracens 22 and Ben Youngs picked up, with sheer pace taking him round the stretched Saracens defence for an uncomfortably easy score.

When the teams came out for the second half, Leicester had established a form of dominance. Steve Borthwick, who had not challenged the Leicester lineout, went off on forty-five minutes, to the detriment of Saracens’ scrum. A flow of penalties began to ensure that Leicester dominated possession, notwithstanding a stunning break that allowed Joubert to score his second try. If Saracens’s South African influence has sometimes made their backs more defence-minded, their back row has become a potent attacking threat, with Saull playing like a centre to set up Joubert,

As Saracens fought vainly for field territory, Geordan Murphy began to come into the game, putting in a vintage performance despite the attentions of Michael Tagicakibau. Murphy’s running and kicking game made a considerable difference to Leicester, just as Saracens’ Alex Goode held firm on his own try line, wriggling out of a tackle to clear the ball and avoid a five-metre scrum.

As the game became looser, Leicester’s dominance of the scrum had less of an impact on the game and Saracens instead began to benefit from the referee’s attention to the breakdown. Jackson landed one for offside with ten minutes to go, before another for holding on allowed Sarries to drive the ball upfield. Leicester then completed the gamut of offences by coming in at the side and Jackson nervelessly put his side in front for the first time.

A Saracens victory would by no means have been unjust, for though Leicester might just have shaded the set-piece, they had grown relaxed about taking the game by the scruff of the neck. That did not prevent them from knowing what to do after the final restart, however, and the manner in which they took their victory, while galling for Saracens, was honourable. Saracens will miss Jackson’s confidence next year but they have recruited wisely enough and will have a stronger front row. Leicester seem not to be bringing many players in, but there will be no surprise if we see the same outfits contesting next year’s final.

Rugby 09/10

What to look out for in the new rugby season, and why it’s worth the bother.

It’s the best of times and it’s the worst of times.  There’s an intro loaded with cliché value, but it really has been true of this summer.  The engrossing heroics of the British and Irish Lions in South Africa gave us some of the best rugby, and best drama since at least the 2007, if not 2003 World Cups.  Yet, the sport has been tainted by disciplinary after disciplinary. 

Sergio Parisse, Alan Quinlan, Schalk Berger – what do they all have in common?  They’re all dynamic loose forwards, talismanic to their clubs and countries.  Wrong, they have all been cited for eye-gouging, and been given disgracefully short suspensions.  Bath have lost five players because of illegal substance use and now everyone in England knows at least one rugby club – Harlequins, and at least one joke about fake blood.

In this article I want to escape the confines of the team-by-team prediction format.  It will be done by experts in every major newspaper and anyway, I couldn’t claim objectivity!  What I will do is hazard a guess at what this season might be remembered for, if at all.

Cheating

One incident from last season has already taken over this one.  When Tom Williams went off with a ‘blood injury’ in Harlequin’s Heineken Cup Semi-Final, everyone knew that he’d cheated.  Rugby is a long way behind WWE in realism, and that really is saying something.  Quins have been lucky to escape sporting sanction this year – they may have been fined nearly £300,000 and had Tom Williams banned for four months, but they have not been kicked out of European competition, nor been docked points (yet), nor lost many players in the mean time.  Admittedly, Dean Richards leaves a big gap, but his credibility is now in such shreds that far from being the England heir-apparent, it is unclear that he will ever coach top-class rugby again, even after his three-year ban expires.  Anyway, to have played on with him would have been to shame Quins even more, and it is the moral burden that most journalists suspect will strangle their season and will hopefully deter others from similar crimes.

Inside of the game, more attention will be paid to another form of dodgy substitutions.  This year, the Guinness Premiership has imported from France the requirement that each team name a full front-row on its bench.  This is to prevent the practice of two props going off injured and forcing uncontested scrums, which are as they sound.  Naturally, clubs have brought in props, but it will be interesting to see whether this change makes a difference to the quality of scrums.  Also, I have to say it; Wasps, you did this so many times.

Big Venues

On Friday, at a windswept Edgeley Park just outside of Manchester, the new Guinness Premiership season begins.  Sale take on Leicester, a grudge match stoked by big ambitions.  It will be a back to basics affair, but a much needed one after a summer of embarrassment.  For the rest of the season, however, rugby’s profile will grow, a fact reflected in the venues.  The next day, 50,000 fans will pack Twickenham, and the place will probably sell-out for the Final in Spring.  Saracens will play at Wembley – possibly twice, and Leicester will almost certainly make use of the Walkers Stadium again, if repayments on their recent development at Welford Road don’t preclude it.  Rugby’s profile is still growing, and so will the crowds, hopefully.

Hands-On Rugby

This is something that I can’t swear by, but I do think that you will see more attractive rugby this year than in previous ones.  The likes of London Irish have been building an attractive attacking brand for a few years and last year’s second-placed finish will embolden them.  Leicester also found that flair was a route to success through Sam Vesty, who takes the ball forward in a manner that the more considered Toby Flood probably wouldn’t.  The return of Ben Cohen, to the Sale of Charlie Hodgson also bodes well for some good tries – despite disappearing off the radar, he hasn’t quite lost his talent.  Dare I say it, Saracens can even play a bit and Wasps’ Danny Cipriani may be the most overrated player in the game (seriously, he has barely any positional awareness), but he’s still alright.

On the other hand, Sale have lost Chabal, an icon of the English game, and Luke McAlister.  Worcester have brought in Willie Walker, not noted as a running fly-half.  Leeds probably won’t offer much in the way of rugby, nor in results, I’m sorry to say.  I predict Bath will struggle this year, not only because of the disruption caused by events at the end of last season, but because in the aggressive Butch James and the shaky Ryan Davies, they still don’t have a fly-half who can set their backs flowing.  Only time will tell what the return of Olly Barkley means to that part of the West Country, while in the part he is leaving, Gloucester have replaced Ryan Lamb, who never lived up to his promise, with Carlos Spencer, who hardly promises anything any more.

If all of this is about fly-halves more than anything else (apologies to the fat bastards), it’s because (a) they matter, and (b) we are now entering the post-Jonny Wilkinson age.  Now setting the French Top 14 alight, probably as a result of playing with someone of Kris Chesney’s quality, Wilkinson will only be playing rugby in England during the international window.  No change there, then.

The Resurgence of the Home Nations?

This year’s Six Nations was disappointing for those who remember it.  Ireland got the Grand Slam, but England, Wales and France all misfired.  This year should see more stability for the first two after a morale boosting Lions tour.  The Welsh were arguably the stars of the tour, especially Jamie Roberts but their nominal captain, Ryan Jones will have to rebuild his career after being left out, starting with the Ospreys.  If England can solve their disciplinary problems, i.e. Phil Vickery, they have the chance to build a really good team.

First, however, they have to play these guys;

The Tri-Nations Champions-Elect 

The Top Four

Leicester

Irish

Northampton

Saracens

A Final Note

One thing I don’t want to happen this season is the touted-retirement of Gavin Henson.  Henson was a player of some potential and is still young, so if his ankle doesn’t give out, I’m sure he has more to give.  In Jamie Roberts, he has a challenger to bring out the best in him.  If it does happen, you can be sure to hear from me.

Enjoy the rugby!