The press love drama.
In a world where fighting and war are at least frowned upon, sport is
the only other outlet for mankind's natural competitiveness and aggression, and
it means that everyone (myself included) generally buys in to the overhyped dramatization
of every single mundane sporting occasion. Whether it’s Eddie
Butler utilising his dulcet tones to devastating effect in an inspiring BBC
montage, or an overenthusiastic Sky Sports presenter ("It's 11th v 16th in
a bid to settle a score that doesn't really matter and in any event will be
played again next year"), it's just part of the professional game now and
something we've all become used to.
We've accepted that most of what the press spout is drivel in this
regard, but this last weekend there was an exception.
Farrell v Wilkinson, the papers proclaimed; apprentice v
master, new boy on the block taking on the wise old man. The papers have loved the Wilkinson
comparisons since Farrell burst onto the scene – a phenomenal goal kicker,
aggressive defender and good game manager – and it's hard to disagree with
those similarities. Similar players who
are at opposite ends of the spectrum, it was impossible to decide who would
come out on top – and the same could be said of their clubs. Two experienced, intelligent sides renowned
for winning games through territorial dominance, aerial supremacy, and brute
pack power – but two sides who are also more than capable of shredding teams to
pieces with scintillating and precise back play. It was a real headache splitting Saracens and Toulon, especially when the French clubs's away record was a little on the iffy side, but the real question was whether or not the aging Wilkinson was too old to trouble the up-and-coming Farrell - at least according to the papers.
The odds, by roughly a 6-decimal-place figure, were in
favour of Saracens leading into the match though, probably because Twickenham has
become a second home to them during their nomadic existence this year (it’s not
a bad second home to have – it's like saying "I live in a terraced house
but summer at Windsor Castle"). And
slight edge certainly seemed apparent in the opening exchanges as Saracens
calmly controlled possession around the 10 metre line in the Toulon half,
building the phases, before Springbok veteran Danie Rossouw decided to liven
things up a bit by lazily clotheslining prop Mako Vunipola. There may have been doubt about whether or
not "The Mak" even noticed, but there wasn't any question about the
quality of Farrell's penalty kick, which gave Saracens a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, that lasted all of one minute,
as Matt Stevens – who was obviously jealous after seeing Rossouw concede a
mornic 3-pointer – decided to needlessly flop into a ruck off his feet, from
the side. Bread and butter for Jonny
Wilkinson, who tied the scores up from the touchline.
Wilkinson's kicking and the Toulon pack were starting to
gain valuable territory as the London side struggled to gain any sort of
foothold at the breakdown. The French
outfit were also enjoying dominance in the scrum, with big Andrew Sheridan
giving his old England mucker Stevens a torrid time. Juan Fernandez Lobbe was also having a
phenomenal game in disrupting the Londoner's ball and galloping with real venom
in attack, and there aren't many backrows who can handle him when he's in a
'galloping' sort of mood. The firepower in the Toulon 8 earned Wilkinson
another 2 pots at goal, which he duly slotted, and these sandwiched the first
real opportunity of the match. Aussie
Matt Giteau flicked a delightful inside ball to Alexis Palisson, who tore
upfield and chipped ahead with Alex Goode bearing down on him. Delon Armitage was in hot pursuit, but the
ball agonisingly beat him to the dead ball line. Farrell and Wilkinson then exchanged
impressive penalties, with the current England 10 hitting 2, in what was
becoming a phenomenal display of accuracy off the boot, before the Saracens man
blinked first and pushed his 4th effort out to the right. It meant that Saracens went in to the
halftime break at 12-9 down, on the back foot but still very much in the game.
Wilkinson, predictably, didn't let the breather affect his
rhythm, and when he sent his 5th penalty over there must have been a feeling
amongst the Saracens fans that it was going to be "one of those days"
that – a feeling that many have experienced when playing Wilkinson. However, then came a hiccup in Toulon's game
– Rossouw realised he hadn't done anything stupid in a while and went
unnecessarily high in the tackle on Vunipola again, earning himself a yellow
card and 3 points for the men in black. This
spurred the 'home' side into life with Vunipola – a menace in the loose all day
– crashing up field through the Toulon pack as if they weren't there. It was a tremendous carry that brought Saracens
into striking distance of the Toulon line, but the good position was wasted by
a forward pass by Farrell to Kelly Brown, who surely would have scored in the
corner. It was a double blow for Sarries
as they saw Brad Barritt – who had put in another impressive shift in shutting
down Mathieu Bastareau – limp off with an ankle injury.
The missed opportunity was to prove costly as Wilkinson
smashed over another 3 pointer from inside his half before another chance went
begging, this time when Joel Tomkins hurled the ball into touch with Chris
Wyles in acres of space. The gap in that
top-level quality had started to show – where Saracens were butchers, Wilkinson
was the surgeon, and he sliced through the last of Saracens' hopes with a
superbly taken drop goal when under immense pressure from Farrell. It was vintage Wilkinson – including the
sporting pat he gave Farrell on the floor in the aftermath – and not many teams
can have an answer to that.
24 – 12, and Toulon march on, making it an all French affair
in Dublin. And this aging team, and
Wilkinson in particular, and proven one thing beyond doubt – class is
permanent.
Saracens Player
Ratings
Mako Vunipola – 8 – Sarries' best player. Several immensely powerful surges and the
problems in the scrum were mainly on the other side.
Schalk Brits – 6 – No chance to see those dancing feet in
open play but the lineout went pretty well under his supervision
Matt Stevens – 3 – Terrible.
Gave away 6 points to the boot of Jonny Wilkinson with a couple of
brainless penalties and was roasted by Sheridan in the scrum.
Steve Borthwick – 6 – A workmanlike performance once again
from the Saracens second row, led an effective lineout too
Alistair Hargreaves – 6 – Aggressive and mobile, but unable
to generate the momentum the English side needed to get back into the game
Jackson Wray – 5 – Struggled to break the gainline with
regularity and wasn't imposing enough at the breakdown.
Kelly Brown – 7 – Toiled manfully throughout and his
workrate couldn't be questioned – struggled to stem the flow though.
Ernst Joubert – 6 – Nowhere near as prominent as he has been
in the past as the game didn't open up for him
Richard Wigglesworth – 6 – Reliable and fast service but
didn't provide any sparks to break the Toulon defence
Owen Farrell – 5 – One terrible pass blew a scoring
opportunity and seemed to lose the plot towards the end. Goalkicking was very good on the whole
though.
David Strettle – 6 – Did nothing wrong but had no
opportunities to shine. Would have loved
to see him get some more space but he was well marshalled.
Brad Barritt – 7 – Another strong performance from the
midfield general, shutting down Bastareau well and running hard all day
Joel Tomkins – 5 – A couple of decent offloads but otherwise
very quiet, until he threw a scoring pass into touch
Chris Ashton – 6 – Worked hard and hit some nice lines but
then seemed to lose all sense with some wild passes later on in the game
Alex Goode – 7 – As solid as ever under the high ball but we
didn't see much of him going forward
Subs
John Smit – 6 – Had minimal impact and couldn't force the
men in black forwards
Rhys Gill – On and off as a blood sub, but no real time to
have an impact.
Carlos Nieto – No time to make an impact
Mouritz Botha – Not time to make an impact
George Kruis – 6 – Always physical but didn't have enough
guile to pierce the Toulon line
Neil de Kock – 6 – Reliable as ever but no fresh ideas to
help turn the tide
Charlie Hodgson – 7 – A lovely pair of kicks announced his
arrival and he'll be upset he wasn't in Farrell's shoes to throw that pass to
Brown
Chris Wyles – 6 – Like Strettle, the abrasive American
couldn't find any room, all though he worked ceaselessly
Andrew Sheridan – 8 – Much better performance from the giant
loosehead, causing Stevens plenty of difficulty in the scrum and making some
decent yardage too
Sebastian Bruno – 7 – Avoided the menace of Borthwick by and
large in the lineout and was nuisance in the loose. Has an energy that defies his age.
Carl Hayman – 6 – Great tussle with Vunipola in the scrum
but didn't get his hands on the ball a whole lot.
Bakkies Botha – 7 – Aggressive and powerful, always making
yards on the carry and a major factor in the Toulon's pack's dominance.
Nick Kennedy – 8 – Great performance in the lineout and got
through a tonne of work, especially at the breakdown
Danie Roussouw – 4 – A powerful presence but brainless on
occasions as well, giving away penalties and getting himself a yellow card at a
key point for a high tackle.
Juan Fernandez Lobbe – 9 – Magnificent, all action
performance from the flanker. Absolutely
everywhere in defence, the Argentinian international showed some lovely touches
with ball in hand. Man of the match.
Chris Masoe – 7 – Quieter in the first half but grew into a
dominant figure as the game progressed.
Sebastien Tillous-Borde – 6 – Snappy service and sharp
thinking contributed to a decent outing from the Toulon 9.
Jonny Wilkinson – 9 – A masterclass in game management and
goalkicking. His drop goal under
pressure was prime Wilkinson, producing the goods when it mattered.
Alexis Palisson – 7 – The dangerous winger made some
significant inroads in the first half before having a quieter end to the game.
Matt Giteau – 7 – Some very smart touches, especially in the
opening period, caused the Saracens defence problems
Matheiu Bastareau – 5 – Very well marshalled and had a quiet
game to the point where he was almost anonymous (or as anonymous as Bastareau
can be)
Rudi Wulf – 6 – A smooth operator on the wing and dealt well
with pressure when it was applied, but no chance to show off his attacking prowess
Delon Armitage – 7 – Swept up smoothly in defence and is
great to watch in full flight when on the attack
Jean-Charles Orioli – 3 – Gets this mark for arguably the
world's worst throw in of all time…bizarre.
Gethin Jenkins – 6 – Didn’t enjoy quite the same dominance
as Sheridan but a decent outing around the park.
Davit Kubriashvili – Not enough time to have an impact
Jocelino Suta – 6 – Not quite as effective as Kennedy but
kept himself busy none the less.
Joe Van Niekerk – Not enough time to have an impact
Steffon Armitage – Not enough time to have an impact
Maxime Mermoz – Not enough time to have an impact
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