Aviva Premiership Review: Saracens 39 - 17 Harlequins

 As I put in my preview, Sarries sure know how to throw a party.  Wembley Stadium, cheap tickets, halftime entertainment and ear-crushingly terrible jingle-tunes are all part of the Saracens experience.  Love them or loathe them, they are creating a real identifiable brand – and the odd thing is that it’s completely at odds with what you see on the pitch.

Now, I am in no way subscribing to the common – and wrong – view that Sarries are ‘boring’, because they are not, but they are the bullies, the ruthlessly efficient executors of strategy who, like the wolf-pack they are, mercilessly exploit the slightest weakness.  There are no frills.  On the pitch, this is business; off it, it’s party time.  And what made their clash against Quins all the more interesting on Saturday was not the fact that they were attempting to break the world-record crowd for a club game, but the fact that Quins have almost the opposite playing philosophy to the ‘hosts’.  Structure takes a back seat whilst fast, chaotic offloading into space is the order of the day.  When it works, it’s a joy to watch but when it fails it’s a bit of a mess.  And so there was plenty to watch out for before the match had even started – but when the first whistle went, that’s when things got surprisingly spicy.

Ashton and Evans exchanged smart tactical kicks after Kennedy attempted (and failed) to introduce his fist to Borthwick’s nose and Dave Strettle took a nasty forearm from Fa’asavalu.  The first incident was missed by the officials; the second wasn’t, but was deemed accidental.  Strettle, however, was forced off with a horrible-looking concussion which provided a lengthy break to a chaotic and frantic start to the game.  Sarries, though, were looking as sluggish as Strettle must have been feeling as they struggled to get their hands on the ball, allowing Quins to probe the wider channels through Nick Evans and Matt Hopper.  It was against the run of play, therefore, that the men in black got the game’s first score.  Nick Easter foolishly tried to flick a poor Karl Dickson pass over his head, only for Ashton to pluck it out the air, palm off Ugo Monye, and sprint 70 metres to splash down by the posts.  It was a kick in the teeth for Quins, and Ashton’s best splash for a long time.

Quins were trying to play with speed but all too often the ball was going loose, whilst Sarries were looking relentlessly physical in defence – sometimes too much so, as Farrell showed as he hit Tom Casson with a big shoulder charge whilst neglecting to use his arms.  They were struggling to make yards but grabbed a penalty from a scrum 10 metres out after Ashton fumbled a harmless chip through from Evans, who then nudged the opportunity between the posts, cutting the deficit to 4 points.

That didn’t last for long, though, as Joe Marler was penalised for tackling a dummy runner without the ball, allowing Farrell to smash a penalty over from long range, and it soon got much worse for the day’s designated ‘away’ side.  From a seemingly harmless lineout move, George Kruis waltzed through Kennedy’s poor attempted tackle to touch down under the posts, and Saracens suddenly had a 14 point lead.  Quins, though, responded in the best possible way, driving well from a lineout to create go forward, before Karl Dickson spotted a gap by the ruck to dart through and touch down to make the score 17 – 10. 

The problem for both sides was that they were both conceding points after scoring, and soon Farrell was punishing young Kyle Sinckler for going off his feet, extending the gap to 10 points.  Quins would have been relieved to keep the gap at 10 points after another penalty against Sinckler was reversed after the TMO spotted a swinging arm by Richard Wigglesworth, lashed out in frustration at being held down by Joe Marler, but it would prove to a be only a temporary respite.  Saracens continued to apply pressure and force their opponents to play from deep, and it paid dividends when Evans chucked a ludicrous 20 metre miss pass 10 metres from his own line.  It hung in the air for an age and, with intended recipient Ugo Monye seemingly with his feet set in concrete, Farrell picked off the pass to walk in under the posts.  Disaster for Quins, 17 point lead for the hosts at half-time.

It looked all very comfy and cosy for Saracens, but they didn’t do themselves any favours early on as Steve Borthwick was shown a yellow card after 2 minutes for driving in on the jumper in the lineout – not for the first time – and their opponents took full advantage, driving to within a metre of the line from the ensuing penalty lineout to create space for Sam Smith to bundle his way over to pull the gap back to 10.  Quins suddenly felt on top, especially in the lineout where they were taking advantage of the extra man, but small mistakes and knock-ons were preventing them from making further indentations into the Saracens lead.

And they were made to regret it when Saracens played a cheeky lineout move to put Schalk Brits into the clear and offload to Jacques Burger, with the battle-battered flanker crashing over the line for the game-clinching bonus point try.  Farrell, disgustingly, missed the conversion, but Saracens looked very comfortable once again.    The game stagnated as both sides realised their work was done, but Marcelo Bosch added further gloss to the score by picking up a loose ball and weaving his way through some tired defence to touch down and leave the final score at 39 – 17. 

It was an ominous display from the big-spending Saracens.  Harlequins had come in with a gameplan to try and force a frantic face, but they were instead met with overwhelming power and a structured defence that refused to yield yards.  It was stingy, brutal and miserly from the league favourites – but it was mightily effective too, and led to one hell of a party at a packed out Wembley as well.  And the odds of them moving that party to Twickenham seem to be getting shorter by the week.

What else was happening in the Aviva Premiership last weekend? 

Worcester Warriors 11 – 13 London Wasps:  Andy Goode condemned his old side to yet another heartbreaking defeat as slotted a last minute conversion after Jake Cooper-Woolly crashed over for a late try.  Flanker Sam Betty had put the Warriors ahead earlier in the second half with a well-taken score.

London Irish 23 – 44 Bath Rugby:  Bath eased away to a comfortable win at Irish and pooped the St Paddy’s Day party in the process.  Tries from Topsy Ojo and Chris Hala’ufia couldn’t prevent the West Country side from taking control, with Kyle Eastmond, Anthony Watson, Dave Wilson and Matt Garvey all crossing the whitewash.

Gloucester 40 – 33 Newcastle Falcons:  Gloucester racked up a big points tally against the Falcons but collapsed in the last quarter to allow the visitors to claim two vital bonus points.  The Cherry and Whites crossed throughSione Kalamfoni, Rob Cook, James Hudson, Mike Tindall and Johnny May, whilst the northern outfit grabbed tries through Chris York, George McGuigan, Andy Saull, Alex Tait and Noah Cato – 4 of them in the last 20 minutes.

Sale Sharks 19 – 6 Northampton Saints:  Sale picked up an impressive win over the Saints, despite the visitors welcoming back their 6 star internationals.  First half tries from Mark Cueto, Marc Jones and Tom Brady were enough to see off the East Midlands outfit.

Leicester Tigers 45 – 15 Exeter Chiefs:  The Tigers roared back into form against a surprisingly timid Chiefs side at Welford Road.  Leicester crossed through Manu Tuilagi, Logovi’i Mulipola, the outstanding Niki Goneva, Adam Thompstone and David Mele (2), with the visitors grabbing a couple of tries through Jack Yeandle and in-form centre Ian Whitten.

You can also see my team of the week here.