How can a team that finish 4th in the table win the League? With age old experience is the answer. Watching Saracens strike again on Saturday is a testament to a club that plays with a winning mentality built up over a period of time.
The billing for the match in my mind was always gong to be pure experience versus the naive ignorance and arrogance of youth – and I really couldn’t call it.
Saracens had the percentages – they are more used to playing Knock Out cup Rugby. They are more used to playing at Twickenham. They are more used to competing for the ultimate prize – but as we all know anything can happen over 80 minutes in a pressured stadium like that.
Bath had the fact they really had nothing to lose. Their season was already a massive success and they already had built the springboard for the future – but the title would have been the icing on the cake.
Walking towards Twickenham on Saturday I just didn’t know whose day it would be. I knew that there were a lot of good omens for Saracens – but that’s all they ever are.
Then the game kicked off.
It soon became clear which Saracens side had turned up. Owen Farrell was seeing the pitch brilliantly and fired an early warning shot across the field, which David Strettle very nearly finished off. The early pressure was there to be seen and I couldn’t see any nerves in the Saracens team. The early hit that Owen Farrell inflicted on Antony Watson told me one thing: Saracens were going to play exactly how they did against Northampton – they were going to shake Bath up. The legalities of the hit can be argued about, but my instant reaction to it is one of it being a genuine attempt to tackle the player and Farrell just got it slightly wrong. He did not mean to strike Watson with his arm. A yellow card maybe, but to call for a red I think stunk of sour grapes. Even having watched it on replay a few times I still feel that it was a rugby incident as oppose to anything else – I would have been very surprised if he had have been cited for the tackle as well.
Then Farrell scored a try and it became clear that Saracens were going to be able to apply their game plan without Bath really being able to deal with it too well.
Saracens were going to play exactly how they did against Northampton – they were going to shake Bath up
It took until about 30 minutes into the first half to actually see what Saracens needed to wary off. There was a very dynamic off-load into Jonathan Joseph, which had Saracens back pedaling – it was a warning shot if nothing else.
The second half was going to be a case of game management for the Saracens and that it was going to take something very extraordinary for the game to now slip through their fingers. The ‘fight back’ from Bath never really amounted – they scored a classy try, but that was about it – the damage had already been done. When it was a case of Saracens being sensible and controlling the next 40 minutes of rugby there was only going to be one winner.
The battle at Number 10 was the other most intriguing thing to watch. To see Owen Farrell come out with a try and the Man of the Match award was very pleasing, although I am still not sure if he should be the fly half for England in September. George Ford was good on Saturday and he did what he needed to do in order to try and get Bath going in the match – the truth is no Number 10 in the world would have found a way through the Wolf Pack. George Ford deserves his chance again after what he did in the Six Nations and I don’t want to see something that was working very well be tinkered with too much.
George Ford was good on Saturday; the truth is no Number 10 in the world would have found a way through the Wolf Pack
I was also really pleased for Jamie George – to see a hooker with that much pace must have made Stuart Lancaster take notice, and it was wonderful to see George put the best of exclamation points on a week that pulled him sharply into focus because of Dylan Hartley’s stupidities – how ironic. He also set up Chris Wyles beautifully which would have made Tom Youngs take note, as all he offers England is good play in the loose – and if George can prove himself in that department then he is a real contender for a starting jersey in September.
As for Bath – they will improve and improve. They will build their experience and learn from this defeat. They have a wonderful team; a great coach and I get the same feeling from them that I had when watching this Saracens team develop. Its important for Bath to not see this as a disappointing end to their season but as the exciting start to the rest of their journey – if they manage to do that, having another powerhouse in the Premiership will only be a good thing for everyone. Added to this is that Bath bought a lot of fans with them, which will always bode them well. At times I looked out across Twickenham and it just looked like a sea of white and blue – not red and black – which is a fantastic thing to say about a lovely club.
Eighty Thousand people were there to watch this match and the one disappointment, which would have added to the spectacle, is that it wasn’t a more dramatic game of rugby. The atmosphere was great and the day out was fantastic.
Well done Mark McCall. Well done Alistair Hargreaves and well done Saracens. In my opinion it is a very deserved win, after a very well balanced season – to win the championship twice from third and fourth position in the table is testament to the mentality of the club, and I hope they can move onto European glory soon.
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