Rugby Mad Blog

After last week’s debacle at the Millennium Stadium, Sarries fans were looking for a decent performance from their team for the visit of Premiership whipping boys, Leeds. They have won a couple of games, but are basically deep in relegation territory and heading for the drop next season.

[Paul Gustard is tackled by the Leeds defence, but it doesn't make a lot of difference]

[Tom Ryder amid a sea of yellow jerseys, hangs onto the ball]

[left, Brent Russell is scragged by Kearnan Myall]. Saracens put some decent runs of play together. The midfield were running some good lines, and the tries kept coming. Eleven in all, for the Men In Black, and a consolation try for Leeds’ Captain Stuart Hooper from an intercepted pass late in the game. Sarries put the norhterners to the sword to the tune of 66-7. And although Leeds have been beaten by most of the other sides in the Premiership this season, no-one has put that many points over them so far. At last, The Gaffers‘ words must be sinking in for Sarries.

The team and fans know that the team visiting next week, Wales’ Ospreys, will be a different prospect and much harder to beat. But the win today must have given the boys a welcome confidence boost for the next crucial match. See more photos from the game.

Saracens won an important victory against Sale to keep their Guinness Premiership playoff hopes alive.

The Men In Black went ahead by 21 points to 0 initially. Ben Skirving managed a try, as did Prop Cencus Johnston, who scored from a remarkable 20-metre run, evading three tackles to cross the line. Glen Jackson added five kicks to the score too.

[Sebastien Chabal, looking like Neanderthal Man]

[Richard Haughton makes a try-saving tackle]

Sale’s very own Neanderthal Man Sebastien Chabal scored a try, as did Oriel Ripol, but Richard Haughton managed to save another with this tackle above. The final score was 24-20. See more photos from this match.

Six Nations Game 1 – Ireland vs Italy (16-11)

After their disappointing performance in the World Cup last autumn, Ireland were out to prove they can play decent rugby. The game took a while to get going, but around ten minutes, Ireland managed to put together a few phases and attack the Italian line, but the Azzurri turned the ball over to save a try. Ireland managed a penalty a few minutes later, taken by Ronan O’Gara [left]. Then Ireland threw away another scoring opportunity when Geordan Murphy put a poor pass over to Girvan Dempsey, and Italy gathered.

Ireland got a scrum, and the ball was passed across several hands when it reached O’Gara, who punted a great cross-field kick to Andrew Trimble, who then passed to fullback Girvan Dempsey to finish it off. O’Gara took the extras, taking him to 400 points in the Championship.

Eoin Reddan [right] was making his first Six Nations start, and looked pretty sharp, providing quick ball to O’Gara and sniping at the scrum. Peter Stringer has made the green No.9 jersey his own for many a year, so Reddan definitely has a tough job to break into the team permanently. Similarly, Italy’s permanent fixture at Hooker, Alessandro Troncon, has now retired, and the Azzurri were giving Leonardo Ghiraldini his second cap.

Italy’s lineout was working well, compared to the Irish; Rory Best didn’t have his best day at the office. Towards the break, Santiago Dellape was sent to the bin for punching, but the remaining 14 Italians threw everything at the Irish defence. Their reward was a penalty, and they went in at half time 10-3.

Straight after half time, Reddan made a lovely break and it looked like a try was inevitable, but Ireland knocked on with the line beckoning. Later, Simon Easterby [left] spent ten minutes in the sinbin for playing the ball off his feet. Italy gained a penalty opportunity, but the kick went wide.

Around 55 minutes, Italy were pinged and O’Gara potted another 3 points easily. When Easterby came back on, Italy made a good break up the field and on the stroke of 60 minutes, they rolled a maul over the line. The video ref took an age to decide, but the score was good. Captain Sergio Parisse was the man closest to the ground. But David Bortolussi missed the conversion, and the score moved on to 13-8.

Italy were caught with hands in the ruck in the 65th minute, which was a gift of another 3 points for Ronan O’Gara. And 3 minutes later, Ireland gave away a penalty themselves, which Bortolussi slotted over.

Both teams kept fighting for the last ten minutes, but the final score stood at 16-11. Italy certainly didn’t discrace themselves this time round – their lineout was solid – they only lost one all afternoon, certainly better than the Irish lineout which looked shakey at times. O’Gara missed a late penalty which was quite unusual from him – it wasn’t a particularly difficult shot.

As usual, the Italian forwards were very physical, and there were plenty of big hits put in. Ronan O’Gara bossed the Irish team reasonably well, but they looked a bit shakey – less than convincing. The bright spark for them was Eoin Reddan, who proved himself to be a great option at 9 – he made some lovely runs at the breakdown and distributed well. I’m sure he’ll be seen in a green shirt again very soon, and fully deserved his Man of the Match award.

[Eoin Reddan, Ireland's Man of the Match in action for Wasps last season]

With Saracens’ recent form, I think most folks were expecting an easy victory against the visiting Newcastle Falcons. But we all know what comes before a fall, and Jonny Wilkinson & Co pulled off their first victory at Vicarage Road since 2001, and also their first away win in the Premiership in over a year.

As has happened in recent weeks for the Men In Black, the first half was a bit of a disaster. A fortnight ago in Viadana, they managed the comeback-from-the-dead, turning round a 26-3 deficit at half time, into a miraculous 26-34 win by final whistle. The travelling fans were naturally ecstatic. Those of us at home following the game online were left nursing our bitten fingernails!

The biggest casualty of the game was Hooker Matt Cairns [above] who suffered a broken arm during the match, and has since had a metal plate inserted to aid recovery, but he will be out until at least the end of March. The Gaffer is naturally worried about Hooking cover during the Six Nations, as Fabio Ongaro is likely to be called up by Italy for the duration. We all hope Cairnsy has a speedy recouperation!

The Christmas fixture on 22nd December saw Sarrie and his team travel away to Harlequins. Yet again, the first 30-odd minutes were pretty dire from all accounts. I was unable to follow this one online as my broadband connection was broken for 10 days over Christmas! Very annoying. Still, Sarries managed to pull back a 20-27 win.

I think the Christmas holidays must have been relaxing for the guys, since they seemed to come out of the tunnel for the Newcastle game thinking they were easily going to beat the Falcons. Within 3 minutes the defence was caught napping and Matthew Tait beat Brent Russell to cross the line for a try.

[Look Who's Behind You! Jonny Wilkinson is manaced by Lock Chris Jack]

Whilst Jonny’s playmaking skills seemed fine, his placekicking left a bit to be desired. He missed at least two kicks at goal, and Saracens’ Gordon Ross, starting the first half, wasn’t a lot better. Odd, since it wasn’t particularly windy, even though the rain appeared for a while.

The Falcons’ Scrum seemed to stand up at every opportunity, and I’m surprised referee Sean Davey didn’t ping them for it more often. Saracens have been having a good scrum of late, so there’s no reason to think just because Carl Hayman was gracing the Newcastle Front Row that things would change dramatically – Kevin Yates left] and Cencus Johnston are pretty good masters of the dark arts themselves!

Another thing that wasn’t going too well for Saracens was their lineout. Several were stolen during the game, which doesn’t happen often. Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised, give the statistics that Newcastle’s Lock Mark Sorenson is the top lineout stealer in the Premiership, and is 3rd for catching his own team throws. No wonder Hugh Vyvyan [right], looked so surprised to have caught this one!

Sarries woke up in the second half and played some good rugby, scoring two tries (Vyvyan and de Kock) plus having another judged to have been held up over the line by the TMO.

They even went into the lead briefly towards the end, but Newcastle’s Jamie Noon put the nail in the coffin scoring in the 78th minute, with Jonny Wilkinson [left] hammering it further in with the conversion.

One thing I did find confusing was the Falcons’ away strip, which seems to be a direct ripoff of England’s gear from a couple of years ago. Perhaps they got them in a closeout sale?

At least losing by only 3 points meant Sarries pick up a bonus point, which might well come in handy later in the season. And they are still 3rd in the Premiership table at present. Next weekend’s away trip to Brizzle will see if they can climb any higher in the near future.

You can see more of my photos from Sunday’s game here.

Next time I’m at Vicarage Road will be for the Heineken Cup tie against Biarritz on 12th January – hopefully it won’t be quite as dark as it was for the Newcastle game! And a victory then would certainly help Sarries towards a HC Quater Final place.

The start of the Premiership season is always something to look forward to, and especially the London Double Header at Twickenham. I had tickets for the game but was forced to miss it because I had an accident on Thursday, bashing up my knee and breaking my elbow! Sadly, travelling to HQ wasn’t an option, so I had to forgo the fun this year. The accident has given me the excuse to put my feet up and watch lots of World Cup rugby on the telly, but I would much rather be fit to attend games and take photos. No picture-taking for at least a month, since my left arm is in a sling for 4 weeks and I can’t drive.

Quins Beat Up Irish
The first game was 7-try fest for fans of Harlequins and London Irish. Full match details here. Below, Quins’ Ollie Kohn and Hal Luscombe, and Irish’s David Paice all crossed the whitewash.

Sarries Outmuscle Wasps
The second match of the day saw Saracens beat Wasps by 29-19. The three try scorers for Sarries were Hugh Vyvyan, Adam Powell and Neil de Kock [below]

I was also looking forward to seeing Sarries play Gloucester next weekend, but I’ll have to make do with reading about it online instead.

Great game at Vicarage Road yesterday, Saracens maintained their winning streak at home by stuffing Bristol 36-5 and earning themselves a bonus point win. This means they’re currently sitting at 4th in the Premiership table for the first time this season, just overtaking Wasps with a game in hand. That’s due to the delayed game against London Irish coming up this Friday, so it’s a must-win game for the Men in Black if they wish to consolidate their position in the table.

[Kris Chesney brings down Bristol prop Alex Clarke]

I have to say, there was some great passing from Saracens, who seemed to be offloading furiously before big tackles, and they really kept the ball moving. Kameli Ratuvou continues to impress with his speed on the wing, scoring a brace of tries. And the pack were going forward really well – especially with one maul which saw them make headway from their own 10m line to over half way and into Bristol territory. That got a great shout from the crowd. There were also plenty of crunching tackles, and good defence in the main – one slight error letting Bristol in for their only points of the game.

Kevin Yates also managed to canter over for a score in the second half, which pleased him no end. He’s now scored five this season, not bad as the Front Row don’t often get on the scoreboard from running play. You can see more photos from the game at rugbypix.com as usual.

There was certainly a festive atmosphere at the ground too. Saracens favourite supporters, the Fez Boys, were celebrating their 10th anniversary, featuring on the front of the programme with Yatesy, and also appearing with the Saracens Sensations in a special one-off performance before the game. I have the evidence [right, Bokke in a Bikini, with the Sensations, god help us all!]

Kyran Bracken was also on a high from having won the Dancing on Ice competition on Saturday. So he’s proud to have won the club the first silverware of the season!

I’ve had a stupidly busy few days, so haven’t been able to write much until now. Saracens beat Sale Sharks on Sunday at Watford, in the pouring rain.

Thanks to some nightmare traffic, I only arrived in time for the second half, which annoyed me somewhat. But I had a new lens to try out at the game, and was keen to give it a spin despite the rain:

[Mates in Mud, Mark Cueto and Glen Jackson pick themselves up after a roll on the turf]

The second half saw no tries (Adam Powell having scored the only one during the first half), but Jackson kicked several panalties over. The rain let up a bit, but of course, the pitch was sodden and the players soon ended up filthy – it was quite easy to play “Spot The Subsitute” when they came on from the bench:

[Spot The Subs, Sale bring on fresh legs and fresh shirts in the front row]

Sarries took the game 22-9 in the end, leaving them fifth in the table, one point behind Wasps, with a game in hand. Another home win, which must be good for team spirit. Next up is Newcastle away, then Bristol at home on 18th. You can also see more photos from the Sarries/Sale game.

And talking of Bristol, they were nilled at Wasps on Sunday too – final score 28-0. Bit worrying to see Phil Vickery suffering concussion thanks to a wayward haymaker swung by Jason Hobson – who’s already been suspended by Bristol for two weeks and faces an RFU disciplinary panel next week.

So where does that leave the current England Captain for the game against France? On the sidelines. The team will be lead by Mike Catt on Sunday, which is pretty much a crunch game for England. France have a few old faces back in their team, including The Seabass.

By all accounts, Sunday’s game between Saracens and Gloucester was a cracking match. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend, so I’m only going by what the reports have been saying.

Sounds like it was a hard fought and close game right up until the last whistle. Gloucester were leading by only a couple of points at half time, and Saracens just managed to hang on at the end for Kris Chesney to score a try, which Glen Jackson subsequently converted, to give them a 24-22 victory.

It’s good to see Saracens finally winning close games like that, when in past seasons, they would have not been able to come back and make a break for the win. It’s also fantastic to see Chesney’s signed another 2-year contract, and with match-winning scores like that under his belt, it can only be good for the team.

The photo above is from when Saracens played Gloucester in the Zurich Wildcard Final at Twickenham on 14th May 2005. Sarries won that too (24-16), to go through to the Heineken cup in the 2005/2006 season.

The weekend’s win puts Saracens at 5th in the table, just two points behind Gloucester, and with one match in hand (against London Irish, who are currently at 8th). Let’s hope they can keep up the momentum going into the last part of the season.

It seems that England’s players for the Ireland game all came through their weekend club matches without incident, so hopefully they will be raring to go come Saturday at Croke Park. I think it will be time to replenish the beer stock in the fridge, and sit down for three captivating games.

Do you realise what the date is? Remember what you were doing this time three years ago? Ah, glory days…

Now, we have to look forward to the weekend’s games and dream about what it would be like if we were still ranked #1!

Andy Robinson‘s picked the team for Round 2 against the Springboks, and he expects great things of Andy Goode. We certainly need a solid contender for the Number 10 shirt, now that Charlie Hodgson has joined Jonny in the injury camp.

Sheridan’s also got an extended time off with injury – so that’s three Sale big hitters now on the sidelines – Scotland back rower Jason White also sustained a serious knock during the game against the Pacific Islands, and is out for at least nine months. Sale must be worried that this triple whammy could well hinder their Guinness Premiership title defence.

Indeed, Saracens are equal on points with Sale in the Premiership right now, hovering at number six. Sale are at five only by virtue of having won one more match than Sarries:

As you can see, Sarries are not short of point-scoring ability either – they have the biggest tally so far, and fly-half Glen Jackson is the top points scorer in the Premiership (for the second year running) – he’s currently on 116 to Charlie Hodgson‘s 80, and poor old Charlie is unlikely to be scoring any more this season.

Bath and Worcester are struggling at the bottom of the table – Bath having only won two games out of 8 so far, and Worcester none. Something had to give – Worcester have just announced they’ve parted company with coach Anthony Eddy. More good news for Sarries, perhaps, as they are playing Worcester on Sunday at home. I’ll be at the match and will post some photos as soon as I can.

Floating Up The Table
Saracens kept up a good home record at the weekend by beating Leicester Tigers 22-16, in a fast, exciting game.

Sarries attacked right from kickoff and kept up the pressure throughout the game. Admittedly, the Tigers were without some of their regulary guys who away on international duties, but they still put up a good fight.

[right, Tom Varndell gets some unwelcome attention from Richard Haughton]

See more of my photos from this game at rugbypix.com. Sarries are now 6th in the Premiership table, the highest they have been placed since about this time last year. Let’s hope they can remain bouyant!

That Sinking Feeling?
Heading the other way, there is much talk of Andy Robinson‘s position in light of the recent loss against Argentina. Seems he has a stay of execution until after the South Africa games are done. Messers Guscott & Healey would have him go now. They make some compelling arguments, in my view.

Let’s face it, if the squad chosen for the first SA game doesn’t deliver the goods, I reckon Robbo’s in a pretty untenable position. And we haven’t got much time to stop the rot before the World Cup now! The Sprinboks will be fired up after their defeat last weekend, and if England do go down, it would be there worst run of results, ever. Not a good thing to have on your coaching CV, Mr Robinson…