Saracens edge out Wasps in thrilling Premiership opener

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/sep/06/saracens-wasps-premiership-match-report

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The last time Saracens were at Twickenham they lost the Premiership final to Northampton in the last minute of the match. Wasps lost here a year ago when Andy Goode missed a conversion against Harlequins after the countdown clock had reached zero and they were again left wishing that rugby matches lasted only 78 minutes.

It had looked straightforward for Saracens in the opening half when they led 20-9, but Wasps were ahead within 13 minutes of the restart and were leading by eight points in the final quarter when Owen Farrell came off the bench and helped change the match. It was not that long ago that Sarries would bring on Charlie Hodgson when they were chasing a game, but such is Farrell’s confidence and all-round abilities now that he gave his side the focus that had been lacking.

Farrell had been on the field for only a minute when a pass from Ben Spencer near the Wasps 22 went behind him, but he somehow caught the ball without breaking stride and a few moments later was giving David Strettle a scoring pass for the second of the wing’s three tries, and the only one Wasps felt should have been awarded.

Farrell was involved in the final move of the game after Saracens had been awarded a penalty in their own 22 as Wasps tried to play for time. There are ways of doing it and Ashley Johnson’s ploy of standing still after receiving the ball from a ruck was not the smartest. He was quickly hauled to ground and was blown for not releasing as he looked to prevent a turnover. Johnson had been one of the game’s stand-out performers, creating Christian Wade’s second try with a deft chip, but a poor decision neatly summed up why Wasps failed to win a match they dominated in terms of possession.

It was an opportune time to play Saracens who had only seven players from the Premiership final’s starting line-up in their XV, but while Wasps had an abundance of possession it was not until a half-time team-talk that they appreciated trying to go too wide too early against a blitz defence was negligent.

They were behind after six minutes when Saracens worked a move from a lineout they had earned through a penalty at the breakdown. Billy Vunipola confounded the defence by offloading rather than taking a hit and if Hodgson’s chip to the line took a ricochet that helped Chris Ashton rather than the defence, it was reward for enterprise.

Ashton and Strettle scored 34 tries between them in all competitions last season and Strettle’s first at the end of the first quarter summed up Wasps before the break: they spent a couple of minutes huffing and puffing on their opponents’ 22, going through the pass without making any ground. Sarries waited and when James Gaskell threw out a weak pass into the midfield, Duncan Taylor was waiting.

Richard Wigglesworth kicked towards the Wasps’ 22 where Rob Miller, a summer recruit from Sale, looked to have beaten Strettle to the ball only for a combination of the bounce and a nudge in the back to leave him prostrate and able only to watch the wing pick up and score. The television match official ruled that the contact was fair, although the Wasps’ director of rugby, David Young, afterwards disagreed.

Wade, though, had got away with a shoulder charge on Ashton for his first try which put Wasps ahead for the first time on 53 minutes. They had mustered three Andy Goode penalties in the opening period and were unable to take advantage when the flanker Kelly Brown was sent to the sin-bin for knocking the ball out of Joe Simpson’s hands at a ruck.

Saracens won the 10 minutes Brown was off the field 13-6, Hodgson kicking two penalties to add to Strettle’s try, but Wasps were more direct after the interval. They scored a try within three minutes of the restart, started and finished by the No8 Nathan Hughes with help from Simpson, who broke from his own half, and Joe Launchbury, whose pass off the floor prevented the defence from reorganising.

When Wade beat Ashton to Goode’s chip over the Saracens’ line, Wasps were a team transformed and Saracens, in their first match without Steve Borthwick, were looking for a rudder. Johnson’s chip meant Strettle could not beat his opposite number to the pick-up having stayed out wide in expectation of a pass. Goode’s conversion took him past 2,000 Premiership points.

It was fitting in a game that flowed throughout that wings supplied six of the seven tries. While England are hoping Wade, who missed most of last season with a toe injury, shows the form of old, it was one of their old boys who won the match. Strettle’s third and final try came after Taylor’s midfield break. It merited close inspection by the television match official, but he just grounded the ball under pressure from Elliot Daly and Farrell’s conversion took up the remaining minute.