Saracens a class above Ackermann's Gloucester
PREMIERSHIP SUNDAY WRAP: Maro Itoje grabbed a brace as Saracens ended Gloucester’s unbeaten start to the Premiership with a 38-15 bonus-point victory at Allianz Park.
The Men in Black made it four wins from four as they ran in five tries against the visitors, who had won two and drawn one of their previous three games coming into the match.
Meanwhile, Premiership debutante Ted Hill’s last-minute try gave Worcester Warriors a dramatic 44-37 triumph over Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.
The hosts looked to have clawed their way back to level the game as George Ford scored a wonder-try late on, but Hill piled over in the 79th minute to secure the first victory for the Warriors this season – the second successive time they have earned a win at the venue.
Saracens 38-15 Gloucester
David Strettle opened the scoring for Saracens after six minutes, before England international Maro Itoje touched down twice, with Sean Maitland and Alex Lozowski also on the scoresheet.
Owen Farrell also added 13 points with the boot to wrap up a comfortable win for the hosts on the day Richard Wigglesworth became the record Premiership appearance-maker.
Gloucester did claim late consolation tries through Mark Atkinson and Charlie Sharples, but it was too little, too late as the West Country side were comprehensively outplayed.
“That game shows we are way off. Saracens were brutal, and showed way they are champions.
“We’ll take it on the chin, learn from it and move forward”
Johan Ackermann chats post match at Allianz pic.twitter.com/vWCpLAvYUA
— Gloucester Rugby (@gloucesterrugby) September 23, 2018
Wigglesworth was not the only player celebrating a milestone as Jamie George made his 200th appearance for Saracens, who made five changes to the side that beat Northampton last time out, including Farrell’s return and a first start of the season for second row George Kruis.
And the champions came out of the traps quickly when Farrell opened the scoring with a penalty before Maitland broke free and put Strettle into space as the wing crossed in the corner.
Itoje then took advantage of a favourable bounce from a high Farrell kick for his first try just before the half hour, with Billy Twelvetrees responding with Gloucester’s first points from the tee.
Gloucester suffered further blows when they lost Ruan Ackermann and Lewis Ludlow and Saracens took advantage from the restart as Itoje benefitted from a powerful drive from the Wolfpack.
Another Farrell conversion made it 24-3 at the break and it was not long before the hosts sealed the bonus-point in the second half, with Wigglesworth playing a key role on his landmark occasion.
Saracens were relentless as they went through the phases before the scrumhalf tried to snipe his way over the line. He came up just short, but Maitland found space to score his side’s fourth.
Liam Williams then went on one of his trademark runs before jinking inside and setting up Lozowski for a straightforward score, with Farrell stretching Saracens’ lead to 36-3.
Gloucester refused to give up, though, and responded late on when Atkinson sold the Saracens defence with a dummy and touched down to narrow the deficit.
Sharples rounded off the scoring in the final minute, racing across the whitewash after being put into space with a quick move from the backline, with Twelvetrees converting with the last kick.
But despite a late flourish, Saracens have now won their past 11 Premiership matches dating back to March of last season, scoring four or more tries in each of their past 10.
The defending Premiership champions are one point above last season’s beaten finalists Exeter at the top of the table, while Gloucester remain fifth after their first defeat.
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Strettle, Itoje 2, Maitland, Lozowski
Cons: Farrell 5
Pen: Farrell
For Gloucester:
Tries: Atkinson, Sharples
Con: Twelvetrees
Pen: Twelvetrees
Saracens: 15 Liam Williams, 14 David Strettle, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Mike Rhodes, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Will Skelton, 4 George Kruis, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Nick Isiewke, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Alex Goode.
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Ed Slater (captain), 3 Fraser Balmain; 2 Franco Marais, 1 Josh Hohneck.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Tom Hudson.
Referee: Christopher Ridley
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Rob Warburton
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Leicester Tigers 37-44 Worcester Warriors
It was an electric start to the game, with Duncan Weir dotting down in the opening minute and converting his own score to get Warriors rolling, only to do exactly the same three minutes later and put the visitors 14-0 up.
Warriors had a third mid-way through the first half through Jack Singleton crashing over the line, with only two penalties by George Ford in between as a reply.
Tigers did manage to cross the whitewash just after though, as Guy Thompson burrowed over from a driving maul.
Chris Pennell got the bonus-point try just after half an hour, after Warriors turned the ball over and Weir sent them forward, with Bryce Heem almost making it over in the corner before the ball made its way out wide for Pennell to dive over.
Weir slotted his second penalty just before the break to take his personal tally to 20 for the first half, leaving Tigers with a huge hill to climb.
And what a second 40 it was, with 19-year-old Ted Hill continuing Warriors momentum with his first score after the visitors stole the ball off the back of a line-out.
Jonny May pulled Tigers back into the game just five minutes later, latching on to a chip over the top from Ford to beat two defenders and speed to the line.
Their comeback hopes were given yet another boost when David Denton muscled his way over from close range, with Ford adding the extras.
The gap was then cut to just nine points as Sione Kalamafoni added Tigers’ fourth, before Ford again slotted the conversion to leave them needing another converted try to draw.
That score came through a stunning solo effort from the England No.10, as Ford played a lovely dummy to create a gap and race to the line, then once more added the extras to level the scores with only five minutes left.
The game was not yet concluded though, as incredible scenes at the death saw Heem in space down the left and Hill found a way over the line right in the corner.
Weir nailed the conversion and Warriors walked away from Welford Road with their heads held high yet again for their first victory of the 2018/19 season.
The scorers:
For Leicester:
Tries: Thompson, May, Denton, Kalamafoni, Ford
Cons: Ford 3
Pens: Ford 2
For Worcester:
Tries: Weir 2, Singleton, Pennell, Hill 2
Cons: Weir 3, Pennell
Pens: Weir 2
Leicester: 15 Jordan Olowofela, 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Gareth Owen, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 David Denton, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Mike Williams, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (captain), 1 Greg Bateman.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 David Feao, 18 Gaston Cortes, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Ben White, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Kyle Eastmond.
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (captain), 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Marco Mama, 5 Pierce Phillips, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Ashley Beck.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, Wayne Falla
TMO: John Byett
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