Unstoppable Saracens win again
Saracens continued their flawless start to the new season with a hard-fought 22-15 win over the Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park in their Guinness Premiership clash on Sunday afternoon.
An interception try from right wing Richard Haughton plus a try, two conversions and a penalty from flyhalf Derick Hougaard gave Brendan Venter’s side a 17-15 half time lead, with left wing Chris Wyles crossing late on to seal the win.
Newcastle’s points came courtesy of five penalties from the boot of fly-half Jimmy Gopperth during a pulsating first half but they were unable to make the most of the chances they created and they remain winless this season.
The Falcons were once again without captain Carl Hayman as the New Zealand prop continues to be troubled by the hamstring injury he suffered in their defeat at Leicester, while Ed Williamson returned on the blindside flank after recovering from a bout of gastroenteritis.
Saracens were led by South African flank Wikus van Heerden in the absence of England captain Steve Borthwick, ruled out by the eye injury he suffered in the win over Gloucester.
Tom Ryder came into the second row while Schalk Brits started at hooker after Fabio Ongaro was ruled out by injury and Hougaard was preferred to Glen Jackson at fly-half.
Newcastle’s bid for their first win of the season, having drawn three of their first four games, got off to the worst possible start as scrum-half Micky Young’s pass was picked off by Haughton, making his first start of the season, who strolled under the posts from 30 metres to give Hougaard the simplest of conversions after only five minutes.
Fly-half Gopperth immediately got the Falcons on the board with two penalties after some enterprising attacking play, Hougaard replying with a penalty of his own to put Sarries 10-6 up.
Newcastle sought to keep the ball in hand and deny the visitors the chance to employ the effective kicking game that had seen them make an unbeaten start to the season, and it proved effective as Saracens continued to give away a stream of penalties, Gopperth gratefully landing another three kicks to give the hosts the lead for the first time.
It took Saracens until the 33rd minute to produce a string of attacking phases after a set move allowed van Heerden to make good yards in midfield. The ball was recycled quickly only for wing Chris Wyles to drop the ball with the line at his mercy.
But the Falcons were unable to clear from the resulting scrum and Hougaard dummied his way over wide out for a converted try, giving the Vicarage Road side a 17-15 lead at the break.
Newcastle made a purposeful start to the second half, with Gopperth pulling the strings, but could not make their spell of pressure count and were particularly wasteful in failing to use a three-man overlap on the narrow side.
Hougaard missed with two long-range drop-goal attempts but the visitors began to grind their opponents down as the excellent tactical kicking of half-backs Neil de Kock and Hougaard helped them gain a stranglehold on field position, with centre Brad Barritt and number eight Ernst Joubert making several telling carries.
Jackson replaced Hougaard for the final 15 minutes and was wide with his own drop goal effort and a penalty but, with the visitors enjoying territorial dominance, Newcastle never looked likely to launch a late attack to steal the points.
Saracens’ dominance finally told when, having spent a prolonged period of the game in the Newcastle 22, Fijian centre Kameli Ratuvou got his hands out of an attempted tackle to allow Wyles to cross with four minutes to play and atone for his earlier error.
The Scorers
For Newcastle
Pen: Gopperth 5
For Saracens
Tries: Haughton, Hougaard, Wyles
Pen: Hougaard
Cons: Hougaard 2
The teams:
Newcastle: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Charlie Amesbury, 13 Rob Vickerman, 12 Tane Tu’ipulotu, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Micky Young, 8 Filipo Levi, 7 Brent Wilson, 6 Ed Williamson, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 James Hudson, 3 Carl Hayman (captain), 2 Matt Thompson, 1 Jon Golding.
Replacements: 16 Rob Vickers, 17 Micky Ward, 18 Laurence Ovens, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Adam Balding, 21 Hall Charlton, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Gcobani Bobo.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Richard Haughton, 13 Kameli Ratuvou, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Derick Hougaard, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Justin Melck, 6 Wikus van Heerden(captain), 5 Hugh Vyvyan, 4 Tom Ryder, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke , 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Richard Skuse, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Michael Owen, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Glen Jackson, 23 Michael Horak.
Referee: Sean Davey (82nd Premiership game)
