London Irish's recent five match winning sequence came to an abrupt end at Madejski Stadium last night at the hands of a strong Saracens team. The pattern of the game was a virtual mirror image of the reverse fixture in January, even to the extent that the visitors used a similar plan of attack. The Exiles will be disappointed that they didn't expect and cope with that more effectively.
Any hopes that London Irish had of going into the fortnight's break on the back of a win in this important Guinness Premiership fixture proved unfounded as a determined and confident Saracens produced a clinical performance that saw them emerge as comfortable winners.
The men in black were the form team going into the game and it showed from the start. A driving maul by Saracens up their right wing drew in the Irish forwards stretching the defence. In a flash the ball was whisked out left across the pitch to winger Kevin Ratuvo who rounded Delon Armitage with ease to score in the left corner. Glen Jackson missed with the touchline conversion attempt.
Ratuvo nearly struck again two minutes later but his chip kick bounced into touch. Irish were slowly recovering from the early reverse and hard work by the forwards secured territory in the visitors' half. Saracens were penalised for not releasing a player in the tackle. Shane Geraghty's penalty attempt from 38 metres bounced off the upright. He was also unlucky with a drop goal attempt a minute later.
The Exiles' bad luck continued in the 11th minute when an attacking move down the left wing was disrupted by the visitors' defence 30 metres out. Dan Scarborough led the break out down the wing, he was tracked by Thomas Castaignede who took the pass when the winger was tackled and cruised in to touch down. Jackson added the extras.
Worse was to follow for the home team three minutes later. This time the damage was done by Census Johnston, the mighty Samoan prop forward, who broke through midfield. Scrum half Neil De Kock, who tortured the Exiles all evening, sped the ball to the left where there were numbers over. It fell to Jackson to touch down for the visiots' third try in the corner. The fly half missed the conversion.
With only 15 minutes gone Irish were 17 points down and facing a tough 65 minutes. On a cold but dry evening little was going their way. Unforced errors meant turnover ball for Saracens who began to exert their control over possession and territory. A characteristic break through midfield by Topsy Ojo on the half hour was a rare threat by the home team.
With their lively half-backs, De Kock and Jackson, exerting more influence and Castaignede adding his expertise, especially with his tactical kicking, Saracens always looked dangerous going forward. Irish on the other hand struggled to crack open a well organised, big, physical defence that was content to soak up the pressure until the referee's whistle sounded for half-time.
Irish took the game to Saracens from the re-start. Shane Geraghty broke through midfield before being tackled in which he suffered a hamstring injury and was replaced by Nils Mordt. With Seilala Mapusua having another outstanding game in defence and attack and Olivier Magne taking the ball up, Irish had their best period of possession. However, no matter how well they worked the ball through phases in midfield there was no penetrating the Saracens' defence.
It was only when the ball was moved wide and at pace that the gaps began to appear. Juan Leguizamon was unlucky to suffer a hamstring injury when he was tackled on a burst down the left touchline. He was replaced by Phil Murphy in the 46th minute.
Two minutes later Mapusua once again was the instigator of a break on the right wing. He passed inside to Delon Armitage who sped forward with Ojo outside him. The combination posed sufficient threat for Armitage to be able to break an attempted tackle by two defenders and race in to score behind the posts to leave him with an easy conversion.
With Bob Casey encouraging his team-mates by word and deed Irish enjoyed their best spell of the game. Saracens were forced to defend. Whereas the Exiles' lineout had functioned well all evening, the scrum was not as effective. Murphy's arrival brought more control at the base and provided a better attacking platform.
In the 61st minute Saracens were penalised for a high tackle on Sailosi Tagicakibau. Armitage's penalty kick from one metre inside the Saracens' half and to the left, had the length but just drifted left of the left upright. One sensed that with that kick Irish's hopes of securing any points from the game also went wide.
Shortly afterwards Irish created a three on one try-scoring chance on the right inside the Saracens 22 but indecision and poor handling saw the opportunity go a begging.
While the pattern of the final quarter was disrupted by a series of replacements, the experienced visitors knew that all they had to do was soak up the pressure as Irish chased the game and wait for the opportunity to counter-attack. The chance came in the 75th minute when De Vedia touched down in the right corner following good work by De Kock and Jackson. Although the fly half missed the conversion, his team had the consolation of the try bonus point.
Speaking afterwards London Irish director of Rugby, Brian Smith said: 'The boys are desperately disappointed, we've played well for five weeks on the hop, it was an important night to come out and be at our best against another form team and we weren't. It was a bit of an anti-climax for us. We've got to power up our batteries now and prepare for the final three games.'
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Scorers: London Irish: Try: Armitage (77); Conversion:Armitage. Saracens: Tries: Ratuvuo (3), Castaignede (11), Jackson (14), De Vedia (75); Conversion: Jackson.
Scoring sequence (London Irish first): 0-5, 0-12, 0-17 (half-time) 7-12, 7-22.
London Irish: D Armitage, T Ojo, S Mapusua, R Flutey, S Tagicakibau, S Geraghty (rep: N Mordt, 43), P Hodgson, N Hatley (rep: T Lea'aetoa, 74), R Russell (rep: D Paice, 57), T Lea'aetoa (rep: M Collins, 57), J Hudson (rep: N Kennedy, 57), B Casey (captain), K Roche (rep: D Danaher, 74), O Magne, J Leguizamon (rep: P Murphy, 46).
Saracens: T Castaigne (rep: T De Vedia, 67), D Scarborough, K Sorrell, A Powell, K Ratuvou, G Jackson, N De Kock (rep: M Rauluni, 76), K Yates, S Byrne (rep: M Cairns, 69), C Johnston (rep: T Mercey, 76), I Fullarton (rep: H Vyvyan, 67), S Raiwaluni (captain), K Chesney, R Hill (rep: D Seymour, 71), B Skirving.
Referee: Mr Chris White (RFU)