Saracens miss out against Leeds Carnegie
07 Mar 2010 - 17:00
Saracens were beaten 19-12 by Leeds Carnegie at Headingley Stadium on Sunday afternoon in a result that lifted the home side off the bottom of the Guinness Premiership table.
Sarries had controlled the first half to lead 9-3 at the break and were unable to take advantage of the field position they enjoyed and paid the price after the interval as a try from Lee Blackett secured the win for the home side.
Sarries took the lead after just seven minutes when, after going through the phases, the visitors forced a penalty and Hougaard didn’t waste the chance. It was 6-0 midway through the half as, once again, Sarries set up good possession on the 22 metre line and Hougaard dropped back in the pocket to drop a goal.
The fly half was on target once again on the half hour. Again, Sarries were camped on the Leeds 22 but with the home side having reset their defence after an initial break from Ratuvou, Sarries decided to take the points and Hougaard struck another drop.
Having lost Ceiron Thomas midway through the half after he was on the end of a powerful charge from Ratuvou, replacement fly half Joe Ford reduced the arrears with the final action of the half – making amends for two earlier misses.
For Sarries, they had shown much of the attacking play in the opening 40 minutes. Alex Goode’s clever side-step took him from his own 22 and Sarries to within five metres of the Leeds line with both Ratuvou and Brad Barritt making the hard yards for the visiting side.
Ford was on target again just minutes after the restart with the Sarries scrum penalised for popping up. But within minutes, Hougaard had restored the six point advantage after great work by Barritt at the breakdown won a penalty in front of the posts.
But the home side, buoyed by the result announced over the tannoy that relegation rivals Sale Sharks had lost against Northampton, pushed forward to score a try that owed much to their ability to keep the ball alive. Three times they offloaded in the move that ended with Lee Blackett taking the ball at pace over the line. Ford converted.
Sarries cause was not helped when both Schalk Brits and Andy Titterell found themselves sent to the sin bin for fighting midway through the half but just as the pair were about to come back on the field, Ford struck a long range drop goal to extend the lead to seven points.
As the clock wore down, it was Leeds who were in possession deep in Sarries territory and a series of scrums for the home side allowed them to run down the clock and secure the win that lifted them from the bottom of the Guinness Premiership table.
Saracens line-up: Goode, Penney (Tagicakibau 54), Ratuvou (Powell 76), Barritt, Wyles, Hougaard, De Kock (Marshall 63), Aguero Gill 50), Brits (Reynecke 76), Skuse (Mercey 74), Smith, Ryder (Botha 50), Van Heerden, Burger, Melck (Joubert 50).
Aviva Premiership Rugby Table
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | London Wasps | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 58 | 2 |
| 9 | Leicester Tigers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 27 | 0 |
| 10 | Gloucester Rugby | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 22 | 0 |
| 11 | Leeds Carnegie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 32 | 0 |
| 12 | Saracens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 33 | 0 |
Comments
ruggernut says:
Cant win games without scoring tries. Leeds are an average team and apparently we can't even score a single try against them! What hope is there for the semi final against Northampton? Heineken cup for next season is slipping from our grasp. BV had a good game-plan for the early season but it no longer works. A try won the game today... unfortunately we didn't score it.
07 Mar 2010 - 17:19 - (Report this post)
Le Chef says:
Another poor performance. Saints will beat us for sure next week. Challenge Cup again next season.
07 Mar 2010 - 17:37 - (Report this post)
Steve-The-Sarrie says:
another game of 1 dimensional crap. Last season we werent winning as many games but we were scoring tries!!
07 Mar 2010 - 17:47 - (Report this post)
happy says:
we need a plan b and be able to score trys and stop kicking play rugby not football
07 Mar 2010 - 17:49 - (Report this post)
Tewinman says:
Very disapointing, season seems to be in free fall. Teams have worked us out. Don't see much of the development that BV spoke about during the early part of the season. That said we should stick together, we can beat Northampton and I think a top 4 in the GP is still possible. We are fortunate that everyone else is losing at the top end as well
07 Mar 2010 - 18:30 - (Report this post)
Ken Lane says:
We won at the begining of the season because the other teams had not worked out how to be us. Now they have we are losing all our games. If we don't get back to winning we can say goodbye to the Heineken Cup next season. If Mr Griffiths is serious about increasing attendance this will come when we finally win silverware. We need to play the full 80 minutes. And please lets have some tries. Get back to winning or its mid-table Sarries yet again. We need to treat every game as if it is the final of that competion and go all out for a win.
07 Mar 2010 - 18:58 - (Report this post)
simonh14 says:
The annual Saracens Christmas capitulation continues,and now against bottom of the league Leeds. Talent continues to be wasted in the backs and BV must be more naive than I thought if he didn't think teams would work us out. I love this club, but anything short of a total change of tactics is going to see us get massacred next week.
07 Mar 2010 - 19:02 - (Report this post)
ackbecker says:
once again another loss and no tries. we have become an embarrassment and having been top of the table for so long, at this rate we'll be lucky to be in the play offs.
07 Mar 2010 - 20:00 - (Report this post)
RJT says:
One try per game average ... that says it all. We have very skilled backs who are becoming experts at chasing high kicks.We have been found out now - get your full back and wings deep, wait for the kick from Sarries because they are not going to run it and stack the field around the ruck/maul because Sarries do not go more than two passes wide. We must find a fly half who can play on the gain line (Goodey?). Hougaard is good at what he does but we need variation and he stands so deep there are no options left but to kick ....
07 Mar 2010 - 20:29 - (Report this post)
pendleton says:
Needed the watch some good rugby so just watched some TV highlights of Saints beating Sale - Chris Ashton looks great because he gets the ball in space. But no-one is going to tell me that he has more talent than Noah Cato (has he got a pass in space this season?). The Leicester game was really entertaining yesterday too - players running on to the ball in space. But I've been supporting Sarries for too long to quit now - I just wish we played rugby with more style ........
07 Mar 2010 - 20:39 - (Report this post)
Steve Roy says:
Have just finished watching ITV4 prog - how very dissapointing, we looked sluggish and disjointed. This game should have been a cert for us to win. I've got a ticket for game against Saints next week & I'm afraid we'll be humiliated. We seem to be playing a very different game to the rest of the teams @ top of the table. Come on guys - you know you can do it.
07 Mar 2010 - 20:58 - (Report this post)
Steve-The-Sarrie says:
Just watched the south africa DVD, and How come we can beat Them but not LEEDS???
07 Mar 2010 - 21:51 - (Report this post)
6116alex says:
We have the players, we have the skill. the worst you can say about the men on the pitch is the scrum seams a little under powered. I hope BV has a bigger picture we cant see yet and pulls a good bit of form out for the rest of the season. We'll just have to trust him.
07 Mar 2010 - 22:05 - (Report this post)
Steve-The-Sarrie says:
Atleast in the summer, Get a New Fly Half, and A New Fullback. as If they want Goodey to play FH, we are going to need a Nice Dynamic Ball Running Fullback who is solid in defence, as we have used wingers as fullback for the last 2 seasons and it would be good seeing a specified fullback :) and a Flyhalf who wants to run the ball with good Goal Kicking or even bring Sharp up into the squad, as Hoofhard isnt playing great and stands way too deep, we need some variation, and 2 fly halfs just wont do. As for the scrum next season we will have Kelly Brown, Matt Stevens and Tonga'Uhia which will be good
07 Mar 2010 - 22:11 - (Report this post)
Baz says:
Can anyone seriously still believe that BV has a clue what he's doing? "Evidence-based rugby" is what he calls it: well, the evidence shows that we are rubbish. Utter pants. And so we have been all season, despite riding our luck outrageously for the early winning streak. We might beat the budgies at VR, but apart from that I can't see us winning another game this season. BV and his Mogadon rugby are a busted flush, and if EG doesn't fire the Doctor at the end of the season, the Stellenbosch Billionaire needs to fire EG.
07 Mar 2010 - 23:18 - (Report this post)
Davidthesarrie says:
Yes a disappointing period in our season which started so brightly. The loss of players in our pack has affected confidence and apparent application in throughout the team. But talk of firing BV or EG is totally unwarranted and has never been a solution in the past and serves no useful purpose now. We were there again yesterday and will be there again next week hoping to get respectability back for the efforts that are being put in. However, we would have appreciated an appearance of the team after the final whistle to acknowledge the travelling fans; we are in this together.
08 Mar 2010 - 08:21 - (Report this post)
Baz says:
Loss of players my foot. Yes we have a handful of long-term injuries (what club doesn't?), but only Borthwick was unavailable yesterday through international duty. The problem isn't the players, the problem is the coach and his hopeless, hapless game-plan, which he seems incapable of changing. Just watch his reaction to yesterday's match: he is clearly clueless about how to fix things. And unless he gets some kind of divine inspiration, we are gonna finish in the customary mid-table obscurity, and season ticket sales are gonna fall through the floor. The solution is obvious: set free the massive talent that the squad undoubtedly has, and play some blydi rugby. And if BV can't facilitate that, then he has to move aside for someone who can.
08 Mar 2010 - 08:44 - (Report this post)
ackbecker says:
Completely agree with Baz. I dont see how we can be charged £30 plus (ok i know thats in the rous) to watch boring rugby and score no, or if were lucky 1 try. If the season finished as is, Sale go down, there is a load of talent there we could take, eg tait, cueto. If we are so rich why don't we buy some big guns?ENGLISH internationals would be a nice start. We have had far too many coaches in the last few years and it would be nice to have one to stay around a while, but we cant continue this way!
08 Mar 2010 - 09:29 - (Report this post)
richardh says:
BV's comments as reported by BBC .. "We'd got in behind Leeds a couple of times. They'd run the ball in the first half and we'd smashed them and there was nothing on for them. " "I never even thought remotely in the first half we were not going to win that game. " "In the last 20 minutes Leeds looked so much better than us and that's when we start playing like individuals, and that's the issue, that's the dilemma I'm faced with." Hopefully he sees that the dilemma is that we have no plan B once teams have worked out how to counter our rugby without the ball strategy .... he is right on one count ... its his problem as we have the players to play with the ball but it doesn't appear thats in the plan .
08 Mar 2010 - 10:16 - (Report this post)
Bynesey says:
I was under the impression that Matt Stevens is banned until 2011, have I got it wrong????
08 Mar 2010 - 10:21 - (Report this post)
Baz says:
IIRC, Bynesey, Fatty is available to play from January 2011.
08 Mar 2010 - 10:54 - (Report this post)
bigmal50 says:
Oh what fun it is being a sarries supporter with year in year out promise then dissapointment, where the hell di we get this coach from i will personally pay his fare back to S.Africa if asked!!! He is costing us the season with his negativity and lack of knowledge after all i have never seen S.Africa play rubbish rugby like this and yet he believes he is working towards their ethos. The other teams in two weeks will get their international players back and improve whilst we are in rapid descent, only Sale have a worse record than us over the last 8 games and with this sort of rugby we should be in the relegation battle. Please see sense sarries and get rid of BV before its to late and then go to the training ground and pratice scoring tries rather than kicking all possesion away. Even the pests are going to overtake us now and we'll be lucky for a top 6 finish. God help us next week as Northampton even with a weakened side are more than a match for us.
08 Mar 2010 - 13:31 - (Report this post)
maynas says:
I cannot understand where the strength in the pack has gone, a year or 2 ago we pushed the big guys around, now almost anyone can bully us in the scrum now. You could live with it a bit if the backs had improved but they just kick, and can't score a try at all. We are lucky to stay 4th what with others like Irish losing, but it won't carry on what with Bath on a role . I saw Saints win the semi last year, no desire to see us lose another one to them so soon, If we make the Heineken Cup next year it will be a miracle and on recent form we'll be out by Christmas. For God's sake Sarries get your act together and play some rugby and limit this fruitless kicking game.
08 Mar 2010 - 15:49 - (Report this post)
Spartacus1978 says:
We need clinical precision!!!! The first half of the season gave a little hope, i thought that this season the pundits would stop grinding us down (Morris, Barnes & Greenwood) and Sky would be looking to screen Sarries matches rather than appearing on telly by default to what the premiership sees as a better side. YOU NEED TO COME HOME!!!! We may well have had an attendance of 23,000 odd recently but you have to ask yourself where it was.....???? LONDON..... We need to create in the minds of the opposition a fear of, Oh! Christ he's got the ball, thats another 7 points for them....!! To take the bonus points from the game as well as the win and beating back the opposition to 8+ points difference As an ex player, a keen supporter, I want to see this club with silver wear. It has been far too long since we had any. Ball carriers like Banahan, Tuilagi, Tindall and Mapasua to name a few are the stamp of guys we should be hurling onto the crash balls, not finally getting the ball and giving it straight back to the opposition. i understand the percentages game but it is luck and luck does not win you games. My old man once said to me when he managed one of the junior sides at Saracens..... "YOU CAN'T SCORE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE BALL!"
08 Mar 2010 - 23:34 - (Report this post)
The Warrior says:
As a huge Sarries fans, I truly believe that we should keep a realistic view here, OK we have played really poor in the last few games with the game against Leeds particularly hard to take as maybe I, along with so many other supporters thought that we should have taken the win easily along with a possible bonus point. However, we are still third in the table with a few games left in the Guinness Premiership. It’s now time for the fans to rise above all the negativity and criticism and time for the team to show all the unbelievers that we are a great team and true winners. So onto Sunday, I put aside my own personnel frustration from what has happened and move on to hopefully what will be a far superior Saracens team standing at Franklin Gardens in what I believe to be the most important game of the season so far fighting for a place in the final, against a team that will, in no doubt in my mind be relentless in attacking. So, I will be there with my 7 year old son and will be shouting my support, as always at the top of voice until I can shout no more. Go Sarries !!!
09 Mar 2010 - 10:30 - (Report this post)
Baz says:
Relentless optimism is as counter-productive as relentless pessimism. What is needed above all is relentless honesty. And the honest truth is that we are boring, one-dimensional and just not very good. I will still be there on Sunday, but I travel more in hope than expectation.
09 Mar 2010 - 12:53 - (Report this post)
bigmal50 says:
you and me alike Baz!! At least when we went their last year we played rugby and tried to score tries we don't know how to now, we can put out the best team in the world but without a productive game plan which seems to be beyond BV then we will run out as dismall losers yet again. I hate Barnes on Sky but his negative attitude towards Saracens is warranted and with this coach we will never get the punduts on our side and definately lose the floating support rather than gain it. I offered to pay BV's air fare home and if you do read this BV then i'm just waiting for the phone call for you to accept PLEASE!!!
09 Mar 2010 - 15:20 - (Report this post)