Brace for England star helps Saracens boost play-off bid
Ben Earl touched down twice as Saracens moved a step closer to Premiership play-off qualification and boosted their chances of a home semi-final with an 18-12 win over Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium.
It was a brutal and tight encounter and there was just one point separating the teams at the interval, with Rob du Preez kicking two penalties for Sale and England international Earl responding for Sarries by going over for his first try just shy of the break.
The second period was also close but it was the visitors that controlled the territorial battle. Two Alex Lozowski penalties to Du Preez’s one gave them an 11-9 advantage before Earl’s second try of the night settled the contest.
Although the Sharks garnered a losing bonus-point late on, Sarries deservedly went away with the win.
Between two gargantuan packs, it was always going to be a physical affair and both teams competed for gain line and set-piece supremacy in the opening quarter.
There was also a fierce aerial battle as the respective outfits searched for the territory which would put their opponents under pressure.
Neither are sides that like to play in their own half and as a result an attributional clash ensued, but it was one which the Sharks edged in the opening period.
Saracens gave away a string of needless penalties, while their usually adept handling let them down at times as the hosts thundered into contact.
Mark McCall’s men gave away two kickable penalties and Rob du Preez, who has not always been reliable off the tee this season, was on target both times to give Sale a 6-0 advantage.
Sarries had barely fired a shot but, when the Sharks began to infringe a few too many times, they began to gain a foothold.
Lozowski had successive opportunities to reduce the arrears off the tee but the centre was awry on both occasions.
When the visitors won their next penalty they duly went to the corner and it paid immediate dividends when Earl went over from close range.
Lozowski, however, once again missed the kick, leaving them 6-5 down at the break.
McCall’s charges had been on the back foot but that score kept them in the game and, when they earned a penalty at the start of the second half, their centre was finally successful off the tee to move them in front.
It was the boost Saracens needed as they began to control territory and possession. Manu Tuilagi was one of the players brought on by Sale boss Alex Sanderson in an attempt to turn the tide and he put in one customary big hit early on, but it was the visitors that extended their lead through Lozowski.
The hosts were now the ones making the errors and they had it all to do going into the final quarter.
To their credit, they hit back and reduced the arrears to 11-9 thanks to another Du Preez three-pointer, but the Londoners displayed their quality to kill off the game in the final 10 minutes.
Max Malins was the provider, making a break and passing out wide for Earl to collect and finish. Alex Goode converted to take them out of reach of the Sharks, who did manage to mount one final attack and earn a losing bonus-point through Du Preez.
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments