Farrell's wife going into labour fails to upset Saracens juggernaut
David Strettle capitalised on the late withdrawal of Owen Farrell to cross twice as Saracens stormed into the Heineken Champions Cup semi-finals with a 56-27 victory over Glasgow.
Farrell pulled out of the team after his wife went into labour on Saturday morning and in the England captain’s absence seven tries were amassed against the outclassed Warriors.
Alex Goode provided a slick alternative at fly-half and the contingency plan also promoted Strettle from the bench to the left wing, allowing the veteran to help himself to a touch down in each half.
Wales full-back Liam Williams also ran in two tries, while hooker Jamie George and centre Brad Barritt were outstanding throughout – the former even operating as an occasional playmaker to be acclaimed man of the match.
The Allianz Park clash was the third time the rivals have met this season and this was the most emphatic of Saracens’ three wins as Glasgow were swept aside to set-up a last four appointment with Munster at the Ricoh Arena.
Maro Itoje made a barnstorming comeback from the knee injury sustained in England’s Six Nations opener against Ireland, but the favourites suffered the sickening blow of seeing Barritt carried from the field on a stretcher in the final minute because of an injury sustained to his left ankle.
Another player making his return after seven weeks out with a shoulder injury was Stuart Hogg but even his pace and ingenuity could not prevent a landslide defeat.
Hogg was involved as Glasgow made a blistering start, drawing two defenders in a set-piece move that was given urgency by the speed of Rory Hughes and ended with Ali Price touching down after just 69 seconds.
Saracens pressure led to the score being levelled as first Sean Maitland’s persistence forced a penalty and when Goode lofted a kick over the posts where Williams outjumped Adam Hastings to catch and score.
Alex Lozowski landed three points to put the English champions in front for the first time and they were now the dominant force, winning the aerial battle and the collisions, but on two occasions visits deep into enemy territory were ended by soft penalties.
Glasgow eventually cracked for a second time as they struggled to contain waves of attacks, Will Skelton and Itoje making dents through their power and Barritt carrying hard before George sent Strettle racing over.
Very impressive display from @Saracens as they power past @GlasgowWarriors 👊
They'll meet @Munsterrugby in the #Heineken #ChampionsCup semi-finals at the Ricoh Arena on Sat April 20 at 15.15 local time 🤝 pic.twitter.com/eSMcpzwRew
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) March 30, 2019
Barritt was having a stormer as he punched another hole in midfield, Billy Vunipola followed suit and when the move swept left with George acting as playmaker, Barritt was able to run in his side’s third try.
Successive long-range penalties by Hastings kept Glasgow in the hunt but one of those was wiped out by Lozowski shortly after half-time and Saracens resumed pounding away in the visiting 22.
A patient build-up came to a head when Vunipola offloaded in the tackle and George took Goode’s pass to tie in defenders by the touchline before Williams arrived on an incisive line to plunder his second.
Another Lozowski penalty left Glasgow floundering and when Strettle picked off a dismal pass by Stafford McDowall to score under the posts the floodgates were open.
George was driven over from a short-range line-out for Saracens’ sixth try but the Warriors were back on the scoresheet when an injection of pace by Hogg created a touch down for George Horne.
Nick Tompkins crossed to restore the previous order of home dominance but Glasgow had the final say in overtime after Matt Fagerson drove over a forwards try.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
31 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments