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Itoje and Vunipola make try-scoring returns as Saracens thump Bedford

By PA
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Maro Itoje and Billy Vunipola made try-scoring returns for Saracens in a 54-13 victory over Bedford at StoneX Stadium that unmasked shortcomings despite the lop-sided scoreline.

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The England forwards marked their Green King IPA Championship debuts by crossing twice each in the first half of their maiden outings since finishing fifth in the Six Nations.

Prop Mako Vunipola and centre Elliot Daly were also reintegrated into the starting XV, although their contributions were less influential as Saracens emerged convincing winners despite an error-strewn afternoon.

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Owen Farrell had been earmarked to lead the team but the England captain was ruled out by a minor strain having recovered from the concussion sustained in the climax to the Six Nations against Ireland.

Alex Davis, Janco Venter and Andy Christie also crossed for Saracens, who benefited from a late penalty try but never found anything approaching top gear against one of the division’s weaker teams.

Tougher assignments against top-two sides Ealing and Doncaster await over the next fortnight as Saracens look to secure an immediate return to the Gallagher Premiership having been relegated as punishment for repeated salary cap breaches.

From the moment Saracens crashed over for their first try through an Itoje pick and go, a third victory of their Championship campaign looked assured.

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It was an ominous start for Bedford, who had won only one of their four games prior to their visit to Barnet and were sent hurtling backwards by a series of big carries.

A short period of Blues pressure followed with Tommy Mathews landing a penalty, but Daly’s footwork in midfield then released Billy Vunipola who flattened full-back Rich Lane and rolled over the whitewash.

It was far from vintage Saracens with their play lacking precision, but when Itoje charged down Connor Tupai’s kick and scored, the afternoon began to look bleak for the underdogs.

Bedford’s cheers at winning a turnover close to their line turned to despair when they were shoved backwards at the ensuing scrum, allowing Billy Vunipola to grab his second try.

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Full-back Elliott Obatoyinbo launched an intelligent run that was continued by Sean Maitland and Itoje until scrum-half Davies arrived to cross in the corner.

But Saracens were far too passive in defence as blindside Ollie Newman broke through the midfield as the prelude to Bedford scoring their only try through wing Pat Tapley.

The Blues had their tails up as they stormed back into enemy territory only for the sin-binning of Joe Atkinson to invite pressure and when Saracens won a short-range line-out, Venter went over.

Andy Christie and a penalty try completed an afternoon that left plenty of scope for improvement.

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fl 31 minutes ago
‘Props are awesome…so why don’t they win prizes?’

“The reason most props don’t last the whole game is that they expend proportionally more effort than players outside the front row. Should they be penalised for that?”

No, they don’t last the whole game because they are less fit than players outside the front row. I’d be interested to know if you’d apply this logic to other positions; do PSDT and Itoje regularly last longer than other players in their positions because they put in less effort?

None of this is about “penalising” props, its about being realistic about their impact on a game.


“While scrums are a small part of the game in terms of time spent in them, they have disproportionate impact. Dominant scrums win games; feeble ones lose them.”

Strength at the breakdown wins games. Good kicking wins games. Good handling wins games. Strong defence wins games. Good lineouts win games. Ultimately, I think that of all these things, the scrum is probably the least important, because it demonstrably doesn’t correlate very well with winning games. I don’t think Rugbypass will allow me to link articles, but if you google “HG Rugby Crowning the Best Scrum in Club Rugby” you’ll get a pretty convincing analysis that ranks Toulouse and Bordeaux outside of the 10 best club sides in the scrum - and ranks Leinster outside of the top 30.


“Or there’s Joe Marler’s epic performance in the Bristol v Quins 2021 Premiership Semi-Final, in which he finally left the pitch 15 minutes into extra time having signed off with a try saving tackle.”

Yeah - that’s a good example actually, but it kind of disproves your point. Marler played 95 minutes, which is unheard of for a prop.


“Maybe we need a dedicated Hall of Fame with entry only for props, and voted for only by props.”

Well we have the World Rugby XV of the year. Its only been going for a few years, but in time it’ll be a pretty good record of who are perceived as best props - although the lack of interest most people have in scrums means that perception of who the best props are doesn’t always match reality (e.g. Tadgh Furlong was great in 2018 - but was he really the best tighthead in the world in 2021, 2022, & 2023?).

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