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Mako Vunipola was awarded the man of the match for his physical dominance in the 2018 Aviva Premiership final, but the play of another Saracens superstar proved to be the difference – Owen Farrell.
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Exeter’s carry game was all but shut down by the imposing Saracens wall. Defence coach Alex Sanderson told the commentary team he wanted to put the “fear of God” into the Chiefs forwards. The Chiefs couldn’t get their screen passes going and release their multi-positional backs. Phase after phase, they were stuck in a perpetual cycle of ruck purgatory – making carries but seeing no impact as the Saracens line soaked it all up.
Exeter asked a lot of the Saracens defence but it was always the same question. Without a genuine playmaker they had no Plan B. Exeter’s distributors mainly play from the second level, awaiting front-foot ball from behind pods. That never came.
Saracen’s on the other hand, showed that having a quality playmaker can make all the difference. Owen Farrell played an instrumental in his side’s first three tries and had his boot to the throat of Exeter on many more occasions. It wasn’t a perfect display, but the dangerous Farrell constantly threatened to open up the Chiefs.
After barely touching the ball for the first fifteen minutes, Farrell banana chip-kicked back in behind the ruck deftly for Brad Barritt to hack and regather for a 45-metre gain. On the next play, he sprayed a cross-field kick to his winger. Four phases later Billy Vunipula crashed over for the first try as the pressure proved too much. Farrell’s lead-up play with the boot played a crucial part.
He played flat regularly and sought touches at first receiver often, taking the ball to the line to test defenders. With signs of weakness on Jack Nowell’s edge, he played a perfect sleight of hand to release fullback Alex Goode with a three-on-one that led to a try in the corner.
With barely three minutes of possession, Farrell was heavily involved in constructing 12 Saracens points with purposeful and direct attack.
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Another strike beckoned shortly after but Farrell’s long cutout sailed into touch, missing an overlap again on Exeter’s right edge. A testing grubber into the in-goal, again by Farrell, almost had the elusive third and surely decisive try. The only team stopping Saracens were Saracens themselves it seemed.
His control and decision-making finally led to the third try early in the second half. After scrambling back to recover loose possession, Farrell drove Exeter down to their own five with a perfectly weighted kick. After Exeter’s failed box kick contest, Farrell called the shots and facilitated ball, waiting for the optimal time to shift wide. Winger Chris Wyles crossed untouched for his second and the game was all but over.
He was subbed in the 66th minute after suffering cramps and Saracens lost a bit of potency. They still had control, but had less cohesion in attack. It didn’t matter as the damage was done.
The Saracens pack as a whole deserve credit for setting the platform up front, but it was Farrell, not Vunipula that made the difference.
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157 – In 157 appearances for @Saracens since his @premrugby debut in 2009/10, @SchalkBrits tops the charts for hookers for tries, carries, metres, breaks, defenders beaten, offloads, assists, tackles, throws and throw %. Swansong. pic.twitter.com/bLfcnWJ4aB
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) May 25, 2018
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter 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.
3 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.
37 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 comments