Saracens return to winning ways with Worcester rout
Saracens bounced back from their defeat at Exeter to claim a precious bonus-point victory in their pursuit of Gallagher Premiership survival after dismantling Worcester 62-5. Rooted to the foot of the table after being docked 35 points for breaching salary cap regulations, the champions ran in 10 tries against outclassed opponents at Allianz Park.
Rotimi Segun, a late replacement for the injured Sean Maitland, crossed in each half to spearhead the assault while Ben Earl, Brad Barritt, Mako Vunipola, Richard Barrington, Maro Itoje, Duncan Taylor, Jackson Wray and Elliot Daly also touched down.
Mako Vunipola’s try on the half-hour mark secured the bonus point but then received an injury to his shoulder when illegally cleared out at a ruck and was substituted at half-time.
The resounding victory restored Saracens to winning ways having fallen 14-7 to arch-rivals Exeter six days ago and has come in the week that owner Nigel Wray stepped down as chairman in the wake of the salary cap scandal.
A match spanning 126 minutes was overshadowed by a potentially serious injury to Worcester’s replacement lock Michael Fatialofa, who had been on the pitch just over a minute when he was hurt taking the ball into contact.
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The play was held up for several minutes as Fatialofa received medical attention before he was carried from the pitch on a stretcher with his neck in a brace. Compounding a torrid afternoon was the sight of Conor Carey, their replacement tighthead, bouncing on one leg as he was helped off by two of Worcester’s backroom staff.
Signs that the Warriors faced an uphill struggle came when Earl made a dynamic start as he powered over for the opening try, before winning the turnover that enabled Saracens to renew their attack and score a second through Segun.
Saracens’ pack played a key role in both touchdowns as waves of runners, led by the tackle-busting Vunipola brothers, battered an unstoppable path through the Warriors. Their dominance up-front was underlined when Barritt was at the bottom of a successful line-out drive but Worcester full-back Jamie Shillock being outjumped by Alex Lewington in the build-up had invited pressure.
The last part of the compelling end-of-decade series by @alexshawsport https://t.co/yw0D3lwsAq
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 2, 2020
Segun showed his footwork and pace to tear through the visiting defence, and had he passed to Elliot Daly Saracens would have had the bonus point. But on the half-hour mark, it duly arrived. Jamie George was stopped just short of the line following clever play from Owen Farrell but Mako Vunipola was on hand to complete the move.
Farrell then came through an anxious few moments as Craig Maxwell-Keys reviewed his tackle on wing Tom Howe but the referee decided it was a penalty only. Lock Anton Bresler was not spared the sin-bin, however, for his dangerous clear-out of Mako Vunipola that left the England prop in considerable pain, while Will Skelton also rode his luck at the same breakdown.
Mako Vunipola failed to appear for the second half but otherwise normal service resumed, with Worcester scrambling furiously to defend their line, and only a double tackle by Shillcock and Scott Van Breda prevented Earl from scoring a second.
“PRO14 rugby is much more exciting than Premiership rugby, has been for years."
– Michael Bradley talks Prem v PRO14 with @heagneyl ???https://t.co/iTlvoOlb8y
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 29, 2019
The move continued and replacement prop Barrington went over as the floodgates opened, Richard Wigglesworth’s break downfield given fresh legs by Titi Lamositele before Maro crossed. Once Fatialofa’s unfortunate collision had been dealt with, wing Ed Fidow raced over in the left corner to spare Worcester total humiliation, but it was only a brief interlude as Segun produced a moment of genius to give Taylor an easy chance.
Taylor was held up over the line but Saracens continued to run riot and Jackson Wray was the next to score before Daly put the Warriors out of their misery with the final blow to leave the champions 18 points adrift of eleventh placed Leicester.
– Press Association
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Comments on RugbyPass
late 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
4 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?
9 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.
9 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 commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments