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Second-half Woolstencroft hat-trick eases Saracens clear of Gloucester

By PA
(Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Tom Woolstencroft enjoyed a dream first outing with the Saracens captaincy by scoring a hat-trick of tries in their 36-20 victory over Gloucester at Allianz Park. The hooker, standing in in the absence of Brad Barritt, delivered a standout performance by dotting down three times in 20 minutes, while a Ben Harris try on his debut and Tom Whiteley’s effort capped the win.

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Stephen Varney, Henry Walker and Louis Rees-Zammit did notch tries for the visitors but Saracens proved too good in the second half to secure their eleventh league win of the season and leave Gloucester eighth.

The hosts made 14 changes to the side that defeated Harlequins, including handing club debuts to Will Hooley and Harris. But the big news heading into the game surrounded Elliot Daly’s return from a hamstring injury to make his first-ever start at outside centre for Saracens.

The England international, who had featured seven times since joining from Wasps last summer before the season was postponed in March, had been absent from the Premiership’s return but delivered an encouraging showing.

But it was the visitors, who themselves handed club debuts to Jordy Reid and Josh Gray, that got the scoring underway in the fourth minute when Lloyd Evans coolly slotted his penalty kick over from 40 metres. It did not take long for Daly to get involved, though, as he levelled proceedings with a penalty kick of his own shortly afterwards.

Saracens then took the lead for the first time 15 minutes in when two bits of good work at the breakdown resulted in two penalties, Daly slotting over from long range again before Manu Vunipola also got on the board.

The visitors did dot down shortly before the break when captain Mark Atkinson found Henry Trinder who in turn set Varney free to score his third try in as many games. But Harris ensured Saracens took a lead into the break when he beat several tackles to go over on debut.

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The hosts picked up where they left off minutes after the restart and notched their second try through Woolstencroft, who picked his spot to score at the end of a brilliant driving maul.

This was quickly followed by another score from the hooker in carbon copy fashion to extend Saracens’ lead to 16 points.

In the final quarter, Gloucester added a second try when replacement Walker went over, but Woolstencroft confirmed the result when he completed his hat-trick after another driving maul before Whiteley added a fifth try late on.

There was still time for a third Gloucester try when Rees-Zammit showed his pace to finish in the corner, but the defeat leaves George Skivington’s side twelve points outside the top four.

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Trevor 14 minutes ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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