Following Saracens’ 27-5 victory over the Bulls, here are our five takeaways from the Investec Champions Cup clash.
Top line
A match played in typhoon-esque conditions as Storm Darragh took its toll on proceedings influencing the lineouts, kicks and general play, turning what promised to be a mouth-watering fixture into an out-and-out slugfest and battle of smarts.
Frankly, it was a torrid time for the players as both teams ditched any sort of extravagant attacking play for old-school one-off running using the big boys up front to get inroads into the defence.
There were some flashes of brilliance including a glorious skip pass from Willie Le Roux in challenging conditions that landed perfectly in the clutches of Sebastian de Klerk but those were few and far between and for the Bulls singular.
It was really a matter of who handled the conditions best and as the scoreline suggests, there was one clear winner – Saracens. Marco Riccioni got the hosts’ first try of the match helping them to an 8-5 lead at the break despite playing into the gale-force winds. While the Bulls attempted to stay in the fight but discipline let them down as not only did they need to battle off the Saracens’ machine in the horrid conditions but for 10 minutes, do so with two men in the sin bin and Mark McCall’s men predictable pounced with Jamie George and Tom Willis notching up tries. A ridiculous finish from Ben Earl was ultimately the icing on the cake as Saracens clinched the bonus point and deservedly so.
Earning the hard yards
It was a nightmarish day for the kickers and hookers today as they combated the wind and more often than not came off second-best.
Elliot Daly provided the perfect example of this as he looked to hang up high restart only for the wind to pick up the ball and pull it back more than ten metres from where he initially struck it.
Fergus Burke similarly struggled as he attempted to hit his conversions hard and low getting his first two attempts all wrong while George attempted a long throw at a lineout only for the 50mph winds to drag it skew. But the work-rate of Sarries was a telling factor too. They chased kicks hard, and worked tirelessly to reload on both sides of the ball too.
The conditions impacted both teams with Johan Goosen overcompensating with a low and hard-hit restart that went dead in the first half.
This meant that any yards needed to be earned the hard way by hammering through tackles and kicking smartly to negate the conditions and today, Saracens got the edge here.
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Saracens outsmart Bulls
Not that it is anything new for the Premiership club but Saracens turned every single facet of the game into a real contest. They piled into the breakdown at key times while making life for Johan Grobbelaar and Akker van der Merwe hell at lineout time.
The Bulls were certainly not helped by losing Cobus Wiese early on and had Jannes Kirsten sin-binned but young lineout caller JF van Heerden learned some hard lessons at the set-piece. Realising the impact of losing the extra jumpers, Saracens loaded up with Maro Itoje, Theo McFarland, Nick Isiekwe and Juan Martin Gonzalez competing on every single throw.
Usually with conditions like these, teams will go with the shorter lineout throws and that’s just what the Bulls did and Saracens knew this would be the case and did not give the South Africans any gimmes in this facet of the game. Once, they disrupted the lineout, they quickly went to work to disrupt whatever followed next and that paid dividends as well notably when McFarland charged down Embrose Papier and Willis took full advantage.
It was relentless from McCall’s men who admittedly have better experience with such conditions but having that edge and using it are two entirely different things. Saracens played the first 40 minutes into the wind and had the upper at the break with a three-point lead after realising that kicks to touch would not work and quick taps and runs from deep were the order of the day. And once the teams changed ends, it was tickets for the Bulls.
Their reward was a bonus point victory in conditions that can often result in single-digit scores for both teams but not Saracens.
Tom Willis continues his stunning form
The question has to be asked as to what more must Tom Willis do in order to get a shot at an England jumper. The former Wasps man was unreal yet again for Saracens and arguably in conditions that don’t quite suit his free-flowing running game.
However, that was not the case as he rose to the challenge and comfortably got the better of the powerhouse Bulls’ pack. He was lethal as ever on the ground and again impressed with the ball in hand shrugging off defenders with ease.
A dynamite back-rower, Willis may struggle to break into the starting XV with his Sarries teammate Earl the first-choice number eight but the 25-year-old would add a mighty punch off the bench.
After a frankly disastrous Autumn campaign, England need a bit of a spark or point of difference and Willis certainly has the potential to be just that in the Six Nations next year.
Champions Cup power ranking
If one were to look at the power rankings pre-kick-off many would have had the Bulls in a higher position than the hosts today with Jake White’s outfit boasting quality and experience not forgetting the excellent Springboks in their ranks.
This while considering the ‘rebuild’ that McCall insists is occurring at Saracens after the departures of Owen Farrell, the Vunipolas and so many veteran and world-class heads that departed the club at the end of last season.
While McCall states this is a young squad, they did not look it today with a mature performance akin to the brilliant Saracens teams of old that have won this tournament on three occasions in the past. They were well-drilled, diligent and were problem-solving on the fly. While there may be some young blood in the Saracens ranks, they proved they are still very much Champions Cup pedigree with their performance and puts them in good stead going forward in the tournament.
As for the Bulls, it was another lesson learned the hard way. While the likes of Elrigh Louw, Ruan Nortje, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and others were not in the matchday 23 this week, there was still plenty of experience and grunt littered through the squad to at least put up a better fight.
At times it felt as if the men from Pretoria were simply naive in the manner they approached the match and really could have put up a better fight particularly when they had the wind in their back. That double sin-binning period was simply unacceptable for a team that wants to be real contenders in the Champions Cup. They return home where they will face Northampton Saints – a team White fielded a hugely rotated squad against last season – and the Bulls can force their way back up the power rankings with a victory but they will need to do their homework this week and improve their discipline.
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/saracens-v-bulls-five-takeaways-as-jake-whites-men-outclassed-in-old-school-tussle-after-storm-darragh-takes-it-toll-while-england-snub-shines
