Saracens kick London Irish down the table
Saracens at last had a 12-6 win over London Irish, this Saturday, in the Aviva Premiership. Primarily the victory was assisted by Owen Farrell, the fly half for Saracens. He scored four penalties pushing Saracens to the second position on the Premiership
table. Saracens have been dominating the Aviva Premiership but couldn’t prove much in other leagues. Sarries performed under a lot of pressure in the competition and imposed a tenth straight defeat to London Irish this weekend.
The London Irish had to deal with the wrath of Owen Farrell, who kicked all the points for Saracens and guided them to victory. The Exiles responded by just two penalties, taken by Chris Malone. Statistically, Sarries are standing at second position with
38 points, having played13 matches. Northampton Saints stand at third position with 38 points, having played 11 matches. Leicester Tigers are leading the table with 44 points, whereas Leeds Carnegie are at the bottom with only 8 points, including a single
win. London Irish, after losing to Saracens didn’t get a bonus point and dropped down to seventh position on the charts, with 31 points.
The match was that productive as was expected but Saracens maintained immense pressure on the opposing side. London Irish gave out a penalty in the seventh minute, which Farrell missed by inches and the ball rebounded from the post. Owen Farrell did not
repeat the mistake again and four minutes later struck right between the posts. Shortly afterwards, the victors earned another penalty which Farrell converted in the 22nd minute. In the 28th minute, Irish brought back the pressure on
Sarries and earned a penalty at scrum. Malone neatly kicked it and lessened the score deficit. Five minutes later Saracens were behind the Irish when Malone scored a second goal after getting a penalty for a ruck offence. The Exiles were awarded another penalty
when Carlos Nieto made an offence. However, Malone’s kick was wide of the posts.
The Exiles tended to make a positive start after the interval but lost the ball at a potential scoring position, right in front of the posts. With the defence of both sides creating a deadlock and tackling every forward move, there were no tries witnessed.
Tempers kept on rising with the passage of time and the referee David Rose, had to calm down the situation. Irish took advantage and earned another penalty which Malone missed. Going on with the match, Saracens were pushing the opponents back again and again
and finally got a penalty, which Farrell executed perfectly to regain the lead. Sarries were finishing strong even though they weren’t able to pierce through the Irish defence
The Rugby Director for Saracens, Brendan Venter was in command for the last game ever. He will be returning to his family in South Africa. It was a very determined and a positive send-off win for the resigning director. Brendan Venter was facing a few problems
while working with the club and the owner Nigel Wray, who has been frequently blamed for buying his way to success by signing elite class players. Brendan said, “The problem at Saracens was too much chopping and changing. We have a five-year plan in place,
and it is ongoing.” Expressing his loyalty to the club and the players he added, “I may no longer be rugby director, but I’ll be in telephone contact regularly, and I will be flying back to England regularly to attend games.”
Brendan Venter, a former rugby union player who had been coaching London Irish before Saracens, used to play as centre for South Africa in international rugby. He made his rugby debut in 1995 against New Zealand in a crucial World Cup final, which South
Africa won for the first time. Venter has earned 17 caps in his international career. The rugby director, while bidding adieu stated, “We simply have to keep on track, keep doing the right things.”
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