| Saracens 31 V 38 Gloucester |
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| At a Glance |
Pos
| Team
| Pl
| Pts
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| 1 | Gloucester Rugby | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | Harlequins | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | Leicester Tigers | 2 | 8 |
| 4 | Bath Rugby | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | Saracens | 2 | 5 |
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| Other results |
| Tigers | 26 - 16 | Bath |
| | Quins | 39 - 15 | Leeds |
| | Worcester | 24 - 24 | Wasps |
| | L Irish | 19 - 0 | Falcons |
| | Sharks | 20 - 6 | Bristol |
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| IF THIS was the Guinness Premiership at potentially its most arduous, against unforgiving opponents away from home, then Gloucester served notice of their intent against Saracens at Vicarage Road. |
It was not vintage by any stretch but when they ran hot like the did for the middle two quarters of this match, their movement, cutting edge and dynamism were excellent.
For the second week running they scored four tries to take the maximum five points – representing an outstanding start to the season before a return to Kingsholm next weekend.
“We are not in a position to get carried away,” said head coach Dean Ryan. “I am pleased there were certain elements of our game that were better than last week – that is what pleases me most.
“I thought we allowed Saracens plenty of early momentum into the contest which is disappointing but some of our movement and attacking threat was very good.”
And after the first 25 minutes, they defended brilliantly too. Anthony Allen, Ryan Lamb and Iain Balshaw were the rapiers who caught the eye in the wide open spaces but closer to the epi-centre, there was some outstanding work by Gloucester’s back five.
The decision to throw Peter Buxton into the second row may have appeared a gamble in pure line-out terms but it in the contact area it allowed Alasdair Strokosch and the skipper to cause no end of havoc with the force of their tackling, prevented the equally damaging Andy Hazell from chasing rucks that allowed him to thunder into tackles from the defensive line and let the hugely impressive Luke Narraway to produce another excellent performance.
It was 3-3 after 11 minutes – Lamb and Gordon Ross exchanging penalties – but Gloucester were sluggish at the re-start and wonky at the line-out – three of their first four failed to find the target and Saracens built on the momentum.
From a line-out drive 25 metres out, Ross cut a lovely angle through the Gloucester defence before finding Dan Scarbrough and he was able to get his scoring pass off to Adam Powell.
Saracens’ 11-3 lead became 14-3 with another Ross penalty after 23 minutes and had they been more precise could have scored twice more. First, Francisco Leonelli was called back for a forward pass that would have resulted in a score and then prop Nick Lloyd couldn’t take an inside pass as the home pressure mounted.
Gloucester needed all the expertise of their forwards at this stage simply to stay in the match and when they lost Hazell to the sinbin for a late tackle on Ross, it looked bleak.
But the decision seemed to bind Gloucester together and they began to play with the sort of freedom and adventure that characterised much of last season. A sizzling break from Allen got things moving and when the centre was again involved following a line-out, Balshaw and Lesley Vainikolo sustained a move before Lamb broke across the face of the Sarries defence and Simpson-Daniel picked out a lovely long pass for Allen to score on the outside.
Gloucester’s deficit had suddenly become and advantage and Lamb extended it to 19-14 with a penalty right on half-time.
The contest really broke up after the break and Saracens scored again when Kevin Sorrell scored close to the posts after a period of heavy pressure. Saracens were just about on top at this stage, they had dominated territory for long periods and asked plenty of questions up front but Gloucester regrouped and when Lamb picked off an ambitious pass from Ross 70 metres out, the Gloucester stand-off had the legs to go the distance, just getting to the line ahead of Scarbrough.
It put Gloucester ahead by a score at 26-21 and with 20 minutes remaining they scored again. Allen was heavily involved in the build-up, breaking down the left from Mike Prendergast’s pass before Gloucester’s heavy mob arrived to set up a ruck. With bodies pouring into the contact area, Narraway sensed his chanced brilliantly, picked up and broke through a gap to score behind the sticks.
Lamb’s conversion made it 33-21 but when Edd Thrower managed to take Tom Ryder’s pass after bumping through Lamb, the hosts were only five points behind with 15 minutes remaining.
However, Gloucester’s physicality levels never dropped and their intensity never wavered. Narraway, Hazell and Strokosch defended superbly against the likes of Kris Chesney, Hugh Vyvyan and Paul Gustard as Saracens responded again.
But it was Gloucester who scored the bonus point try when Hazell and Olivier Azam stole possession at a line-out, possession was recycled from a ruck and Balshaw and Leon Lloyd stuck Olly Morgan in at the corner.
There was still time for Saracens to kick a penalty and for Gloucester to lose Vainikolo to a neck injury that required lengthy treatment but it was Gloucester’s day again.
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| Saracens Team |
15. Dan Scarbrough 14. Rodd Penney 13. Kevin Sorrell 12. Adam Powell 11. Francisco Leonelli Morey 10. Gordon Ross 9. Neil De Kock 1. Nick Lloyd 2. Matt Cairns 3. Tom Mercey 4. Tom Ryder 5. Hugh Vyvyan 6. Kris Chesney 7. Richard Hill 8. Ben Skirving
16. Andy Kyriacou 17. Kevin Yates 18. Paul Gustard 19. David Seymour 20. Alan Dickens 21. Craig McMullen 22. Edd Thrower
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| Gloucester Rugby Team |
15. Iain Balshaw 14. James Simpson-Daniel 13. Leon Lloyd 12. Anthony Allen 11. Lesley Vainikolo 10. Ryan Lamb 9. Mike Prendergast 1. Nick Wood 2. Andy Titterrell 3. Carlos Nieto 4. Peter Buxton 5. Alex Brown 6. Alasdair Strokosch 7. Andy Hazell 8. Luke Narraway
16. Olivier Azam 17. Christian Califano 18. Jonathan Pendlebury 19. Adam Balding 20. Dave Lewis 21. Willie Walker 22. Olly Morgan
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| Scorecard |
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| Name | Tries | Conv | Pen Kicks | Drop Goals | Total Points |
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| Saracens |
| Kevin Sorrell | 1 | | | | 5 |
| Gordon Ross | | 2 | 4 | | 16 |
| Edd Thrower | 1 | | | | 5 |
| Adam Powell | 1 | | | | 5 |
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| Total | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 31 |
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| Gloucester Rugby |
| Luke Narraway | 1 | | | | 5 |
| Ryan Lamb | 1 | 3 | 4 | | 23 |
| Olly Morgan | 1 | | | | 5 |
| Anthony Allen | 1 | | | | 5 |
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| Total | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 38 |
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| First half timeline |
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| Minute | Team | Event | Player |
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| 4 | Gloucester Rugby | Penalty kick | R Lamb |
| 7 | Saracens | Penalty kick | G Ross |
| 11 | Saracens | Penalty kick | G Ross |
| 14 | Saracens | Try | A Powell |
| 14 | Saracens | Substitution | E Thrower on for D Scarbrough |
| 20 | Saracens | Penalty kick | G Ross |
| 23 | Gloucester Rugby | Penalty kick | R Lamb |
| 23 | Saracens | Substitution | D Scarbrough on for E Thrower |
| 26 | Gloucester Rugby | Yellow card | A Hazell |
| 32 | Gloucester Rugby | Penalty kick | R Lamb |
| 32 | Gloucester Rugby | Try | A Allen |
| 32 | Gloucester Rugby | Conversion | R Lamb |
| 37 | Saracens | Substitution | P Gustard on for B Skirving |
| 40 | Gloucester Rugby | Penalty kick | R Lamb |
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| Second half timeline |
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| Minute | Team | Event | Player |
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| 44 | Saracens | Substitution | K Yates on for N Lloyd |
| 46 | Saracens | Try | K Sorrell |
| 46 | Saracens | Conversion | G Ross |
| 52 | Gloucester Rugby | Try | R Lamb |
| 52 | Gloucester Rugby | Conversion | R Lamb |
| 53 | Gloucester Rugby | Substitution | O Azam on for A Titterrell |
| 54 | Saracens | Substitution | E Thrower on for K Sorrell |
| 57 | Gloucester Rugby | Substitution | O Morgan on for L Vainikolo |
| 60 | Gloucester Rugby | Try | L Narraway |
| 60 | Gloucester Rugby | Conversion | R Lamb |
| 65 | Saracens | Try | E Thrower |
| 65 | Saracens | Conversion | G Ross |
| 65 | Saracens | Substitution | D Seymour on for R Hill |
| 66 | Gloucester Rugby | Substitution | W Walker on for R Lamb |
| 69 | Gloucester Rugby | Try | O Morgan |
| 73 | Saracens | Substitution | C McMullen on for D Scarbrough |
| 77 | Saracens | Penalty kick | G Ross |
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