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Saracens 24-17 Northampton Saracens 24-17 NorthamptonNorthampton may yet emerge as the English club with most to offer when the Heineken Cup starts next month but the Saints marched straight into a cul-de-sac in Watford today. Saracens were the only Premiership side to win at Franklin's Gardens last season and they got right under the Midlands side's skin again here, curtailing the visitors' unbeaten record with a highly effective display of no-frills, wet-weather rugby.When the ball is dry and they are on the front foot Northampton are a growing force but on a cold and damp afternoon Sarries reacted significantly better to the first hint of winter. In Derick Hougaard they had the surest of executioners, the sure-footed South African fly-half kicking seven penalties and a drop goal to profit from the referee Dave Pearson's impatience and reward the home pack's sterling efforts.Given that Pearson caused the kick-off to be put back by five minutes, after being delayed on the motorway, it might have suited Northampton better had he never arrived. Jim Mallinder, the Saints' director of rugby, called the 44-year-old official's performance "disappointing" and claimed that neither of the costly yellow cards shown to Calum Clark and Shane Geraghty should have been awarded."I thought Calum Clark just came through and tackled their scrum-half legally," he said. "Geraghty tried to roll away having made a tackle and there wasn't anything cynical about it. It was a penalty at best."The dismay on the Saints' bench was such that Mallinder's assistant, Dorian West, tried to remonstrate with Pearson at half-time, by which time the game had slipped out of Northampton's control. The Saracens director of rugby, Brendan Venter, saw things very differently, going out of his way to praise last year's Premiership final referee as one of the best around."If you analyse his performance properly you will see he is right with 90% of his decisions," Venter said. "He's refereeing the directives that have been given to him."The truth, as ever, will be picked over on tape this week but Northampton, ultimately, will realise they fell below the standards to which they now aspire. For the first 20 minutes everything seemed fine: Geraghty's tactical kicking was posing problems for the Saracens full-back, Nils Mordt, and the home scrum was creaking like an old door. Venter reckoned his team's initial tactical mindset was not quite right, having trained all week in the dry, but they re-adjusted cleverly, helped by the arrival of Petrus du Plessis and Schalk Brits at the interval. Even the powerful prop Soane Tonga'uiha, who caused a fuss last season by opting to stay at Franklin's Gardens after negotiating a move to Sarries, had no answer."It's one of the strengths of our team that our bench is strong," said Venter. He also delivered his weekly sermon of praise for the erstwhile England captain Steve Borthwick, who looks fit and motivated after his relegation from Martin Johnson's 32-man elite squad. The telescopic arm which reached back to snuff out a promising move initiated by Ben Foden as Northampton started to mount a second-half comeback was typical of his influence and Venter remains suitably grateful. "I can't tell you how valuable it is having Steve Borthwick fit and healthy and playing for us again," he said.It was Hougaard's boot which had the most telling impact, hoisting the home side up to fourth in the table and giving the injured Alex Goode food for thought. The former Springbok delivers some of the most teasingly high restarts in the game and he gave a flawless display off the tee, punishing offences both real and imaginary. Saints had been all but chewed up and spat out by the time they launched a late comeback, Paul Diggin diving over with just 47 seconds of normal time remaining to rescue a bonus point.It was a far cry from the grandeur of their ruthless home thrashing of Bath and Geraghty, among others, had a distinctly mixed game. Mallinder is not about to panic – "We're a good side, we're not going to get too down about it" – but a modest crowd for the big game of the weekend was another worrying sign for the Premiership as a whole. "Crowds are definitely not good," said the Saracens chairman, Nigel Wray. For as long as his club continue to play in crumbling, passion-killing surroundings they will struggle to woo floating voters, regardless of the weather.Saracens Mordt (M Tagicakibau, h-t); Strettle, Ratuvou, Barritt, Wyles; Hougaard, De Kock (Wigglesworth, 51); Carstens (Parr, 75), Reynecke (Brits, h-t), Nieto (Du Plessis, 51), Borthwick (capt), Botha (Smith, 65), Brown, Burger, Joubert.Pens Hougaard 7 Drop goal Hougaard.Northampton Foden; Diggin, Ansbro (Clarke, 73), Downey, Reihana; Geraghty (Myler, 68), Dickson; Tonga'uiha, Hartley (capt), Mujati, Sorenson (Wilson, 62), Day, Clark, Wood (Easter, 72), Dowson.Try Diggin Pens Geraghty 4.Sin-bin Clark 30, Geraghty 58.Referee D Pearson (Northumberland). Attendance 8,567.PremiershipSaracensNorthamptonRugby unionRobert Kitsonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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Maui Invitational announces loaded field for 2011, expands to mainland The 2011 EA Sports Maui Invitational will have its usual impressive field and four more teams. Next year's tournament will feature defending ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Leicester 21-15 Bath Leicester Tigers 21-15 BathNo Moody for Bath, just the familiar blues in the lair of the Tigers.Torrential rain in the opening half helped defences dominate on an afternoon that showed, ahead of next month's internationals, that England's foundation is not as solid as some would hope.Neither team was able to rise above the conditions and conjure a try. It was not that, in Leicester's case, ambition was dampened, merely that skills were washed away. Bath, who have won once at Welford Road in the Premiership, in 2003, played with none of their usual flamboyance, eschewing risk for caution, and got the bonus point that was their minimum aim. They had a chance to snatch victory at the end, maintaining possession for two minutes in the home 22 after the countdown clock had reached zero, but they were comfortably repulsed.If the England captain, Lewis Moody, was denied a quick return to the place he called home for 12 years, Sam Vesty lined up at outside-half for the visitors five months after leaving the Tigers in frustration at rarely making the bench, let alone the starting line-up.Vesty did nothing to make the Leicester director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, regret the loss. His mistakes at the start of each half ultimately proved the difference: in the first minute his kick from his own 22 went dead and provided the scrum from which Toby Flood dropped a goal, albeit scruffily.In the second half, Leicester were given an immediate opportunity to improve their 12-6 interval lead when Vesty flopped on the wrong side of a ruck and stayed there. His miserable return was encapsulated in an attempted drop goal at the end of the first half: all he succeeded in dropping was the ball.Olly Barkley missed six points with the boot in the final minutes of the first half, penalties from 45 and 40 metres off target as he lost his footing in the wet. Otherwise, he and Flood rose above the conditions, the latter kicking six penalties out of six in confirming his return to fitness after a knee injury.Flood would like to play for Leicester at Gloucester Saturday to give him more match time ahead of England's meeting with New Zealand on 6 November but he is likely to be kept with the national squad. Moody, though, will play for Bath at Harlequins next Sunday, one month after injuring his left eye.The Leicester prop Boris Stankovich suffered a suspected fractured eye socket five minutes into the game. Bath had already had to change their tight-head, David Wilson, who suffered a back strain during the warm-up.Then came the rain, drizzle followed by a deluge. Leicester were six points to the good at the time and tried to carry on playing. It turned into a right carry-on. Errors and whistle abounded and Bath settled into a kicking, territory-based game.Leicester did not help themselves. When Geordan Murphy held on to a high kick, Alesana Tuilagi stood and watched as Bath forwards swarmed over the Leicester captain, who was penalised for holding on, presenting Barkley with the first of his five penalties. When the same thing happened 30 minutes later, Tuilagi got stuck in, but only to the extent of forming a bridge.It was a day when it helped to be in front. Barkley's misses stopped Bath going into the interval level and, at 18-6 down after 50 minutes, even a bonus point looked beyond them.Leicester carried on giving away stupid penalties but for the watching England manager, Martin Johnson, there would have been a familiar feeling: why do English teams, unlike most New Zealand ones, lose their attacking skills in the wet?Leicester Murphy (capt); Hamilton, Smith, Allen, A Tuilagi; Flood, Youngs; Stankovich (Ayerza 5), Chuter, Cole (Castrogiovanni 56), Slater, Skivington, Croft, Newby (Woods 78), WaldromPens Flood 6 Drop goal FloodBath Abendanon; Carraro, Hape, Barkley, Banahan; Vesty, Claassens (McMillan 70); Flatman (Catt 69), Dixon, Wilson, Hooper, Fernández Lobbe (Skirving 76), Beattie, Watson (capt), TaylorPens Barkley 5Welford Road 21,194Referee Andrew SmallMatch rating 5/10LeicesterBathRugby unionPremiershipPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |