Cardiff forced to bow down to Earl
IN A team of star names, Ben Earl’s is not yet up in lights but yesterday the 20-year-old back-row was the man who turned a Heineken Cup struggle for Saracens into an eventual romp with two tries in two minutes after his arrival off the bench.
Earl, who toured South Africa with England in the summer, came on as a substitute in the 42nd minute with a frisky Cardiff Blues side 18-13 up and dreaming of inflicting a first defeat of the season on Saracens.
What followed, in front of England coach Eddie Jones, was a super-sub contribution of some distinction.
In the 45th minute Earl went over for the try that levelled the scores after initially turning over possession by sacking the Blues scrum-half Lewis Jones.
Then, in the 47th minute, he picked off Wales fly-half Gareth Anscombe’s pass and raced in unopposed for the score that gave Saracens a lead they went on to stretch in ruthless fashion as they finished with seven tries.
The English champions move back to the top of Pool Three, flying the flag for the Premiership in Europe once again.
“I gave away a penalty with my first touch but the next two were more positive. I was just in the right place at the right time to get two tries,” said Earl.
“People talk about the bench as game changers these days and we spoke as a unit about when we come on making a difference and bringing impetus. That’s the point of substitutions – bringing a lift to the pitch.
“We didn’t work as hard as we should have done in the first half but at least we had another 40 minutes to make amends.
“The second half was closer to the real Saracens but there’s still a huge amount left in us. That’s the most exciting thing. We’ve got quite a good result on the scoreline without playing close to what we’re capable of.”
For the Blues, it was an ultimately fruitless outcome to a game they had contributed so much to in the first half.
After leaking an early try to Richard Wigglesworth, last season’s Challenge Cup winners shocked Saracens with a nicely worked team try for wing Blaine Scully and a blinding individual score from full-back Matthew Morgan, who collected a high ball on his 22 and left scorch marks across the artificial turf to run in the try.
For a team with nine first-team players missing, a half-time lead was some achievement for the Blues but, playing with the wind after the break, Saracens were a totally different proposition.
After Earl’s double intervention, Sean Maitland, right, also struck twice with the Blues short-handed through the sin-binning of Olly Robinson, and even the return of the flanker could not stop the flow.
Ben Spencer and prop Christian Judge, making his European debut on loan from Cornish Pirates, crossed as well and with Owen Farrell kicking 16 points, the Blues – for whom Robinson’s late score was an irrelevance – were banished.
There could even have been more for Saracens had referee Romain Poite not ruled out three other tries after talking to the Television Match Official.
Another positive for a Saracens side without the injured Maro Itoje for between four and eight weeks was the safe return of Mako Vunipola after two months out with a performance that won him the man-of-the-match award. The England prop looked like his rumbustious self, steamrollering Anscombe with the most eye-catching of his 13 carries in a satisfying 59 minutes on the field. “I’m not sure how I got man of the match. I was just thankful to get through the game injury-free,” he said. “It’s never nice missing games – you want to be playing every game. I’m worse watching than I am playing and my family are happy I’m back playing, so I’m not moaning too much.”