KING GEORGE
Hat-trick puts Sarries on top and piles the pressure on Hartley
JAMIE GEORGE has still not started an England Test match, something that seems more incredible by the week. Here the Sarries hooker scored a hat-trick, two from driving mauls and one gallop through midfield, to heap pressure on Dylan Hartley and Eddie Jones.
Three Tests for the Lions in New Zealand this summer are hiss only international starts. He must surely become England’s No 2 soon. His boss Mark McCall is surprised Jones does not see George as first-choice but believes a Champions Cup showdown with Hartley will be his chance to stake his claim.
‘The next couple of weeks are going to be important for him to get himself into Eddie’s mind,’ said McCall. ‘We aree playing Northampton next week and Dylan Hartley will be starting so that will be impor- tant for Jamie.’
Saracens’ victory moves them m top of the table. Wasps’ fourr consecutive losses is their worst t run for three-and-a-half years s and sees them languishing in 10th. Owen Farrell withdrew before kick-off with a calf injury, y, though Saracens said it wass merely precautionary with bigg European games next. His s understudy Alex Lozowski ki hit 18 points.
On this evidence only the north Londoners, now with 18 Premiership wins in a row at Allianz Park, look ready to attack the continent. Given how porous Wasps’ defence was, it was amazing they trailed by only 11 points at half-time.
Saracens could have banked the bonus point by then, but scored only twice despite breaking the gainline with alarming ease.
Their first came when Alex Goode dinked a cute kick behind Marcus Watson and Chris Wyles ran past the Olympian to touch down.
Then the American turned provider. Willie le Roux went off his feet at a ruck and, while Wasps were napping, Wyles tapped the penalty and put George steaming through a gaping hole to score.
At least Wasps managed to stop Saracens scoring twice more in the space of a minute. First Thomas Young turned the ball over in a ruck after Marcelo Bosch and George Kruis had sauntered through defensive holes.
Then tighthead prop Juan Figallo, of all people, stepped through another chasm before feeding Mako Vunipola, but the England man contrived to lose the ball in contact.
Josh Bassett brought Wasps’ buzz back when he broke down the left and kicked on. From the lineout Jack Willis claimed and the maul rumbled over, with Irishman Marty Moore scoring his first try in the Premiership to make the scoreboard smile more kindly on the visitors than it should have done at the break. Ten minutes
after reflectedThat the was Saracens’ resumption,after two superiority. penaltiesit truly from Lozowski and George’s second converted try from an 11-man maul. His third was identical. Catch, drive, George over. That was his final act — quite a 67-minute showing.
Willis and Bassett grabbed consolation scores, Rob Miller converting only the former, but Wasps were well beaten.
Their director of rugby Dai Young had 15 men unavailable for this game but refused to blame injuries. Wasps now go to Belfast to play Ulster on Friday night and Young said: ‘ When your luck’s down, everyone is running up to kick you in the nuts.’