Rugby union: Saracens stun Europe
Has there ever been a better European game, asked Sam Peters in The Mail on Sunday. It was possibly the greatest win in Saracens’ history. On Saturday, the London side won 31-23 against Toulon, a team that had lifted the European Champions Cup for three successive seasons until Saracens stole their crown in May. Before this group game, Toulon had never lost a single European tie at home – “it took a performance of the highest calibre to inflict it”. In the first half, in particular, Sarries “defied their unfounded reputation for playing stodgy rugby to produce something akin to the beautiful game”; by half-time, they led 25-6. It was the kind of victory that sends “shock waves through Europe”.
There were many performances to savour, said Steve James in The Daily Telegraph. In the front row, Mako Vunipola and Jamie George showed off their wonderful handling; Maro Itoje and Billy Vunipola played with their customary class. But most remarkable of all was Owen Farrell. The flyhalf was playing for the first time since June, following a series of injuries, yet he appeared anything but “rusty” as he scored 16 points and orchestrated the game. At times, Toulon were made to look like a pub team, said Paul Rees in The Guardian. This “expensive collection of players from around the world” resembled “all-sorts” rather than all-stars. At their best, last Saturday, Sarries had “a whiff of the All Blacks” about them, said Stuart Barnes in The Times. Like New Zealand, it is the “skills and continuity” of their front five forwards that really distinguishes them from the competition. Yet four of those forwards – George, Itoje, Mako Vunipola and George Kruis – are English, and there is no mistaking that, in their organisation and structure, Sarries are a “quintessentially English” team. Worryingly for their rivals, they are only getting better.