SARACENS BLOW BLUES AWAY
Saracens turn on style after break:
CARDIFF Blues came away empty-handed in their European Champions Cup pool clash with Saracens, despite an impressive first-half performance at Allianz Park.
First-half scores from Blaine Scully and Matthew Morgan allowed them to dream of a European scalp, while Olly Robinson’s late score offered them the brief chance of at least a four-try bonus point. Ultimately, neither materialised. As intense and inspired as they were in the first-half, the Welsh region were jaded and stretched apart in the second.
Injuries and fatigue didn’t help their cause, nor a missed tackle count that got dangerously high in the second-half.
Their squad depth, or lack of, was made blindingly obvious by a team who can boast their fair share of internationals.
And Saracens ran in six secondhalf scores to turn the game on its head and then some.
It was obvious from the team selection that the Cardiff Blues had come here to play when they got the chance.
After all, Saracens Allianz Park pitch is a similar surface to the one at Cardiff Arms Park – where they play their brand of high-tempo rugby on a fast track.
And the early moments saw the region look to put some width on proceedings, with Gareth Anscombe and Jarrod Evans linking early in their new 10-12 partnership to create a half-break.
Yet, it would be Saracens who would strike first – almost as soon as they first touched the ball.
Owen Farrell found Brad Barritt on a flat ball. The England centre got his hands free and released midfield partner Alex Lozowski, who drew Morgan before putting Richard Wigglesworth over the opening try.
Such an early score could have broken John Mulvihill’s men, but they responded quickly.
Within seven minutes, they had a try of their own.
Only moments after Jamie George had menacingly broken through the Blues’ defence, the region turned the tables and were on the attack.
Winger Scully started the on-
slaught with a neat line from close range, so it was fitting he should finish it when the ball came back to his right wing.
And then the moment that made Allianz Park just stop and stare.
When Morgan fielded a Saracens clearance kick, the main threat was not being chewed up by the typically aggressive chase.
Yet the diminutive full-back skipped around the first man, before waltzing his way into space and past would-be tacklers to score.
It almost seemed to happen in slow-motion, but the end result was the Blues were in front.
And they kept their foot on the gas, immediately on the front foot from the resulting kick-off.
Another try didn’t come, but a penalty from the boot of Anscombe ticked the scoreboard over.
And that was how the rest of the scoring in the first-half went, with penalties from either Anscombe and Farrell the only additions to the scoreboard.
There were a few disallowed tries for the hosts, first Michael Rhodes having one chalked off after his boots grazed the touchline when latching onto Lozowski’s kick.
The other was for a blatant forward pass in the build-up to Lozowski crossing himself.
Disallowed tries aside, the Cardiff Blues had stifled and stood firm against the English juggernauts for 40 minutes and deserved their lead at the break.
They hoped it could last. It didn’t. The second-half was all one-way traffic.
The introduction of Ben Earl at half-time made an instant impact. The replacement stripped Lloyd Williams as he was preparing to clear his lines before being on hand moments later to convert the turnover into a try.
Minutes later, he had a second, picking off a tired, blind pass from Anscombe as Saracens were forcing the Blues attack backwards.
A third correctly disallowed try, one that denied Earls a 13-minute hat-trick, offered the Blues some respite, but it didn’t last long.
Scotland winger Sean Maitland was next to help himself to a brace after Blues flanker Robinson was sent to the bin.
His first saw him carry Morgan over the line after being put in space by a lofted Wigglesworth pass. His second saw him race away from the Blues’ helpless chase in a image that summed up the story of the secondhalf.
With the region tiring and falling off tackles, things just began to look a little too easy for the imperious hosts.
And the tries kept coming, with replacement scrum-half Ben Spencer wriggling over after sniping from a five-metre scrum.
Another replacement, front-rower Christian Judge, got himself on the scoresheet – taking a flat ball to stride over untouched.
With 10 minutes left and the 50-point mark already crossed, you started to worry what the final scoreline could end up being.
But, the hosts didn’t cross again. Instead, Robinson gave the Blues hope of a four-try bonus point after he reached out to score from a closerange burst.
They pushed for that fourth try right to the final whistle, but it proved elusive.