Russell piles on misery for weakened champions
It was surreal to see and hear the Saracens players dejectedly troop off the field as hosts Racing ran away as four-try bonus-point winners.
AC/DC’S Highway to Hell was blaring through the roofed stadium, while an elaborate light show, including a circle of stars bearing a strikingly similar appearance to the European Union flag, was projected on to the pitch. Perhaps, the joke was centred around Brexit, but based on the defending champions’ lacklustre performance, it looks as though Mark Mccall’s men will endure a hellish journey in the Heineken Champions Cup after their first loss in the competition since the 2018 quarterfinal against Leinster.
If they decide not to appeal against their Premiership points deduction, they will field a less than full strength side in Europe to focus their wealth of England international riches on domestic top-flight survival. And if this was the beginning of a new era for Saracens in Europe, the signs are ominous.
The only players from England’s run to the World Cup final to start were hooker Jack Singleton, newly arrived from Worcester Warriors, and scrum-half Ben Spencer, who was flown to Japan in the build-up to the final. Without the experience of captain and fly-half Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Mako and Billy Vunipola, Saracens looked callow and at times naive, particularly around the line-out.
Mccall, the director of rugby, said: “They came at us in waves in the first 20 minutes and we weren’t able to control the speed of their ball. We were up against it the whole game; it was impossible to get anything to hang our hat on.”
It was little surprise that Racing, despite sitting 10th in the Top 14, dominated from the start. The Parisians’ nine-10 axis of France’s Maxime Machenaud and Scotland’s Finn Russell controlled the game
Tight grip: Prop Titi Lamositele tackles Racing 92 fly-half Finn Russell and their experience smothered Manu Vunipola’s attempts to get a foothold. Hooker Camille Chat and flanker Wenceslas Lauret, who stood out in France’s World Cup campaign, were key in undermining Saracens’ set-piece efforts.
Virimi Vakatawa, another strong contributor to France’s run to the quarter-finals, scored the opening try after he easily cut through the Saracens midfield after 10 minutes.
By the 27th minute, when wing Teddy Thomas ran in at the corner, the Londoners were on the ropes. The players looked nervy and disassociated at times, but could be excused considering the off-field drama. But Jackson Wray, captaining the side on his 50th European performance for the club, said his side were not in any way splintered.
“I haven’t seen an inch of divide. Not one,” the back row insisted. “Obviously, there were emotional roller coasters going on last week, but in terms of player-to-player, player-to-coach, not one divide. We’ve always been in everything together, through good times and bad times. This is an opportunity for us to come together even more.
“You don’t grow an environment that we have overnight. It’s taken 10 years, it has taken wins, losses and it has taken everything you’ve seen. The common theme is the core players have been there throughout that. The likelihood is that other teams may fracture, but our vision as a club hasn’t changed.”
This spirit of togetherness came to light early in the second half and, just after 50 minutes, Saracens reduced the gap to eight points as Alex Lozowski crossed off the back of some savvy work from centre partner Nick Tompkins, who had snatched the ball from Racing. Full-back Matt Gallagher also impressed on the counter-attack.
Yet that was to be as good as it got as, shortly afterwards, Racing had their third try following an immaculately timed dummy from Russell. The bonus point was secured just after the hour mark as Lauret scurried over after yet another Racing line-out win.
To compound Saracens’ difficult evening, replacement scrum-half Tom Whiteley was sent to the sin-bin for the final six minutes.