Sarries’ forward thinkers taking game to new level

DECISION-MAKING forwards allied to more lenient refereeing has led to a glut of Premiership try-scoring says Saracens back row Jackson Wray.

This season’s tally of 776 top-flight tries during the regular season outstrips the previous best of 750 since the league reverted to 12 teams in 1999-2000, with Saracens’ 89 five-pointers – an average of over four per game – equalling the record set by Wasps last year.

The figures are a far cry from 2009-10 when conservative Premiership sides produced just 427 tries between them at a paltry average of 3.23 per game.

Wray, right, said: “There have been a lot of big scores this season and we’ve been involved in a fair few of them.

“There’s a lot more focus on attack and the game’s come a long way. We’re doing stuff now we weren’t even thinking of before; the way we’re structured, the way every player now has a responsibility to make decisions is totally different.

“It’s not just a numbers nine and ten-based game where the rest are basically cogs. Forwards are being used more in decisionmaking and that, along with referees letting the attacking side away with a bit more, is producing more tries.”

Try-scoring has been no issue in recent weeks for Saracens, who head into this Saturday’s playoff semi-final at home to Wasps in prime form after winning their last five regular season league games by a combined scoreline of 241-56. Saracens notched 32 tries in seeing off Harlequins, Northampton, Bath, London Irish and Gloucester and, incredibly, scored 149 second-half points without reply in the last four of those matches after leading only narrowly at half-time.

Despite their fine form, Wray, 27, knows his side must start better against a Wasps outfit who possess one of the league’s most lethal attacks.

He said: “We haven’t started games as well as we’d like so that’s a big focus for us. We’re doing well at problem solving at half-time and second-halves have been really good for us, but come knock-out rugby that really sharpens the mind.

“Wasps are a very dangerous side if you give them any space so we need to be sharp from the off and go into the game flying. They love throwing the ball around and we’ll need to be ready to counter that and impose ourselves.”