Wigglesworth keeps indomitable Saracens on course after Carre shown early red card
The champions’ spirit will not be crushed. Reduced to 14 men after Rhys Carre’s fifth-minute red card, a secondstring Saracens team ground out the win needed to keep their European defence alive. An impressive performance in any circumstances, but all the more so in a week in which they conceded they would have to release several players to stay within Premiership Rugby’s salary cap for this season.
It was one of those touted sacrificial lambs, Richard Wigglesworth, who steered Saracens to victory. The scrumhalf controlled the game for his side in the second half and provided their only try with a box-kick expertly plucked out of the air by wing Alex Lewington.
The rest of their points came from half-back partner Manu Vunipola, whose authority and calmness are staggering for a 19-year-old.
“We were down to 14 men for the whole match really,” said Mark McCall, the director of rugby. “To problemsolve the way the players did on the field all the way through the game was outstanding. Our senior players, Jackson Wray, Richard Wigglesworth, George Kruis were magnificent and coming up with right answers to some of the problems that we were posed.
“Our younger players listened to what they said and got stuck in and displayed an incredible amount of energy. Today was all about togetherness and listening to the senior players and doing it for each other. The performance spoke volumes.”
The caveat is that this is the Ospreys, a team on a run of 12 defeats who had nothing to play for apart from pride.
Yet with second-row Alun Wyn Jones playing his first club match of the season, that pride burnt fiercely for the first time in months at the Liberty Stadium. The Wales captain, who seems to be composed of at least 20 per cent strapping tape, lasted 64 minutes, producing a performance full of grunt and one Fijian-style offload.
If that augurs well for Wayne Pivac, then the watching Wales head coach must have also noticed the spark of full-back Dan Evans, who scored two excellent tries during a period in which Saracens were down to 13 men after Calum Clark was sent to the sin-bin in the 34th minute. Fleet-heeled wing Luke Morgan caught the eye, too.
Once back to 14 men, Saracens suffocated Ospreys. While it was far from their A team, the fact McCall can bring a World Cup-winning tighthead in Vincent Koch off the bench demonstrates the ridiculous depth in their squad.
Turning the screw at the scrum and maul, Saracens relied upon Wigglesworth to keep Ospreys pinned inside their own 22, negating any numerical superiority. “Amazing,” McCall said of his scrum-half. “He is 36 years old. In a situation like that, you need to have somebody with that kind of experience to play the game at the pace you need to play it at with 14 men.”
The frustration will be they were unable to claim a bonus point that would have made their task of qualifying for the quarter-finals significantly easier. Beating Racing 92 at Allianz Park next Sunday should still secure one of the three best runners-up places.
Yet the notion they would rack up four tries was rendered impossible once Carre’s shoulder made contact with the jaw of full-back Evans. Nick Isiekwe’s initial tackle made it near impossible for Carre to wrap his arms, but under the letter of the law referee Alexandre Ruiz had little choice but to show the red card.
Even with the man disadvantage,
Vunipola was able to kick Saracens ahead 12-3 in swirling, sodden conditions. Ruiz, who earlier earned a spotter’s badge for penalising Ospreys players being in front of the restart, then noted Clark cynically playing the ball on the floor. A yellow card followed and Saracens’ task became significantly harder.
Ospreys almost immediately took advantage. After mauling their way to within inches of the Saracens line, flyhalf Luke Price threw a perfect flat pass for Evans to run on to and glide past Alex Lozowski’s tackle.
With Clark still in the bin, Ospreys then took the lead early in the second half. Morgan flew down the left and after the forwards took it on, the same combination for the first try struck as Price fed Evans.
Restored to 14 men, Saracens took a vice-like grip of the match. Koch made an instant impression at the scrum. So too did second-row Joel Kpoku, who bounced Ospreys tacklers out of the way with impunity. Their only try came from a Wigglesworth box-kick that was claimed by Lewington above Shaun Venter’s head for an easy run-in.
Vunipola’s fifth penalty in the 68th minute took Saracens seven points clear and they closed out the game without any more scares. McCall hinted they would be fully loaded against Racing, but he will need more of this team spirit.