12 May 22, 2022The Sunday Times 2GS
Rugby Union Gallagher Premiership
1
when running in the broken field for
Saracens and the Samoan, Theo
McFarland, was so good on the flank
that he was honoured with his own
crowd chant after scoring two tries.
Northampton clearly have penetra-
tion in their packs, probably more
than their likely opponents in the
semi-finals, Leicester Tigers. Saints
play Newcastle Falcons at home in
their final game. A win would be
enough to condemn Gloucester to
fifth place.
Saracens had Owen Farrell back
and in majestic form at fly half and
they clearly recovered well from their
bizarre experience in defeat in Toulon
last weekend. When they were them-
selves yesterday, they were almost as
impressive as they have ever been.
Otherwise, not so good.There was something utterly
relentless about Saracens in the open-
ing stages of this game because they
forced four driving mauls near the
Northampton line, they created two
or three chances and every time
Northampton had a sniff of the oppo-
sition line, they were rocked back in
the tackle. Not only that but as the half
wore on, Northampton were reducedT
he basketball nature of the
final scoreline should not
persuade anyone that Sara-
cens will not be deadly dan-
gerous in the semi-finals of
the Gallagher Premiership,
because when this game was
in the melting pot at the start
of the second half, Saracens crushed
Northampton Saints’ aspirations
wholesale. It was only when all their
replacements were on at the end and,
surprisingly, they stopped concen-
trating that Northampton came back
with three late tries.
The day also emphasised that
Sarries have two more crowd-pleas-
ers. Rotimi Segun was breathtakingRELENTLESS
SARACENS HIT
THEIR STRIDE
Harlequins’
comeback
kings ready
for another
grand finale
visitors, needing victory to keep
them in contention for the top four,
were the only team in the first half.
Despite an initial spell of pressure
there was nothing mighty about this
Quin collective for the first half.
Gloucester lost a couple of their
lineouts in the opening three minutes
but Freddie Clarke caught the one
that mattered in the 12th, which led
to the opening try.
The second row took a throw to
the tail and from close range, Ben
Morgan thundered over. A
ridiculously reckless pass from Ruan
Ackermann in his 22 enabled Alex
Dombrandt to level the scores.
That was to be the only error from
a turbo-charged Gloucester back row
in a half where Harlequins were
hammered at the breakdown by a
combination of aggressive targeting
of the ruck and Craig Maxwell-Keys’s
whistle. Occasionally the referee wasWhen Adam Hastings struck a snap
dropped goal to give Gloucester a
24-7 lead after 33 minutes,
Harlequins, the “home team” at
Twickenham, found themselves in
the sort of territory in which they
thrived this time last season. Who
will forget that comeback against
Bristol in the play-off semi-final at
Ashton Gate?
But that seemed to be then. In the
“now” of the “Big Summer Kick-Off ”
it was Gloucester who were playing
with all the purpose in a forgettable
first 40 minutes from the champions’
perspective. The West CountryStuart Barnes
Twickenhamlenient as Gloucester failed to
support their weight but overall it
was a demolition job at contact. The
early appearance of Joe Marler after
22 minutes was testimony to
Harlequins’ problems up front.
Two minutes before Marler
entered the fray, Gloucester had
scored their second try with the long-
striding Argentinian, Santiago
Carreras, finding a gap near the
breakdown. He passed inside to
Clarke who strode imperiously to the
line. He was having himself a summer
ball. As were his mates.
Lewis Ludlow, setting the
standards for his men, made a 31st-
minute break, carrying the ball in
two hands to fix the defenders before
his excellent pass sent Chris Harris
over for a third Gloucester try and a
Hastings dropped goal rounded off a
wonderful first 40 minutes for
George Skivington’s team.Stephen Jones
Allianz Park‘Saracens had Owen
Farrell back and in
majestic form and
they recovered
well from their
defeat in Toulon’HARLEQUINS 28
GLOUCESTER 24
A last-gasp Ruhan Nel try denied
Scarlets a place in next season’s
Heineken Champions Cup, in a
thrilling United Rugby
Championship (URC) clash with
Stormers in Llanelli. The South
Africans won 26-21 to book a
home quarter-final. There was
also disappointment for Dragons
who finished the URC season
without a home win as they lost
21-11 to Lions. Glasgow’s 28-11
defeat by rivals Edinburgh means
they will play Challenge Cup
rugby next season and will face
Leinster, who beat Munster, in the
URC quarter-finals.SCARLETS MISS OUT
ON CHAMPIONS CUP4238
SARACENS N’HAMPTON
SAINTS2
3
MCFARLAND’S ACROBATIC SHOW
On the hour mark, Theo McFarland intercepted a pass and ran it
back 60 metres. Fraser Dingwall went to tackle him (1), but the
Saracens flanker leapt in the air (2) to finish the try in style (3)