At the moment one can take one’s pick of Saracens players at the top of their game. If English rugby is suddenly thriving again now the choke grip of a home World Cup has been released, Saracens are the standard bearers. After this eight-try demolition of Oyonnax, featuring a hat-trick for Chris Ashton, they will enjoy their Christmas unbeaten at the top of the Premiership and unbeaten at the top of Pool One in Europe – 39 tries for, seven against. No wonder Eddie Jones has been watching.
Even then they were perfect. Where Bristol and Northampton railed at the way the RFU has gone about putting together a coaching panel for England, Saracens released their man, Paul Gustard, with no complaint and an outpouring of love and affection.
Among those players at the top of their game is Jamie George, Saracens’ powerful hooker, who gallivanted around against Oyonnax as if he were a three-quarter. And here is what he had to say on the news that Gustard would be joining England at the end of January.
“We’ve all got a huge amount of respect for Guzzy. All the work he’s done here is a huge part of what this club is. It’s very disappointing for us but we’re so happy for him. He massively deserves it. Defensively we’ve been one of the best teams consistently in the last six seasons of the Premiership. We’re renowned for our defence and Guzzy is the main part of that. I have no doubt he’ll have every success with England.”
George might have reason to be miffed with some of the mischief and rumour that has been following Jones round like a bad smell. The latest whispers have it that England’s new head coach is interested in Dylan Hartley as captain. George would be forgiven if he demanded to know just what he had to do to muscle past the hookers who always seem to be ahead of him in the national team’s pecking order despite his consistently superior form. But even here, like his club, he is immaculate.
“I’m pretty used to it,” he says with a shrug and a laugh. “I can’t worry about that. It’s completely out of my control. Nothing’s been announced yet. Dylan’s a great player but I’m happy with the way I’ve been playing. I’ve just got to make sure that I keep playing well and hopefully selection will come off the back of it.”
If he is good off the field George crowned his performance on it with a turn of pace for Saracens’ seventh try which compared with the one he scored in the Premiership final last season. Charlie Hodgson picked him out with a pass so perfect the Oyonnax midfield opened like a department store on Boxing Day. George galloped to the try line 30 metres away. “I blacked out, I think. It was a great pass from Charlie. I just closed my eyes, hoped for the best and managed to make it.”
That try, bringing up a 48-6 scoreline on the hour, set the stage for Ashton’s hat-trick score, claimed with four minutes remaining, but everyone was in on the carnival act. Supporters thought they saw a goose-step from Brad Barritt at one point; Mako Vunipola kept stepping in at fly-half with no noticeable disruption; Owen Farrell shimmied and ghosted as if he were Phil Bennett.
Farrell’s father, Andy, has made way for Gustard as England’s defence coach. Farrell Jr, though, has not been consoling the old man. “I don’t need to,” he said. “He’s a tough bloke. He takes it for what it is and he moves on.”
He may yet move on back to Saracens, to the role he left for his England job. “We’ve a very clear idea of what we’ll do,” said Mark McCall of how to replace Gustard, “but we think it right that we wait for that to be confirmed and share it with the players first.” A job at Saracens just now would feel very different from the one Farrell Sr has left behind.
Saracens Goode (Ransom, 50); Ashton, Taylor, Barritt (capt), Ellery; Farrell (Hodgson, 56), De Kock (Wigglesworth, 50); M Vunipola (Barrington, 50), Brits (George, 22), Du Plessis (Figallo, 50), Hamilton (Fraser, 64), Itoje (Rhodes, 56), Wray, Brown, Vunisa
Tries Ashton 3, Vunisa 2, Goode, Ellery, George. Cons Farrell 4, Hodgson 2. Pen Farrell
Oyonnax Denos (capt); Ikpefan, Bousses, Tawalo (Martin, 52), Vainikolo; Lespinas (Clegg, 53), Blanc (Aziza, 62); Delboulbes (Wright ,19), Maurouard, Clerc (Pungea, 48), Power, Fabbri, Ursache (Bordes, 66), Wannenburg, Faure (Ma’afu,50)
Try Vainikolo. Con Clegg. Pens Lespinas 2.
Referee G Clancy (Ireland). Att 9,207.
