Glasgow hoped for a repeat of the Calcutta Cup and so it turned out, just not the one they had yearned for. Rather than the Scottish revival at Twickenham earlier this month when the visitors recovered from 31-0 down to lead before being held to a draw, their second defeat here in three months resembled 2017, when England cut loose at HQ.
Scotland’s wait for a European Cup semi-finalist goes on. Glasgow were ahead after 70 seconds with a well crafted try from a lineout but after that were caught in Saracens’ vice-like grip, starved of the ball and making basic mistakes under pressure. Even their one strength in the opening period, the scrum, turned into a weakness.
Saracens dominated in two key areas: the air and the gainline. After Stuart Hogg had created the game’s opening try in his first match since suffering a shoulder injury in the second round of the Six Nations, Saracens used the box-kicking of Ben Spencer to first take control and then the lead.
Glasgow’s left-wing, Rory Hughes, had provided the scoring pass to Ali Price for the try, but he was the target of the home side’s aerial strategy.
Hughes was tackled into touch after catching one kick and dropped the next two under pressure from chasers. The mistakes gave Saracens position and, in contrast, Hogg twice missed when kicking a penalty to touch and put two restarts out on the full. Glasgow’s looseness contrasted with the home side’s precision, summed up in their equalising try after four minutes when Alex Goode’s hanging kick towards Glasgow’s posts saw Liam Williams rise higher than Adam Hastings to grasp the ball and score.
The other difference was the way the sides attacked. Saracens, who lost their fly-half Owen Farrell on the morning of the match after his wife went into labour, stood flat and used Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Brad Barritt to get over the gainline and in behind the defence. Glasgow, in contrast, stood deeper at rucks, looking to bring in runners from deep and draw out the sting out of their opponents’ blitz defence.
Instead, they were rushed into passing, culminating in David Strettle’s interception try 16 minutes into the second half which squashed any notions of a comeback, and played most of the match in their own half, spinning round in ever diminishing circles. Saracens may have been without their leading half-backs but their control was absolute. Spencer, playing in front of the England head coach, Eddie Jones, was a model of accuracy, wrecking Hughes’s afternoon, while Goode was alert to every opportunity. One of the mysteries of Jones’s England reign is why Goode, a full-back usually, has been excommunicated.
Goode lightens Saracens’ hue, his impish approach complementing the directness of Barritt who was helped from the field in the final minute with an ankle injury, not long after the Glasgow second-row Tim Swinson suffered a similar injury as he twisted on the artificial surface. The semi-final date with Munster in Coventry, the sixth time in seven seasons that Saracens have reached the last four, had long been secured but fears over how long the club’s captain will be out for ended the sunniest of days in cloud.
Barritt had been instrumental in his side’s taking control of the game after Alex Lozowski’s 15th-minute penalty had given them the lead. It was Barritt’s sucking in of defenders that provided Strettle with space on the right, assisted by the hands of George whose alertness in the loose added to Glasgow’s discomfiture.
Barritt scored Saracens’ third try, finishing a move he started, and although two Hastings penalties gave Glasgow something to take into the dressing room at the break, 22-13 down, the second period was even more one-sided. Two Lozowski penalties and Williams’s second try after Goode’s long pass were followed by Strettle picking off Stafford McDowall’s ill-advised pass.
Glasgow had reached desperation point by then. George finished off a lineout drive and, after George Horne had supported a Hogg breakout, Nick Tompkins took his side’s score over the half-century after yet another Barritt carry. Glasgow had the final word through Matt Fagerson, but their third defeat to Saracens this season was the most emphatic, all but a nonevent. England may be seen to have issues when it comes to handling the big occasion but the same players in a Saracens jersey lack nothing in assurance as they march towards another European final.
