For the first time in three years, Saracens are back in the latter stages of the Champions Cup. If they are to add to the three titles they secured in the 2010s, they will have to do it the hard way – with a quarter-final at the home of the champions La Rochelle on Easter Sunday.
They were hardly at their best here in seeing off a feisty Ospreys challenge, but an opportunist try by Duncan Taylor, with the replacement centre’s first touch, broke the back of a match the visitors had led for the most part. Saracens have already confirmed a home playoff in the Premiership, such has been their form, but as notable as any characteristic in the panoply of their qualities is the ability to secure a result when they are a little off.
Which is to make it sound as if this was a far less compelling match than it was. That owed much to the Ospreys’ energy and muscularity. And Saracens, even if they struggled to find their rhythm, were constantly trying to, swinging the ball this way and that with those wicked loops and misdirections. It’s just that they kept dropping the ball.
They suffered for it on the scoreboard. In a first half that was something of a triumph – well, apart from his yellow card before the break – for the young centre Keiran Williams, Ospreys rattled their hosts, taking a 14-3 lead midway through it. We would hardly be the first to compare Williams to Scott Gibbs, but he can never have looked so barrel-chested and explosive than when he burst through Saracens’ defence in the 11th minute to set up the first try of the match, for Mike Collins.
That was more or less the Ospreys’ first attack, Owen Farrell having kicked Saracens into an early 3-0 lead with a successful penalty at his second attempt. Morgan Morris paved the way for Williams in similarly barrel-chested and explosive a style, and a few minutes later his Kiwi mate in the back row, Ethan Roots, rattled Saracens with a big tackle – and Ospreys were away again.
Friday 7 April
1. Leinster Rugby v Leicester Tigers (8pm, all times BST)
Saturday 8 April
2. Toulouse v Sharks (4pm)
3. Exeter Chiefs v Stormers (5.30pm)
Sunday 9 April
4. La Rochelle v Saracens (4pm)
Semi-finals
Winner 1 v Winner 2
Winner 3 v Winner 4.
Nicky Smith continued the barrel-chested theme and supplied the more elegant Justin Tipuric. A brilliant tackle by Ben Earl scythed him down just short, but Owen Williams bounced a pass to his namesake Kieran, who scored in the corner.
But Saracens kept coming. Almost inevitably they scored their first try on the cusp of half-time, just when it matters. Williams saw yellow before it, not releasing after stopping Earl’s break. Farrell had just pulled back a further three points, but he sent this penalty to the corner. Just as Ospreys had seemed to survive, they turned the ball over at their own scrum, under pressure throughout, and Max Malins managed to scramble over through three defenders out wide to cut Ospreys’ lead to a point at the break.
The Ospreys were not done, two Owen Williams penalties in the third quarter taking them a converted try clear, but Saracens had that try before the quarter was out. It is players of the class of Malins that elevate them above most teams. He came round to the blindside to help work another of those, Alex Goode, who chipped ahead. Andy Christie was on to it, and his inside ball sent Malins away for his second.
The inevitable unfolded in the final quarter. Farrell’s third penalty moved Saracens ahead for the first time since the early minutes, before a catastrophic couple of lineouts did for the visitors. Maro Itoje rose highest to snatch the first for Saracens. Malins improvised a volley ahead, which rolled into touch, and when Rhys Webb went to take a quick throw-in Taylor anticipated to pluck it out of the air and run to the posts.
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However off they were, the prospect of Saracens surrendering a 10-point lead in the last 10 minutes at home is next to inconceivable. When Tom Wolstencroft finished a driven lineout in the last minute, there was a gloss to the final score that hardly reflected the foregoing.
Saracens will live with that. “Games at this level against good teams like the Ospreys,” said Mark McCall, “don’t always go your way. We ended up relishing the battle. You’ve got to relish it. There’s going to be one next weekend, which is very exciting for us. To go to a place we’ve never been to, against the champions …”
