Jonny May’s red card for two deliberate knock-ons ultimately ensured this thrilling if error-riddled match ended in Saracens’ favour. The decisions over May’s transgressions – one in each half – appeared, to the letter of the law, the right ones but that did not stop the Leicester head coach, Matt O’Connor, calling for the relevant legislation to be revised.
“I would dearly love for the law-makers to look at it because it is never a red card,” said O’Connor, whose side have lost five in a row and face a trip to Exeter on New Year’s Eve. “It is tough but that is the way they are refereeing it and the way it is going.”
This was a chaotic if entertaining match, punctuated by repeated handling errors, an absorbing scrum tussle between Dan Cole and Mako Vunipola – won emphatically by the former – and the contrasting styles of George Ford and Owen Farrell, a battle edged by the latter.
Leicester were left to lament May’s knock-ons – the second coming when they were nine points down with 13 minutes remaining and ending any hopes of victory – and too many mistakes with ball in hand, not to mention their horribly sluggish start, having fallen 17-0 behind after 26 minutes. “[There are] no question marks about the result,” O’Connor said. “You can’t give Sarries 17 points and expect to pull it back.”
If this was a clash of two of England’s heavyweights, it was won by the team that could less afford to lose. Saracens are the two-times European champions and had lost seven on the spin – defeat here would have been their worst sequence in the professional era – but now they are up to second in the table.
“Like I kept saying, we didn’t think there was that much wrong,” the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, said. “I thought it was a confident display. We didn’t look like a team drained of confidence. I think we got what we deserved today.”
Saracens’ early dominance was such that they were 10 points and a man up before they had even made a tackle. May was sent to the sin-bin by the referee, Matt Carley, for his first deliberate knock‑on with Sean Maitland denied in the right corner. Saracens ought to have stretched their lead but poor final passes form Alex Goode and Chris Wyles proved costly.
May returned but Jamie George was next on the score sheet. Vunipola produced one of those pullback passes that are swiftly becoming a trademark, with Farrell the recipient. His quick hands freed George to thunder in under the posts. With Farrell also having added an earlier penalty, Saracens were 17-0 up and coasting.
The Tigers stirred, however, and responded through Mathew Tait after Adam Thompstone’s dextrous inside pass. Ford nailed the tricky conversion and the Welford Road faithful roused themselves. There had not been a Christmas Eve fixture here since 1927 and until that point they were doubtless hoping for a similar wait for the next. Ben Youngs’s neat grubber on his own 22 had the crowd on their feet. It led to a breathless passage of play – Farrell attempting to ignite a counterattack on Saracens’ left before Ford followed suit.
If England’s No9, 10 and 12 were sparkling, however, the man many wish to see back in the No13 jersey continues to show signs of rust. Manu Tuilagi’s first touch was a knock-on – it was not his last of those – and he was also penalised for crossing in the opening half.
He was blowing as hard as anyone when the half-time whistle went – a Ford penalty bringing Leicester to within seven before Farrell put Saracens back into a 10-point lead shortly after the restart, extending it soon after with a sweetly struck drop-goal.
Cue four Leicester scrums with Cole making mincemeat of Vunipola before Carley eventually awarded the penalty try. The Tigers were back to within six but again proved the masters of their own downfall, swiftly conceding a penalty which Farrell dispatched.
Then came May’s second transgression, the harsher of the two considering how close he was to Michael Rhodes when the Saracens replacement made the pass. To twist the knife, Farrell was on target again with the resulting penalty, and although Vunipola was shown a yellow card late on Saracens had by that stage made sure the rot had been stopped.
Leicester Tait (Malouf, 63); Thompstone, Tuilagi, Toomua, May; G Ford, B Youngs; Mulipola, T Youngs (capt; Polota-Nau, 62), Cole, Fitzgerald, Kitchener (Wells, 63), Mapapalangi, Williams (Hamilton, 63), Kalamafoni.
Tries Tait, penalty. Cons Ford. Pens Ford.
Sin-bin May 11. Sent off May 69.
Saracens Goode; Maitland, Bosch, Lozowski, Wyles (Barrington, 75); Farrell (capt), Spencer; Vunipola, George (Tolofua, 68), Figallo (Koch, 50), Skelton (Burger, 58), Kruis, Isiekwe, Clark (Rhodes, 62), Wray.
Tries Penalty, George. Con Farrell. Pens Farrell 4. Drop‑goal Farrell.
Sin-bin Vunipola 73.
Referee M Carley (Eng). Attendance 24,873.
