It was probably as well that the England captain, Dylan Hartley, missed the latest bout between the two Premiership rivals with a back strain. Both clubs are bracing themselves for disciplinary calls on Monday, with the citing commissioner Mike Rafter as busy after the match as the respective medical teams.
He was viewing footage of a first-half incident involving the Saracens wing Chris Ashton and the Northampton prop Alex Waller, who claimed to the referee, Greg Garner, that he had been bitten on the hand having placed it across Ashton’s face.
Waller was sent to the sin-bin in the second half for driving the home hooker Jamie George to the ground off the ball. George had to break his fall with his hand, having pulled Waller out of a ruck: the prop would have seen red had Garner ruled that the head contact he made with George subsequently was voluntary, deciding instead that the movement was a consequence of his being held by the neck.
Rafter may decide otherwise: Hartley missed the World Cup last year after being cited, and subsequently banned, for an incident during the play-off match with Saracens at Franklin’s Gardens when he touched heads with George with little force.
Games between Northampton and Saracens are coming to make the east Midlands derby look like a scouts’ outing. This was as physical as the club game gets, the Saints on top until Waller’s yellow card, having done to Sarries what they like to do to others: suffocating them with a blanket defence and targeting the ball.
They were 12-9 ahead when Waller went off but conceded a try immediately, scored by George, and the home side did what they should have with the wind and played for position, keeping the game tight and giving nothing away. The Saints’ woe was compounded by a head injury to their England centre Luther Burrell, who mistimed a tackle on Brad Barritt and appeared to be knocked out temporarily. He was taken to hospital after the match for tests but not kept in overnight.
Among the players relishing the overtly physical nature of the game was the Saracensflanker Schalk Burger, who was making his first appearance at Allianz Park. “I knew the match was going to be huge on intensity having watched videos of Northampton and they forced us into errors,” he said.
“Playing into the wind in the second half suited us and the yellow card was the momentum shift we needed to pull through. I have only been here a short while, but the guys really seem to respond to being challenged in difficult circumstances. It is a good attribute to have and settling in has been pretty seamless for me. It was not the easiest time to join the club after the trophies they won last season, but what excites me about this group of players is that they want to win more and work hard to improve. How a team aligns itself off the field is important and here you are playing for your mates.”
The England head coach, Eddie Jones, was in the crowd as he prepares for the opening November international against South Africa, opponents he has billed as bullies. “England will be confident,” Burger said. “The Springboks are in a transitional period and, playing here with the core of England’s pack, I appreciate how good and hungry they are. The World Cup was a massive disappointment for England, but it was like that for South Africa in 2003 when we were knocked out early and Jake White took over a young squad that was eager to improve. Eddie then got involved and we won the 2007 World Cup. I see a number of similarities with England.
Saracens Goode; Ashton, Bosch (Tompkins 73), Barritt (capt), Wyles; Lozowski, Wigglesworth (Spencer 74); M Vunipola (Barrington 73), Brits (George 49), du Plessis (Figallo ht), Itoje, Hamilton, Rhodes (Wray 52), Burger (Brown 74), B Vunipola.
Try George, Penalty. Con Lozowski. Pens Lozowski 5.
Northampton Tuala (Mallinder 69); K Pisi, G Pisi (Foden 69), Burrell, North; Myler, Dickson (Groom 64); A Waller, Haywood, Brookes (Hill 64), Lawes, Paterson, Wood (capt), Harrison (Gibson 47), Picamoles.
Pens Myler 4. Sin bin Waller 55, Dickinson 70.
Referee G Garner. Attendance 9,455.
