Ten points and one man down after 11 minutes, Saracens were heading for the first home defeat in nine months but the champions are a club unfazed by adversity because of the camaraderie they have generated in the squad. The players went on a three-day bonding session to a skiing resort just before Christmas and their piste de resistance was a stirring comeback against one of their title rivals after Richard Barrington’s 100th appearance for the club ended early when he was sent off for a dangerous tackle.
Barrington would probably have seen red even before World Rugby’s extra two laws on tackles that involve head contact came into force last week, although the Saracens’ captain, Brad Barritt, was fortunate that the minimum sanction of a yellow card was not applied when his high challenge caught Geoff Parling in the face. As the lock stumbled, an off-balance Barrington clocked him on the mouth with his right shoulder and knocked him out.
“A lot is said about what we do off the field on our trips but it is for moments like this when your backs are against the wall,” the Saracens scrum-half, Richard Wigglesworth, said. “A lot of sides would have folded against a top team like Exeter but we dug in and managed to come away with two points, which we are delighted with.”
Saracens responded to Barrington’s dismissal by quickly taking off the wing Sean Maitland and bringing on a prop, Titi Lamositele, to give them eight forwards. The Chiefs took immediate advantage of the space behind, with Jack Nowell’s try after Gareth Steenson chipped into space for the wing to catch and score, but after that Exeter struggled to get the ball wide, sucked into a slow game in which the battle was for territory. They struggled up front and their lineouts were disrupted by Maro Itoje.
“It is always a tough game against Exeter, all the more so when you play for 70 minutes with 14 men,” the prop Juan Figallo said. “We wanted to win but in the circumstances a draw is like a victory. We did not perform well in the scrum at Leicester the previous week but we got a few penalties against Exeter and it was a performance in which the whole team played a full part. We worked together and it was amazing to be a part of.”
Exeter were left in the unusual position of securing a draw at Saracens but feeling deflated. They have recovered from a slow start to the season to climb to third in the table but they had an opportunity to close the gap on the champions. A Steenson penalty in the final 66 minutes was a meagre return given their one-man advantage. There may have been only five minutes to go when they surrendered their lead but it was they rather than the 14 men who were hanging on in a match in which five players – three from Sarries, all centres – were concussed.
“Saracens controlled the second half and that is something that burns because you work so hard for opportunities like this,” the Exeter head coach, Rob Baxter, said. “We turned up with the right mindset and were competitive from the outset. It is funny to say it but I am not sure who the red card suited more. Saracens are single-minded anyway but it made it simple for them.”
Three of the head injuries occurred when players, mindful of the changes to the tackle law, went low into challenges and got their body positions wrong. Baxter is concerned that changing a regulation halfway through a season gives players and coaches no time to adapt.
“It is especially hard for taller players, who are not used to going low and it is unnatural for them,” he said. “This is all about protecting players from concussion, which is a good thing, but if in a year’s time with the pressure to push towards low tackles we end up with more concussions than we are having currently, what do we do next?”
Saracens Goode; Maitland (Lamositele, 13), Bosch (Tompkins, 5; Taylor, 52; Spencer, 69), Barritt (capt), Wyles; Lozowski, Wigglesworth; Barrington, Brits (George, 50), Figallo (Koch, 48), Itoje, Hamilton, Rhodes (Skelton, 50), Brown (Burger, 61), Wray.
Try Lamositele. Con Lozowski. Pens Lozowski 2. Red card Barrington 11.
Exeter Dollman; Nowell, Hill, Slade (Whitten, 62), Short; Steenson (capt), Chudley (Maunder, 65); Rimmer (Moon, 48), Cowan-Dickie (Yeandle, 58), Holmes (Williams, 48), Atkins (Dennis, 44), Parling (Lees, 11), Armand, Johnson, Waldrom.
Try Nowell. Con Steenson. Pens Steenson 2.
Referee I Tempest.
Attendance 10,000.
